Postgraduate Course: CDT-OPTIMA credits awarded at Strathclyde - Build Your Own Microscope Course (CHEM11057)
Course Outline
| School | School of Chemistry |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | The course will give a unique insight into how an optical microscope system works as well as how to design and optimise optical spectroscopy systems. The students will learn how different optical instruments including Raman, fluorescence and absorption can be designed from first principle. This will give the students a unique understanding of the techniques that they will be using throughout their PhD as well as in their future careers, whether they remain in optical imaging research after their PhDs or go into industry or work for instrument manufacturers, this course will greatly add to their employability combined with the other courses they will take during the CDT programme. This course will teach the students, over the course of a week, what it could otherwise take them years to learn through simply using commercially available systems. |
| Course description |
The Build Your Own Microscope is a hands-on course in which groups of students will be given the fundamental knowledge and the necessary components to build and optimise optical microscopes. The aim of this course is to impart the theory behind the techniques taught by a series of lectures, followed by hands-on workshops with independent study exercises on how to assemble a fully functional microscope. Therefore this unique course will aim to impart both fundamental knowledge and understanding as well as allowing the students to put this theory into practice.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 36,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
62 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
100 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% Group Assignment. This course will be assessed continuously by Prof Karen Faulds and Prof Neil Shand based on attendance and engagement. Students will be assigned a mark based on their level of engagement, effort and understanding of the task and their ability to build a functional microscope. They will also be assessed on the flyer they produce and the content and delivery of a group presentation. |
| Feedback |
This is a very hands-on interactive course and students will receive feedback at each stage. They will receive continued support and feedback on the practical building of the microscope in real time to ensure they have the knowledge to complete the task. They will receive verbal feedback on the assessment and presentation immediately after these have been presented to the selected audience. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand how to build and optimise a functional microscope.
- Understand the function of each component in a microscope system and the theory behind spectroscopy.
- Understand techniques of Raman, fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy.
|
Reading List
| No specific text required. Can use any physical chemistry text book for theory and the students will use internet searches to find instrument suppliers specifications for existing instruments. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Work effectively in teams and understand the various roles individuals can play in teams.
Improve presentation skills. |
| Keywords | microscope,spectroscopy |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Karen Faulds
Tel:
Email: v1kfauld@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Brittany Bovenzi
Tel: (0131 6)50 4830
Email: Brittany.Bovenzi@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage