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This course teaches basic concepts in microbiology from a practical perspective. Through a combination of lectures and hands-on experimental work in the laboratory, it showcases applications of microbiology in the environmental sciences.

The basics of microbial cultivation techniques (batch, fed-batch, continuous culture), growth kinetics and their intimate link with microbial cell composition and physiology will be covered.

First a solid understanding of techniques to cultivate microbial cultures in the laboratory under defined conditions will be given. This will be the basis for a critical discussion of microbial response to stress conditions and on published microbial stress literature.

Teaching of basic knowledge in microbiology with main focus on the topics: Prokaryotic Diversity, Microbial Cell Structure and Function, Molecular Genetics, Microbial Growth, Metabolic Diversity, Phylogeny and Taxonomy, as well as applied aspects of Biotechnology and the Interaction of Humans and Microbes.

The course covers qualitative (chemistry and microbiology) and quantitative aspects of drinking water from the resource to the tap. Natural processes, anthropogenic pollution, legislation of groundwater and surface water and of drinking water as well as water treatment will be discussed for industrialized and developing countries.