This course will focus on a few individual chemicals and pathogens from different standpoints: their basic chemistry or biology, their environmental behavior, (eco)toxicology, and human health impacts. The course will draw out the common points in each chemical or pathogen's history.

This course is focused on environmental transformation reactions of organic chemical contaminants. An overview of important fate processes of organic pollutants will be given, along with a discussion of the factors that determine pathways and rates of transformation reactions. Special emphasis will be given to redox transformations, photochemical reactions, and enzyme-catalyzed processes.

Writing of a review paper of scientific quality on a topic in the domain of Human Health, Nutrition and Environment based on critical evaluation of scientific literature.

With excursions the students gain insights into scientific as well as practical aspects of various areas in which environmental chemistry and microbiology play a key role. Topics include a.o. waste water treatment, landfills, drinking water purification, impact of agriculture on surface water quality and environmental assessment of synthetic chemicals.

Important organic environmental pollutants are presented. The physical and chemical basics required for understanding the environmental behavior of such pollutants are taught and deepened in exercises.

Basics of Organic Chemistry.Reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry: substitutions, additions, eliminations, condensations, rearrangements, electrophilic aromatic substitution

First, the students learn how to analyze soil systems with physical, chemical and microbiological methods. Later, the students train their experimental skills by conducting kinetic experiments in the laboratory and by quantifying process rates under field conditions in a river.

The ability to critically evaluate original (scientific) literature and to summarise the information in a succinct manner is an important skill for any student. This course aims to practice this ability, requiring each student to write a term paper of scientific quality on a topic of relevance for research in the areas of biogeochemistry and pollutant dynamics.

This class is the 2nd part of a series and participation is conditional on the successful completion of "Term Paper 1: Writing". The results from the term paper written during the previous term are presented to the other students and advisors and discussed with the audience.