Module Outline:

The aims of this course are to develop concepts in quantum mechanics and spectroscopy for UCL and Affiliate Students. UCL students will...

Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy (CHEM0022)

Sustainable Development|Circular economy|Environmental impact|Social Impact|Cost assessment

This module will start by introducing the students to the concepts of, and the challenges to, sustainability and sustainable development, and strictly...

This module will start by introducing the students to the concepts of, and the challenges to, sustainability and sustainable development, and strictly associated approaches such as life-cycle thinking and circular economy. The module will provide a grounding in sustainability/climate policies, and of strategies for communicating environmental impacts and for recognising/avoiding “greenwashing”. The module will provide a theoretical understanding and practical knowledge of tools and indicators for assessing the environmental and social impacts and the economic costs of projects, policies and products. The module will embed approaches that support rational decision-making by incorporating multiple, and often conflicting, aspects into problems and case studies. Students will have the opportunity to apply these tools and approaches, independently and as part of a team, to real-world case studies, including some that are connected with and support local communities.

 

Indicative Syllabus

Introduction to Sustainability and Sustainable Development
	Life cycle thinking and methodologies
	Circular economy and indicators
	Environmental impacts (Life Cycle Assessment)
	Climate policies
	Environmental communications and greenwashing
	Social Impacts (Social-Life Cycle Assessment; stakeholder analysis)
	Cost assessment
	Decision-support tools (SWOT analysis, cost-benefit analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis)

Mechanisms of Development (Extended) (CELL0002)

This module will consider the cellular and molecular events which underlie animal development and cell differentiation, drawing on examples from a range of vertebrate and invertebrate organisms. The objective of the module it to train students to not only understand evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of development through a detailed study of experimental evidence, but also to provide students with an overview of how to investigate and uncover developmental mechanisms using classical and modern genetic and embryology techniques across a variety of model systems including: Xenopus, Chick, Mouse, Zebrafish, C. elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Sea urchins and human organoids.

Topics will include morphogen gradients, signalling pathways, cell intrinsic and extrinsic signalling, cell fate, etc. in the context of embryonic and tissue patterning, limb regeneration, neural induction, etc.

Aimed at students with particular interests in developmental biology, the module provides practical experience of the model systems described in the lectures. The lectures are common to the 15-credit module CELL0001, but this 30-credit version includes a series of compulsory practicals in, e.g. Xenopus, zebrafish, chick, C. elegans, mouse and Drosophila. Practicals are assessed by individual assignments.

Indicative lecture topics (based on module content in 2021/22):

Introduction and concepts.
	Principles of experimental design, experimental approaches and developmental systems.
	Xenopus (2 lectures).
	Chick (2 lectures).
	Zebrafish (3 lectures).
	C. elegans (2 lectures).
	Human development.
	Mouse (2 lectures).
	Drosophila (3 lectures).
	Mechanobiology and development .
	Revision (2 lectures).
Module organizers: Dr Vilaiwan Fernandes (vilaiwan.fernandes@ucl.ac.uk) and Prof. Claudio Stern (c.stern@ucl.ac.uk).