Hopkins Microbiology Course

     ...four weeks of intense learning activity focused on microbes and microbial life.  Our approach is integrative, holistic and concept based.  The study of microbes is placed firmly within the physiological, ecological (biogeochemical), genetic and evolutionary framework.

     ...exposure to a wealth of new ideas and concepts. Dedicated faculty and experienced teaching assistants are continuously on hand to offer guidance and expertise.

    ...seminars ranging from the factual to the philosophical.  Practical work forms a large part of the course and provides students with hands-on experience in isolation of a wide range of microbes, experimental evolution, population genetics, clone library construction, and bioinformatic analysis.  The course experiments are not “canned” and you will make new discoveries.

By the end of the course you will have a broad, fundamental understanding of the key concepts of microbial life and how they interconnect to each other. In addition you will have a solid set of experimental tools that enables you to address contemporary questions in microbial biology.

The HMC is more than an introduction to microbiology: the course provides a factual background in key aspects of microbial biology, but, in keeping in the tradition of van Niel’s teaching, there is a strong emphasis on concepts, ideas, questions and the placement of microbiological knowledge within a broader and more mainstream context.  A background in microbiology is not essential, but it is an advantage.  Important is a mature approach to learning and a desire to go beyond the undergraduate lecture theatre environment.

Guest speakers confirmed so far for 2010 include (in alphabetical order):

Devaki Bhaya, Carnegie Institution/Stanford University

Paul Blainey, Stanford University

Colleen Cavanaugh, Harvard University

Shelley Copley, University of Colorado

Katrina Edwards, University of Southern California

Jed Fuhrman, University of Southern California

Arthur Grossman, Carnegie Institution/Stanford University

John Hayes, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Philip Hugenholtz, Joint Genome Institute

Ken Johnson, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Kostas Konstantinidis, Georgia Institute of Technology

Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Forest Rohwer, San Diego State University

John Roth, University of California Davis

Chris Scholin, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Rolf Thauer, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany