Plastic and cells
Plastic pollution is one of the defining environmental challenges of our time, filling oceans, landscapes, the air we breathe and our food and bodies. The original ingenuity that created modern plastics is now driving solutions to these problems: from biodegradable materials to advanced recycling technologies, sometimes using bacterial cells. By rethinking how we produce, use, and recover plastics, innovation can transform a global problem into an opportunity for a cleaner, circular future.
Are you interested in improving the plastic problem for all living organisms? Then the “Plastics and cells” minor is the perfect fit for you.
Minor content
In this challenging minor you get the chance to work on a real assignment from the professional field. You will develop practical laboratory skills, strengthen your professional competencies, and work through every stage of the research cycle, from formulating research questions and designing experiments to analysing data and presenting your results.
This is your opportunity to bridge theory and practice, take ownership of your research, and make a real impact in a professional research setting.
Structure of the minor
Project Plastic and cells (24 EC)
The majority of the semester is dedicated to your research project, the core of this minor. During the project you will gain hands-on experience with formulating and addressing research questions, and using the right techniques to answer them.
Projects in “Plastic and cells” vary from polymer chemistry, analytical chemistry and cell and molecular biology. The multidisciplinairy approach to each problems broadens your view and trains you to think from different perspectives.
Throughout the semester, weekly project meetings ensure continuous progress and reflection. Together with your peers, lecturers, and regularly the client, you discuss results, troubleshoot challenges, and refine your approach. Guest lectures and literature discussions further deepen your expertise, providing you with the specialized knowledge needed to successfully complete your research.
Ethics (3 EC)
Just because we can do an experiment, does that mean that we should? Should potentially dangerous results be kept secret?
During ‘Ethics’ lessons you focus on ethical topics and dilemmas that are relevant for all kinds or research. You will review data integrity, reporting of negative results, environmental ethics and many more topics. The dilemmas are offered in a structured way to help you become a more complete researcher.
Method Validation (3 EC)
Does a method measure the true value? If you detect one microplastic in a brain, is that trustworthy?
During Method Validation you study quantitative manners to determine key characteristics of measurement techniques, such as accuracy, precision, sensitivity, the lower limit of detection and many more. You learn how to write a validation plan and how to apply it in laboratory practice, so that you can objectively determine how certain you can be of your measurments.
Study features
This minor is completed by various assessments.
To participate in the minor Plastic and cells, you must have completed at least two years of relevant theoretical and practical education at university of applied sciences (hbo) level within Life Sciences or a related field. Relevant disciplines include, among others: Biology and Medical Laboratory Research, Biotechnology, Chemistry, and Forensic Laboratory Research. You must also have obtained your propaedeutic diploma (first-year certificate) and your VMT-certificate (microbiological safety). Experience with project-based work is considered an advantage. Do you not fully meet these requirements but are you highly motivated? Please contact the coordinator to discuss the possibilities: Nathalie van den Tempel ([email protected]) or Anniek Bruins ([email protected]).
This minor is offered by the Chemistry and Biology and Medical Laboratory Research programs in semester 1. It is a full-time minor with a study load of 30 ECTS credits. The scheduled contact hours amount to approximately 16 hours per week. However, at times you may also need to work in the laboratory outside of scheduled hours.