PHD Courses
PhD-Courses
- Annually, the department of environmental chemistry and microbiology, organizes 1-2 PhD courses/Summer schools.
On this site you will find information about actual courses and courses which are scheduled in the near future.
We are looking forward to welcoming you!
Ph.d. kurser/summer schools 2010
Ph.d. kurser/summer schools 2011 - The registration is now open!
Ph.d. kurser/summer schools 2012
PhD-courses/summer schools 2010
Sommer 2010:
A similar course will be held in 2012.
Pictures from the summer school 2010:
PhD-courses/summer schools 2011
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The good, the bad and the ugly bacteria
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Date and place:
The course will take place 9-14 October 2011 in Denmark (Roskilde) - The registration is now open
Registration - Flyer
Flyer - Tentative programme
Tentative programme
Course description:
Microbes have dominated life on Earth for most of its 4.5 billion-year history. Their contribution to the biosphere is enormous and their impacts can be felt on every scale - from subtle human infections to the cycling of elements critical for maintaining life on the planet.
Traditionally, microbiologists have focussed on either the detrimental or the positive features of specific microbes, i.e. their pathogenicity towards humans or their applicability as probiotics, degraders of hazardous waste, biological pesticides etc.
It has, however, become apparent that this narrow view on microorganisms often prevents an understanding on how bacteria evolve and interact with their environment, and that even among closely related bacteria one may find a commensal Dr. Jekyll and a pathogenic Mr. Hyde.
Many of the microorganisms normally associated with humans are primarily occurring in the outer environment. Here they not only survive, they also multiply and adapt. The awareness, that virulence genes may also be common in non-pathogenic environmental microorganisms has suggested that these traits may be used by the environmental bacteria for survival and growth in the non-host environments. Thus, the “global human virulome” does not only consist of genes in known human pathogens but also include genes found in diverse non-pathogenic environmental bacteria.
As an illustration of closely related bacteria that contain both good and ugly bacteria is the Bacillus cereus group. Among these bacteria one finds the ugly highly virulent B. anthracis, causing anthrax, and the good B. thuringiensis that can be applied as microbial pest control agent instead of chemical pesticides.
The scope of this PhD course is to challenge the concepts of the ‘good’, the ‘bad’ and the ‘ugly’ bacteria in the context of their natural occurrence in the environment, their interactions with other organisms, and how these interactions may have influenced the evolution of the bacteria. Bacteria of relevance for environmental, medical and food microbiology will be used. Introductory morning lectures will provide the general background from selected examples as the starting point for the discussions and the exercises. The participants will also do practical laboratory exercises and get introduced to a number of useful methods for investigating the good, the bad and the ugly bacteria in situ, vitro and vivo. Methods will include isolation and identification procedures, different PCR-based techniques, models for investigation of pathogenicity, and PC-based procedures for investigating phylogeny at gene and protein level.
This course will include lectures on the following topi
- What is the characteristics of the good, the bad and the ugly bacteria
- Microorganisms in the environment – the good, the bad and the ugly
- Microorganisms related to humans – the good, the bad and the ugly
- The interactions of microorganisms in communities – importance for health
- The evolution of bacteria – with emphasis of pathogenic traits
- The exposure of humans to microorganisms through food and other pathways
- Risk assessment of microorganisms to be used for human activities
Laboratory exercises will include:
- How to study specific bacteria or specific genes directly in the environment and in humans
- How to identify and isolate specific bacteria with interesting favourable functions
- How to study potential pathogenicity using molecular techniques
- How to study potential pathogenicity by the use of cell, invertebrate and mammal-models
- How to study the phylogeny of bacteria
Please contact: Niels Bohse Hendriksen, nbh@dmu.dk, tel.: 8715 8473
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Determination of priority pollutants, transformation products and transformation processes in the environment
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Date and place:
The course will take place 28th of August -3rd of September 2011 in Denmark (Roskilde) -
The registration is now open:
THE COURSE IS FULLY BOOKED -
Flyer
Flyer
Course description:
Priority compounds (e.g. endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, biocides) may be found are in various environmental compartments such as water, soil, air. Many environmental processes are accompanied with environmental transformation reactions. This means that not only is it necessary to look for the parent compounds but their transformation products may be equally important to analyse.
Typical transformations include: biodegradation or biotransformation, photo-oxidation, chemical transformation, hydrolysis, formation of bound residues. All these process may occur or be used in technical processes such as soil cleaning, waste water treatment etc.
Analysis of the priority compounds is not trivial, nor is a prediction of the transformation products and transformation reactions.
This PhD course will address:
- How to determine the respective compounds (extraction procedures, clean ups, detection methods with hands-on experience).
- Which transformation reactions to be expected and how to determine transformation products (set op of experiments, determination, identification, verification)
- How to determine transformation reactions (reaction kinetics, what to learn from them)
- Instrumental techniques, demonstrated and used for exercises.
The course will be a mixture of lectures and seminars in combination with laboratory experiments and exercises.
Please contact: Kai Bester, kb@dmu.dk, tel.: 8745 5000
PhD-courses/summer schools 2012
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The atmosphere as a bacterial habitat – implications on climate change and public security
Course description:
Microbial life in air has received much attention recently, not only from the research community. Airborne bacteria can play a role in cloud formation and precipitation. They may also interfere with warning systems designed to protect the citizens from aggressive acts. Hence the growth, survival and spreading of microbes in air are being investigated worldwide. Some of this research requires new or unusual techniques, and a close collaboration between biologists, physicists and atmospheric modellers is necessary. This course will give students of these and other disciplines a hands-on insight into some of the research aspects of the new and exciting field, aero-microbiology.
Please contact: Ulrich Bay Gosewinkel, uka@dmu.dk, tel.: 8715 8617