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CHIM-H312

Biological Chemistry

academic year
2025-2026

Course teacher(s)

Kristin BARTIK (Coordinator)

ECTS credits

5

Language(s) of instruction

english

Course content

Part I: Structure of organic molecules (stereochemistry, chirality, conformation).
PART II: Structure and function of biomolecules (carbohydrates, proteins, nucleic acids, lipids) and introduction to metabolism.

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

This course aims to give the fundamentals of organic chemistry in order to explain biological processes at the molecular level.
The objective is for students to acquire the basic knowledge of the chemistry of living organisms.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

General Chemistry

Cours ayant celui-ci comme co-requis

Teaching methods and learning activities

PART I
Interactive face-to-face lectures based on a powerpoint presentation.
Face-to-face supervised exercises carried out for the purpose of consolidation, reminder, control or discovery of theoretical knowledge.

PART II
Self-learning, tutorials and a lab-based project.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Organic chemistry: structure and function, K.P.C. Vollhardt and N.E. Schore (2007 - 5th Edition), Freeman.
Organic Chemistry: a biological approach, J. McMurry (2007), Thomson.
Fundamentals of biochemistry: life at the molecular level, D. Voet, J.G. Voet and C.W. Pratt (2006 - 2nd edition), Wiley.
Biochemistry, J.M. Berg, J.L. Tymoczko and L. Stryer (2007 - 6th Edition), Freeman.
Foundations of Chemical Biology, C.M. Dobson, J.A. Gerrard and A.J. Pratt (2001), Oxford Chemistry Primers, OUP.

Course notes

  • Université virtuelle

Contribution to the teaching profile

This teaching unit contributes to the following competences : Understand the chemical processes whithin and related to living organisms

Other information

Contacts

Prof. Kristin Bartik : kristin.bartik@ulb.be
Dr Karolis Norvaisa : karolis.norvaisa@ulb.be
Dr Maurice Retour : maurice.retout@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

  • written examination
  • Group work

written examination

  • Open question with short answer
  • Open question with developed answer

Group work

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Written exam : 70% 
Project : 30% 
Final grade = weighted geometrical average = (exam)0.7*(project)0.3

Language(s) of evaluation

  • english

Programmes