Data Management
This course covers database design and the use of databases in applications, with a focus on applications in the life sciences. Topics include the relational model, database design principles, the structured query language (SQL), including temporal and spatial queries. Data lifecycle topics and contemporary issues for data scientists and practitioners are also introduced, i.e. big
Biology and Management of Plant Pests and Diseases
Plants can be challenged by very different biological entities, particularly viruses, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, and insects, resulting in significant crop losses on a global scale and thus endangering food security and safety. These entities differ very much in their biology and feeding and survival strategies. On plants, the disease phenotypes can both be very similar
Trends in Plant Reproduction Biology: from Flowers to Seeds
The evolutionary success and enormous diversity among flowering plants is mainly the result of the sexual reproduction process, which starts with flowering and results in the formation of fruits and seeds. This key process is under tight genetic and molecular control, but is also adapted to the environment. How such a conserved process can show
Abiotic Stress
Environmental (abiotic) stress is the most important limiting factor in crop productivity. This master course aims to broaden the student’s horizon in abiotic-stress biology and to gain the latest insights into the molecular mechanisms by which plants perceive such stress signals, how they are transduced, and how stress signals are eventually converted into intracellular responses
Introduction to Bioinformatics for Life Sciences
Description: “Introduction to Bioinformatics for Molecular Biologists” is a joint course for the various life science Masters programs at the Utrecht University. This introductory course provides an overview of the importance of bioinformatics in various biological disciplines. While a biological background is required, no programming skills are needed. The course can be considered a general
Advanced Omics: from Single-Cell to Meta-Omics Approaches
Omics technologies have revolutionized our ways of looking at the relationship between genotype and phenotype of living organisms. Those technologies are nowadays widely applied to many organisms (bacteria, plants, animals, human). Yet for many years researchers have been looking only at average effects by analysing bulk samples. Recently, single-cell analyses have become available for many
BSc Minor Climate-Resilient Crops: Interdisciplinary Approaches
Plant breeding has been enormously successful in increasing the yield, variety, and quality of crops we consume on a daily basis. However, it is a major challenge to meet the growing global demand for affordable agricultural products while adapting to climate change (leading to heat waves, droughts, floods, diseases, pests and poor soil) and increasing
Data Science Ethics Colloquium Series
Ethical and legal considerations are essential to many applications of data science. This colloquium series is intended to make the students aware of such considerations and to give them the vocabulary to discuss those matters with experts of legal and ethical aspects. Furthermore, the colloquium will enable students to develop an understanding of professional integrity
Applied Plant Biology
This course consists of 4 modules. Information/insights obtained within previous modules will be implemented in later ones. Module 1: Masterclasses by guest-lecturers from the green sector; academia, industry, finance and (semi)governmental organizations. Teaching/learning format: Lectures + discussion, writing assignment Module 2: Identifying current challenges in applied molecular Plant biology. Teaching/learning format: Project presentation + discussion
Plant-Environment Interactions
General lectures on plant-environment interactions will set the stage for an advanced-level course on how plants adjust to their environmental factors. The case studies discussed in this interactive course include drought, temperature, salinity, flooding, and nutrient stresses. Students will independently study the latest developments in plant responses and plasticity towards variations in their environment. The