Biodiversity Generation and Maintenance (BIOS0027)

The module provides students of the MSc Biodiversity and Global Change, and MRes Biodiversity, Evolution and Conservation, with foundational knowledge on the generation and maintenance of biodiversity, covering topics including phylogenetics, macroecology and biodiversity gradients, and assessment of extinction risk. The module will help students understand universal patterns in the distribution and diversity of life, addressing questions such as: Why do the numbers of species in ecological communities vary so dramatically across the surface of the Earth? Why are some species so rare and others so common? Why are some branches of the tree of life so much more diverse than others?

 

This course provides students with a detailed understanding of bioreactor design, scale-up and operation. Particular themes of the course include the...

Fermentation and Bioreactor Engineering (BENG0014)

This course provides students with a detailed understanding of bioreactor design, scale-up and operation. Particular themes of the course include the interaction of biological catalysts/cells with the engineering environment within a bioreactor, the theoretical basis of process scale-up and scale-down, and the impact of cell engineering on bioreactor design and operation. Attention is paid to the instrumentation and control of bioreactors and issues underlying biosafety with respect to contained operation.

Upon completion of the course, a student should be able to:

Gain in-depth knowledge required to design a fermenter in terms of mixing, power input and oxygen capabilities
	Specify bioreactor design, including monitoring and control system
	Understand how the engineering environment affects fermentation and cell culture
	Perform design calculations with regards to scale-up and scale-down of a fermentation process
	Select appropriate sterilisation methods and determine operating conditions

This module will act as an introductory course to Biochemical Engineering, outlining the principles and industrial applications of the discipline. It will...