Mandatory parts

P 1 Main Topic Biochemistry – Practical Course (15 ECTS points)

P 1.1 Advanced research practical course in Biochemistry
P 1.2 Advanced seminar in Biochemistry

LSF code: T1YA

Research groups for P1:

The research laboratory course in Biochemistry can be performed in following research groups at the Gene Center:
Prof. Beckmann, Dr. Canzar, Prof. Förstemann, Dr. Herzog, Prof. Hopfner, Prof. Hornung, Prof. Jae, Prof. Stigler, Prof. Stingele, Prof. Klein, Prof. Subklewe.
Information about the groups and their research topics can be found here: research groups

Course structure, requirements, grading:

The research lab course is an all-day course, lasting 6 weeks during semester breaks and 8 weeks during the semester when lectures are being attended (= P 1.1). During the course, you participate in the lab meetings of your research group (= P 1.2). At the end of your research project, you will prepare a final written report and present a seminar in your group’s lab meeting. The written report has to be submitted within two month after the end of the practical course.
Your grade for the module P1 will be based on the evaluation of your research, your final report and seminar presentation.
For grading the supervisor should use this form: grading form
Please point your supervisor to the respective website. The form has to be downloaded to be fiiled in and saved with a new name.

Note: The research lab course canNOT be performed in the same lab where you carried out your Bachelor thesis project.

External practical course, application, grading:

If you wish to perform the research lab course outside the Gene Center, you have to obtain permission from one of the designated representatives, Prof. Stingele or Prof. Förstemann. Please put together a brief application containing your contact data, a short description of the planned research (1-2 pages), an explanation why the research should be performed externally, and information about the host lab (research, contact). In addition, your external advisor needs to sign a consent form stating that s/he understands the requirements for the research lab course (consent form).

The signed application and the signed requirement form has to be submitted to the master's student office before starting the external practical course.
In addition, an electronic copy (pdf-file) of the written report has to be sent to stusekbc@genzentrum.lmu.de.

For grading of external research courses the supervisor should use the grading form (see above). Please point your supervisor to the respective website.

P 2 Main Topic Biochemistry – Lectures (9 ECTS Points)

P 2.1 Life cycle of proteins
P 2.2 Flow of genetic information
P 2.3 Model organisms

Prerequisites for certain lectures: none

Module exam

Written exam (120 min); graded;
The written exam for module P2 will be held twice a year at the end of each semester;
The exam will cover the BC5 and BC7 lectures from the past winter semester and the BC6 lecture from the past summer semester.
Next exam: .0.2022, 10-12 h, lecture hall, Genecenter

Please register for the module exam using the lsf. Registration possible

P 3 Fundamentals in Data Analysis – Lecture and Exercise Block Course (6 ECTS Points)

P 3.1 Practical Bioinformatics
P 3.2 Tutorial in practical Bioinformatics
P 3.3 Statistics and data analysis
P 3.4 Tutorial in statistics and data analysis

The module will introduce basic quantitative skills essential for understanding modern methods in structural biology and functional genomics. The module covers the application of bioinformatic methods to problems in biochemistry research and the implementation of statistics and data analysis to work on scientific problems. During accompanying tutorials the acquired knowledge will be practised.

Starting with WS 2021-22 this course will no longer be offered as a block but weekly throughout the running lecture period. Places are limited to 25 participants per course.

Module exam

Written exam (90 – 120 min) at the end of the block course.; graded; please register for the exam via LSF. Registration is open 01.07. - 20.07.23.

registration practical course

P3 course description

P 4 Main Topic Biochemistry – Seminar and Colloquium (6 ECTS Points)

P 4.1 Subject-specific seminar in Biochemistry
P 4.2 Subject-specific colloquium in Biochemistry

P4.1 Seminare
At the seminar students extend their expertise of current literature and methods in Biochemistry and present and discuss publications covering specific topics and methods.
Lecturers from Biochemistry will offer specific topics which will be discussed by a group of six to eight students during a 2 day block course or a semester accompanying course.

The following seminares are currently offered:
procedure
current topics and dates

Please register by sending an e-mail to the respective lecturer.
Registration deadline for all our seminars offered see in Moodle.
First come first serve!
The lecturer will inform you in time if the course will take place (enough students did register) and if you will be able to participate (not more than seven stundents did register before you).

P4.2 Colloquia
For the colloquium in Biochemistry 20 talks presented by visiting professors and junior scientists have to be attended. Attendance has to be documented by the signature of the responsible organizer (host). Talks are not limited to a specific series or place. You can attend talks at any academic institution (even abroad). However, the topics have to come from the field of Biochemistry.
If you attend a conference or a symposium not more than three 45 min talks can be added to your colloquia list.
For documentation you can use this table or you can prepare your own.
current topics and dates

P 5 Methods in Life Science – Practical Course (9 ECTS Points)

P 5.1 Practical course in Life Sciences
P 5.2 Advanced seminar in Life Sciences

LSF code: T1YM

The research laboratory course in Life Science can be performed in any of the research groups at the campus in Großhadern and Martinsried or in any research group at the MPI in Martinsried or Helmholtz Center in Großhadern.

The P 5 practical course has to be registered with the master's student office before you start it. Please download the registration form here: registration form
Fill in the form, save it under "your name-registration P5" and send the pdf to:stusekbc@lmb.uni-muenchen.de

The research lab course is an all-day course, lasting 4 weeks (= P 5.1). During the course, you participate in the lab meetings of your research group (= P 5.2). At the end of your research project, you will prepare a final written report. The written report has to be submitted within two month after the end of the practical course.

If you wish to perform the research lab course in a research group outside Martinsried and Großhadern, you have to obtain permission from one of the designated representatives, Prof. Förstemann or Prof. Beckmann. Please put together a brief application containing your contact data, a short description of the planned research (1-2 pages), an explanation why the research should be performed externally, and information about the host lab (research, contact). Please indicate clearly on your application the module (P5 Methods in life science) you want to obtain permission for.

The signed application has to be submitted to the master's student office before starting the external practical course.
In addition, an electronic copy (pdf-file) of the written report has to be sent to stusekbc@lmb.uni-muenchen.de.

For grading of (external) research courses the supervisor should use the grading form (P5 grading form). Please point your supervisor to the respective website.

The P5 practical course canNOT be performed in the same research group as the P1 advanced research practical course!

P 6 Master’s Degree Module – Master’s Thesis (30 ECTS Points)

The Master’s thesis is the independent work in which you will generate a hypothesis, design and perform experiments to test it, document and analyze the obtained data and discuss the outcome of your experiments with respect to your hypothesis. At the end all steps are documented in a written scientific report.

Entry requirements:
- completion of modules P1, P2, P3, and P5.

Topics:
- from any of the main topics or extension topics covered by your study program.

External Master thesis:
- “external” means a LMU research unit or an institution that is not directly participating in the study
  program (e.g. Max-Planck, Helmholtz, different university or research institutions in Germany or abroad).
- an internal advisor is always needed who is competent in the field you have chosen for your Master
  thesis (e.g. at the Gene Center, in the Dept. of Chemistry or Faculty of Biology). The internal advisor will be
  responsible for accepting and grading the thesis. Usually, he or she will consult with the PI of the lab
  where the thesis work has been carried out.
- in case a lab outside of the LMU Munich is chosen, the formal consent of the head of the examination
  board (“Prüfungsausschussvorsitzender”) is required. We will take care of this once you have notified us
  of your plans (see form below).
- a brief proposal containing a short description of the planned research is required from you (max. 1-2
  pages) and information about the host lab (research, contact).
- acceptance by the internal advisor of this proposal has to be documented with her/his signature.

The signed proposal has to be submitted together with the registration (see link to form below) of the
Master thesis to students’ office.

Registration:
- latest two to three weeks prior to starting date
- to register please fill in this registration form and bring it to the students' office.
For an external Master thesis submit the form together with the proposal
(signed by the internal supervisor) to the students’ office.

Starting date:
- arrange a starting date with the lab of your choice. Keep in mind that the Master Biochemistry program
  should be finished in four semesters.

Duration:
- 26 weeks (study rules/Prüfungsordnung §14(7))
- CANNOT BE EXTENDED.
In case of illness please provide us with a corresponding sick leave certificate from your doctor. The duration will be extended for the time covered by the certificate.

Submission:
- latest 26 weeks after start
- two hardcopies (one for your internal supervisor, one for the students’/ examination office)
- must contain an affirmation of authenticity with your signature on it
- no use of the LMU logo

Grading:
- your supervisor writes a report in which she/he judges and grades your thesis work
- for externally done theses the external supervisor sends a report and proposes a grade to the internal
  supervisor and the examination office. The internal supervisor then grades the work based on the report
  of the external supervisor.

Certificate/ Diploma:
- preparation of the certificate upon grading will take 10-14 days
- you will be electronically informed to pick up your certificate
- no mailing (post) of certificates possible!