Learning outcomes

The students will learn to identify and integrate relevant pieces of scientific information to create a clear picture of a biomedical question.

Through a project writing assisgnement and its presentation, the students will learn to apply scientific reasoning skills to formulate and support research hypotheses, and to propose relevant experimental strategies to investigate them.

Goals

At the end of this course, the students will

- be able to propose a complete research project : background/introduction, state of the art, identification and formulation of hypotheses, objectives, experimental plan, discussion of limitations, expected outcomes,…
 
- have learned how to apply the theoretical and practical concepts taught during their bachelor's and master's studies, including bibliographic research skills and bench training, in order to grasp complex research questions and propose experimental approaches adapted to study these questions or hypotheses
 
- have learned how to select and present information to demonstrate the relevance and soundness of their proposed research 
 
- have developed their reasoning and critical thinking skills regarding published results, limitations of some experimental approaches, choice of models, etc.

 

 

    

 

Content

Biomedical researchers are at the interface of multiple worlds, including those of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic research laboratories and medical facilities. They are often asked to master theoretical aspects of molecular and cellular mechanisms to translate them into new research avenues, for instance to uncover the molecular basis of diseases, to develop new diagnostic methods, identify new biomarkers, or improve therapeutic approaches.  

The aim of this course is to learn how to integrate theoretical and experimental concepts taught during the bachelor and then in the master curriculum in order to assess what is known about the causes and consequences of a given cellular dysfunction situation, and to identify the remaining unknowns. The students will be asked to identify the areas that still need further investigation and to propose a research project that could help answer unresolved question. In order to reach this objective, the course will be built around case stories involving molecular dysfunctions of subcellular organelles. 

 

Teaching methods

The students will be assigned a question/case to study.

This course will be organized as follows:

-        A first course will be organized to explain the objectives of the class and the teaching method, and hand out the questions/exercises on which the students will be asked to work

-        Throughout the semester, the students will then meet with the Professor to discuss their assignment and show the advancement of their respective tasks. Through these sessions, the students will be taught how to collect, interpret, integrate, summarize and use the data that they have gathered. Within each topic, emphasis will be placed on the identification of questions that have not yet been answered by the scientific community, and on the proposition of putative research strategies to investigate these questions. The students will be asked to consign their work in a written report.

-        They will then present their integrative approach to the whole class, explain how they found the answers to the initial question(s), what are their conclusions and which future direction they would recommend following to work on unresolved question in a professional setting. Their fellow classmates, as well as the teacher, will question them on their work.

 

Assessment method

A note will be compiled from:

-        The assessment of the involvement, general understanding of the question, and ability of each student to integrate the different pieces of data and to propose ideas (assessment made during meetings).

-        The quality of a written report

-        The presentation skills of the students and their ability to answer clearly and accurately to questions relating to their work.

 

The exact modalities of the evaluation are likely to be modified during the preparation of the examination schedules, depending on the practical constraints with which the faculty administration may be confronted, or in the event of illness / force majeure / encroachment with an internship, or because of the health situation related to the coronavirus.

Language of instruction

English