Handbook

Microscopic life pervades every aspect of our lives, influencing our health, diet, and environment. In this course you will gain an appreciation of the diverse roles that microbes play in our everyday lives. The course starts with a general introduction to Microbiology that will discuss cell structure, function, physiology, and diversity. The course then focuses on introducing students to specific areas of microbiology: Environmental Microbiology, Food Microbiology, Medical Microbiology, Microbes in Biotechnology, Virology, and Eukaryotic Microbiology. 

The lecture program is complemented by tutorials and laboratory practicals where you learn to cultivate, identify, and utilize microbes. During this course you will isolate and characterise a microbe from a sample of your choice. You will use both traditional approaches and DNA sequencing technologies to identify the microorganisms in your sample. 

By the end of the course you will have a broad appreciation of how the unseen microbes all around you influence you every day.