The course provides a platform for the investigation, presentation and discussion of a topic with relevance to the field of pharmaceutical sciences. Students work in small groups on a chosen topic and present their work on a one day symposium.

Protein-based drugs constitute around 25% of new approvals and most of them are glycoproteins. Using selected examples of prominent glycoprotein drugs, the course aims at providing insight into glycosylation-activity relationships and into biotechnological production and analytics.

The lectures give an overview of selected drugs and the molecular mechanisms underlying their therapeutic effects in disease. The historical and modern-day methods by which these drugs were discovered and developed are described. Structure-function relationships and the biophysical rules underlying ligand-target interactions will be discussed and illustrated with examples.

The lectures give an overview of selected drugs and the molecular mechanisms underlying their therapeutic effects in disease. The historical and modern-day methods by which these drugs were discovered and developed are described. Structure-function relationships and the biophysical rules underlying ligand-target interactions will be discussed and illustrated with examples.

On average one drug per year is withdrawn from the market. Using selected examples of such drug failures, the course aims at analyzing and discussing the present explanations of drug actions as well as the design and predictive power of animal models and clinical trials. In addition, the ethical, societal, and economical expectations in new drugs shall be reflected and discussed.

The Pathobiology course explores the mechanisms underlying diseases and their clinical manifestations. We will use case reports focusing on common diseases, ranging from low to high urgency, to help students understand disease presentation and formulate plausible diagnoses.

The module is an introductory course fostering critical thinking about scientific concepts and methods in the natural sciences, particularly in pharmaceutical and biomedical research.