Module 1: Current Topics of Pharmaceutical Research

Module description

The module “Current Topics of Pharmaceutical Research” is designed to give you an insight into the research topics that are currently investigated at the Institute of Pharmacy at FU Berlin and in the global community.

The broad overview that you will get from this module can help you choosing a research project

The module is offered towards the beginning of each semester to introduce you to the research areas of the different professors and their working groups at the Institute. This brief overview about the current topics here at FU Berlin will guide you in our choice of a working group for your research project and your master thesis.

  • Type: mandatory module.
  • Structure:  lecture and seminar
  • Time: every semester (summer and winter)
  • Electronic course catalog ID:

  • Requirements for  completion:   successful completion of lecture and seminar
  • Credit points: 5 CPs
  • Examination: oral presentation in seminar

The lecture

The lecture is offered as a block seminar towards the beginning or the middle of each semester. Generally, over 1-2 weeks every professor, principal investigator (PI), or subgroup leader from the Institute of Pharmacy will give a specific lecture about the research topics that are pursued in the respective working group. This will enable you to get a broad overview over different topics and will help you to select a research project later on.

  • Topics:
    Introduction into current areas of pharmaceutical
    research from pharmaceutical biology, pharmaceutical and
    medical chemistry, pharmaceutical technology, clinical
    pharmacy and pharmacology
  • Lecturers:
    PIs of the different working groups at the Institute
  • Time:
    Each lecture will take 1-2 hours
  • Schedule:
    The schedule of the lecture series will be communicated via the Blackboard course “Current Topics”, the announcements in the Blackboard course “Introdcution to the Master’s Program”, or via the e-mail list at the beginning of each semester.

The seminar

Introducing a specific research topic in just 1-2 hour lectures often requires reducing the information. Also, lectures often show a polished version of the story behind the research. However, the day-to-day struggles in the research lab can deviate quite a bit from the final outcome. On the way to a final discovery, product, or article, a lot of  setbacks and problems are often encountered. Research in a working group is often driven forward over such obstacles by discussing such unpolished results and problems in a smaller setting, i.e. the research seminars of the working group.

To give you a first “peek behind the curtain” and introduce you to such a setting, we organized the seminar “Current Topics” differently than a standard seminar: Rather than trying a one-fits-all approach, the seminar can be customized by you. You can participate in such research seminars of the different working groups, join the discussion and get a first hand insight into the different groups.

These seminars are also a great starting point to get in touch with prospective supervisors for your research project or your master thesis.

You can get to know the working group and see whether it might be an interesting field for you to work in. At the seminars you can  talk to the group members, visit the labs, and express your interest in joining a group.

How does it work, when are the seminars, and how to sign up?
For the successful completion of the seminar part of the module, 14 seminars have to be attended. These can, and should, be distributed over different working group seminars.

The preliminary dates for the working group seminars can be found under the module “Pharmaceutical Research Project” in the electronic course catalog.

However, schedules of these working group meetings/seminars can often change!
Thus, prior to participation in the seminars, please contact the respective PI or a contact person that is mentioned in the course catalog to arrange your attendance.

Completion:
14 seminar meetings need to be attended.
These are not restricted to the lecture period during the semester. The working group seminars will continue during the breaks between the lecture periods, i.e. the “semester breaks”.

However, the whole module should be completed within 1 semester (maximum 2 semesters).

Documentation:
To document your attendance in these seminar meetings you will need to fill out the attendance form. Here, you need to fill in the date and the name of the seminar/working group and get a signature of the respective PI after the meeting.
The form can be downloaded from the forms section in the blackboard course “Introduction to the Master’s Program”.
After completion of all seminars and the completion of your examination (see below), please hand in the form to Prof. D. Klinger. The form looks like this:

Special seminars:
In addition to the research seminars of the working groups, certain other types of seminars, presentations, workshops can be attended and count as one of the 14 seminars on your form. For a signature, please find one of the professors from the Institute of Pharmacy at the end of such a special seminar to sign off your attendance. Regular special seminars include:

  • The Pharmaceutical Research Colloquium 
    Invited presentations by international researchers presenting their work at the Institute of Pharmacy.
  • The DPhG lecture series
    Invited lectures by renowned scientists organized by the Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft (DPhG)

Other irregular special seminars might be available from time to time and will be announced via, Blackboard, the showcase at the Institute, or via the e-mail list.

The examination: your presentation

In order to complete the module and obtain 5 CPs you need to pass the examination. Since the aim of this module is to introduce you more and more into the research procedure, the examination will be a scientific presentation. You will need to give a short presentation (<30 min) on a specific research topic during a working group seminar of your choice. This examination needs to be organized by yourself.

Organizing your examination:
After you have attended a couple of working group seminars in different groups, you might have already a preference for a specific research area. If you have identified such an area, please contact the professor of the respective working group and express your interest in performing the examination presentation in the group. You might suggest a topic by yourself or you can ask whether the professor can provide you with a topic.

Hint: If you have already scheduled a research project in a specific working group, the examination presentation for the module “Current Topics” might be a perfect way to give a literature overview on the topic of your research project… Something that can be discussed with the respective professor.

Examination type:
short presentation on a scientifc topic.

The presentation should be completed within 1 semester (maximum 2 semesters).

Graded:
yes