Entry requirements

150 credits, including 90 credits in biomedicine, pharmaceutical science, chemistry, natural science and/or technology, including the course Development of Biologicals or equivalent knowledge. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• evaluate different methods used when optimising protein-based biopharmaceutical/biologic production, both on small and large-scale platforms.
• plan and implement well-designed strategies for the production of protein-based biological drugs.
• use Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) when designing and conducting experiments.
• construct Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in good English.
• critically evaluate performed experiments and their results, individually and in smaller working groups, in good English.
• critically review, understand and justify experimental ideas, methodologies, results and conclusions in scientific discussions in good English.

Content

This is a hands-on course designed to simulate an authentic lab environment where you get to design, plan and carry out your own experiments. The results will be discussed in meetings. The aim of the laboratory research project is to modify, by your own ideas, a standard protocol for small-scale production of a biological drug in order to increase its yield and improve the production process. This includes practically performing laboratory experiments, as well as critically analysing and reporting the generated data. Furthermore, the course will teach you how to keep a lab journal and construct standard operating procedures.  

Instruction

Teaching is conducted in the form of laboratory-based work, the presentation of SOPs and a summary report based on an individual lab journal. The course also includes independently and critically analysing, discussing and presenting procedures and results to laboratory technicians and a pseudo group leader (teacher), through attendance in frequent lab group seminars. The seminars will also be used as a forum for guest speakers to attend and provide insight into biopharmaceutical production. 

Obligatory parts: seminars, active participation in laboratory experiments, SOP and lab journal

The course is given in English.

Assessment

The course ends with a written exam. To pass the course requires a passing grade in the following modules: Written examination (1.5 credits), seminars (2 credits), SOP (2 credits), and laboratory journal (2 credits).

In special circumstances, the examiner may make an exception from the specified examination method and allow a student to be examined in another way. Special circumstances could be, for example, be informed of the need for special pedagogical support from the university's coordinator.