Molecular biology has elucidated numerous mechanisms how fungal cells function as isolated entities or within their environment. Fungi even are used as model organisms for more complex eukaryotes such as animals and humans. The aim of the course is to learn how to set up, perform and interpret experiments in the field of molecular fungal biology. In the first week students will make a literature study and will prepare a research plan. In the following three weeks experiments will be performed and research articles will be discussed. Results will be presented by means of a report at the end of week 5. 

Literature/study material used:Selected articles and articles resulting from a literature search by the participants 

Registration:Send an e-mail to the course coordinator (Dr. L.G. Lugones, l.g.lugones@uu.nl). The mail should contain 1) your name; 2) student number; 3) e-mail address; 4) telephone number; 5) current Master track. Please note: the number of participants is limited to 25. Only the first registrations can be accepted.
Evaluation: The student is evaluated on basis of his background knowledge (20%), his experimental skills (30%), and the way the student plans (10%), interprets (20%), and presents (20%) his experiments.  
Mandatory for students in Master’s programme: NO.
Optional for students in other Master’s programmes GS-LS: Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences. 

After completion of the course, students should be able to:
1) Define a research question from selected literature
2) Translate the research question into an experimental set up
3) Perform experiments
4) Interpret results and design follow-up experiments
5) Present articles and the project to peers