5 ECTS credits
125 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4012852ENR for all students in the 1st semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
1st semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Partnership Agreement
Under agreement for exchange of courses
Faculty
Faculty of Science and Bio-engineering Sciences
Department
Biology
External partners
Université libre de Bruxelles
Educational team
Decaan WE (course titular)
External teachers
Nathalie VERBRUGGEN
Activities and contact hours
24 contact hours Lecture
12 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
26 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The aim of the course is to understand mechanisms of plant responses to their environment.
The course will be a literature review of plant responses to different types of environmental stress. A focus will be put on molecular mechanisms as they have allowed tremendous progress in our understanding of plant responses to stress.
Responses of plants to drought, temperature stress, toxic concentrations of heavy metals, biotic stress, …..will be presented.  The course will also include advances in the improvement of plant resistance to stress by genetic engineering. Scientific strategies and experimental design to study plant response to environment will be discussed through analysis of case studies.

Course material
Digital course material (Required) : http://www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/lpgmp
Additional info
Contact: Nathalie Verbruggen, ULB, Département de Biologie des Organismes, laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Genetics http://www.ulb.ac.be/sciences/lpgmp ; nverbru@ulb.ac.be, tel: 02 650 21 28; fax: 02 650 54 21.
Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

This course explicitely contributes to the following competences of the Biology curriculum :
Evaluate the scientific relevance
Problem solving as a thinking process

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
SELF Presentation determines 50% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Written examination with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Within the SELF Presentation category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Presentation and discussions with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

    Note: The evaluation includes the presentation and discussion of a scientific article in direct relation to the course

Additional info regarding evaluation
The evaluation includes the presentation and discussion of a scientific article in direct relation to the course and a written examination.
Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Biology: Education (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Biology: Molecular and Cellular Life sciences
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems
Master of Teaching in Science and Technology: biologie (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)