Unit information: 3D Protein Structure in 2022/23

Unit name	3D Protein Structure
Unit code	BIOLM0027
Credit points	10
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Van der Kamp
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	Scientific programming, Statistics and R.
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	N/A
School/department	School of Biological Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Life Sciences

Unit Information

This unit will introduce students to the practice of applying bioinformatics approaches to structural biology-based problems. These include the design of analyses and use of computational tools to analyse biological structural data. The students will have the opportunity to plan, develop and implement their own analyses to answer a wide variety of biological questions using structural biology databases.

The aim of this unit will be to:

1. Provide students with a detailed understanding of the concepts behind designing and performing structural analyses.
2. Provide students with the skills required to use and interact with the types of software required to perform such analyses.

Your learning on this unit

The Learning Outcomes (LOs) for this unit are:

A: Knowledge and Understanding:

1. to understand the theory, rationale and limitations of structural biology experiments and data.
2. to develop knowledge on the different data types from different structural biology experiments including molecular modelling and how these data can be manipulated and exploited.
3. to appreciate the differences and limitations of extrapolated and predicted structures from experimentally derived structures.

B: Intellectual Skills/Attributes:

1. to design structural comparisons and analyses to address given hypotheses.
2. to identify and deploy computational analysis methods with appropriate parameters to extract usable results from structural data and databases
3. ability to perform simple predictions based on 3D protein structure models.

C: Other Skills /Attributes (Practical/Professional/Transferable):

An approach and mindset which will enable students to:

1. Design and analyse robust experiments in areas outside of structural biology
2. Integrate new software and methods into their future work whilst retaining overall integrity of and confidence in their analyses and findings.

How you will learn

The unit will be delivered through a mixture of short lectures followed by individual exercises with computers. Blackboard will be used to engage students with the unit content.

How you will be assessed

A summative computer assessment will consist of a final computer task integrating all the learning objectives.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. BIOLM0027).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.