1. Bachelor’s degree (180 credits) or equivalent with a major in chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical technology, biomedical methods and technology, biomedical laboratory science, or in other areas of natural, medical, engineering sciences or technology of relevance to the programme with a minimum of 15 credits in chemistry and/or biochemistry.
2. The equivalent of English B, or English 6, in Swedish secondary school.
3. Passing 45 credits of the courses in the Master’s program semesters 1 and 2 or equivalent (transferable credits).

The course is given at the third semester of the Master’s Program in Biomedical Surface Science. The course is within the main field of the study and a mandatory course in the Master’s Program Biomedical Surface Science.

The aim of this course is to give the theoretical background and practical experience required to explain the role of surfaces in living systems, and to create, control and measure surface chemical properties of biological and artificial interfaces.

The course is project orientated with ties both to academy and the surrounding industry. The course is based on applied problems and contains surface-chemical techniques to study phenomena related to biological and artificial interfaces. Biocompatibility is used to illustrate the need of modifying or create artificial interfaces with specific properties. A large number of surface chemical methods are described for the characterization of air / liquid, liquid / liquid and solid surfaces. The activity of biological interfaces is investigated in projects that focus on immunoassays, enzyme activity, the development of biosensors, cell migration and wound healing.

Upon completion of the course the student should be able to

1. explain the role of surfaces in living systems, including problems of biocompatibility,
2. apply relevant methods for characterization of surface chemical and biological properties of biological and artificial interfaces,
3. explain theoretical relationships forming the basis of methods used in surface and colloidal chemistry in relation to biological and artificial interfaces,
4. compare methods and technologies used for creating or studying biological interfaces,
5. create artificial biological interfaces used in research, development and applications, and
6. modify the surface chemical properties of artificial interfaces.

The course is project oriented. To achieve the learning outcomes 1-6 problem-based learning based on laboratory projects are used together with group seminars. Independent laboratory work, oral and written result reports will be used to stimulate students' active participation and reflection in order to achieve the learning outcomes 3 and 4. Web based forms of reporting are used.

The learning outcomes 1-6 are examined through written examination, participation in seminars and project discussions and written project report.Assessment of learning outcomes 3 and 4 will be done by the final project report and oral presentations.

Right to Re-Take
Student who fail the exam are given the opportunity for two re-takes with the same course content and with the same requirements. The student also has the right to take the examination in the same course in the subsequent courses according to the same rule. Examination and re-takes are carried out at the times specified in the schedule.

Baszkin, A., Norde, W. (2000) Physical Chemistry of Biological Interfaces. N.Y.: Marcel Dekker, Inc., pp. 840. Norde, W. (2003) Colloids and Interfaces in Life Science. N.Y: Marcel Dekker, pp. 433.

Scientific articles will be added.

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format. The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.