Course manual 2021/2022
Course content
Photosynthesis is the process that sustains virtually all life on Earth. In this process organisms capture and store the energy of the photons in the form of carbohydrates. In this course you will follow all the steps of the photosynthetic process at the molecular level. The course will cover light-harvesting, excitation energy transfer, electron transport, photophosphorylation and the mechanism of carbon dioxide fixation. We will get inspired by the diversity of the photosynthetic process in different organisms and study the strategies used by them to respond to changes in their environment. The use of photosynthesis for bioenergy production will also be discussed.
Study materials
Literature
- Robert E. Blankenship, 'Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis', 2nd Edition, April 2014, Wiley-BlackwellISBN: 978-1-4051-8976-7. Ca. 56 Euro.
Objectives
- To understand the principle of sunlight to energy conversion in nature
- To become familiar with the physical, chemical and biological concepts that are at the basis of photosynthesis
- To learn how to integrate concepts from physics, chemistry and biology
- To be able to understand and discuss scientific literature based on multidisciplinary approaches
- To use these concepts for improving photosynthesis for increasing crop productivity
Teaching methods
- literatuurbespreking
- Seminar
- Lecture
- Presentation/symposium
Learning activities
|
Activiteit
|
Aantal uur
|
|
Hoorcollege
|
28
|
|
Tentamen
|
3
|
|
Werkcollege
|
24
|
|
Zelfstudie
|
112
|
Attendance
Programme's requirements concerning attendance (TER-B):
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Each student is expected to participate actively in each component of the programme that he/she signed up for. A student that does not attend the first two seminars of a course, will be administratively removed from the seminar group. A request for reregistration for the seminars can be applied to the programme coordinator.
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If a student cannot attend an obligatory component of a programme's component due to circumstances beyond his control, he must report in writing to the relevant teacher as soon as possible. The teacher, if necessary after consulting the study adviser, may decide to issue the student a replacing assignment.
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It is not allowed to miss obligatory commponents of the programme if there is no case of circumstances beyond one's control.
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In case of participating qualitatively or quantitatively insufficiently, the examiner can expel a student from further participation in the programme's component or a part of that component. Conditions for sufficient participation are set down in advance in the course manual.
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In addition to the above mentioned rules, in the first semester of the first year a student should be present in at least 80% of the seminars. Moreover, participation to midterm tests and obligatory homework is required. If the student does not comply with these obligations, the student is expelled from the resit of this course. Students in the double Bachelor's degree programme Mathematics and Physics are exempted from this requirement. In case of personal circumstances, as described in OER-A Article A-6.4, a different study plan will be made in consultation with the study advisor.
Assessment
Assignments 25%, final exam (or re-exam) 75%
Inspection of assessed work
Contact the course coordinator to make an appointment for inspection.
Assignments
1
2
3
4
the first assignment is a group assignment, the others are individual assignments
Fraud and plagiarism
The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl
Course structure
| Weeknummer |
Onderwerpen |
Studiestof |
| 1 |
Introduction |
chapter 1-2 |
| 2 |
History |
chapter 3 |
| 3 |
Pigments/Antenna |
chapter 4/5 |
| 4 |
Antennas |
chapter 5 |
| 5 |
electron transfer |
chapter 6-7 |
| 6 |
ATP/dark reactions |
chapter 8-9 |
| 7 |
Fluorescence/ evolution |
chapter 11-12 |
| 8 |
|
|
The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.
Processed course evaluations
Below you will find the adjustments in the course design in response to the course evaluations.
Coordinator