Teaching and outreach
Lab members teach in several modules at both UG and PG levels at Imperial College London:
BSc
Biochemistry and BSc Biotechnology
- Topics in Biotechnology
- Synthetic Biology
- Molecular Network Engineering
MSc Applied Biosciences and Biotechnology
MRes Systems and Synthetic Biology
- Antimicrobial Resistance
- Synthetic Biology
- Experimental Systems Biology
The lectures include a wide range of topics from classical Microbiology to cutting-edge Synthetic Biology. A big emphasis is given to solving problems in Molecular Biology. These goes from learning the fundamentals of PCR and cloning playing with Legos to the intricacies of CRISPR and its applications. The module Topics in Biotechnology is a flipped classroom led by the students and teaches the design, execution and practical validation of a cloning project. Our contributions to education have been recognised with a Faculty of Natural Science Excellence prize for Teaching at Imperial College.
We supervise a number of UG final year and masters projects. Our students are highly motivated individuals interested in the interphase between fundamental microbiology and applications in synthetic biology.
In addition, we also take part in several outreach programmes with the broader community to highlight the importance of basic research. These activities are aimed at all levels. For example, we run the crafts-based workshop for little children called ‘Build a Bug‘ in the family section of the Great Exhibition Road Festival. In addition, we are also committed to the scientific training of the next generation of researchers and we work closely with high-schools in the area. For instance, we have hosted several students interested in obtaining CREST awards.
