Elective courses
The Research Studies Board offers three recurring elective courses: Writing, Reviewing and Publishing Scientific Papers, Systematic review and meta-analysis: Introduction to Cochrane methodology, and Laboratory animal science for researchers.
Course dates
Spring 2025
In Swedish: 28/3, 31/3, 1/4 + 11/4
In English: 2/6, 3/6, 4/6 + 16/6
Course Leaders
Jan Lexell jan [dot] lexell [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (jan[dot]lexell[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se),
Christina Brogårdh christina [dot] brogardh [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (christina[dot]brogardh[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Target group
PhD students at the Faculty of Medicine, with priority given to those who have passed their halfway review.
Purpose
The aim of the course is for the doctoral student to deepen their knowledge and skills around the publication process and how to write and review a scientific manuscript.
Outline
The teaching takes place mainly through interactive educational activities. The course includes lectures, reviewing of scientific articles, group work, discussions, practical applications and independent study. The course is given during five days and starts with three course days, then one day of independent work, and ends 2 weeks later with one course day.
Course dates
Spring 2025:
Week 21, 19-23 May. Mornings are in class and the afternoons consist of individual work.
Course organizers
Matteo Bruschettini matteo [dot] bruschettini [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (matteo[dot]bruschettini[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Martin Ringsten martin [dot] ringsten [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (martin[dot]ringsten[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Examinator
Stefan Hansson stefan [dot] hansson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (stefan[dot]hansson[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Target group
The one week course is aimed towards PhD students and researchers at the Faculty of Medicine.
Participation is free for PhD students from European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Other external participants might require a fee for participation, see more on Cochrane Sweden’s website for this course.
Description
The course is aimed at PhD students and researchers who wants to increase their knowledge about how to conduct a systematic review or evidence synthesis. The course is also relevant for people who will use systematic reviews, evidence synthesis or results from randomized trials to inform decisions in healthcare (clinicians, decision makers, guideline developers, or policy makers).
The course aims to introduce and increase participants knowledge about the Cochrane methodology to systematic reviews with a focus on systematic reviews of interventions. During the week we will go through the process from the initial idea and research question that can be explored in a systematic review, tools to support the systematic review process, risk of bias, meta-analysis, the GRADE-approach to judge uncertainty, best practice reporting of results in reviews, and the use of systematic reviews in guidelines and decision making.
The course will include lecturers and facilitators from several Cochrane Centers, each within their expert area. Lectures will be mixed with discussions and working in groups with exercises in the mornings, and after lunch participants will work individually within the Cochrane Interactive Learning-modules. There will be time to ask individual questions to our lecturers and facilitators about your own potential reviews or other evidence-related questions during the week.
Location
The course will be aimed to be conducted on campus in Lund for all days.
Examination
To pass the course you will need to attend the days in class, have an active participation in discussions and teamwork during these days, and completion of the module 1-8 and quizzes in Cochrane Interactive Learning.
Credits
The course is rewarded with 1,5 ECTS credits (equal to one week full time studies) for enrolled PhD students. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance for the course.
Resources and literature
Cochrane Interactive Learning modules, available from https://training.cochrane.org/interactivelearning
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, available for free from https://training.cochrane.org/handbook
Additional articles, books and some pre-course work will be handed out before the course starts.
Registration
You can register through the link in the right hand margin. Chose the correct date of the course. If you are an external participant (outside of Lund University), please clearly state this and your affiliation and professional title in “Other comments”, and try to fill the other information in as good as possible (if not relevant leave blank)
Course leader
Lena Uller, Docent, Respiratorisk Immunofarmakologi, Institutionen för experimentell medicinsk vetenskap, Lund
Examiner
Lena Uller
Target Group
This is a compulsory course for doctoral students at Lunds University who aim to work with animals. You will register specifically for the species you aim to work with. No previous qualifications required. The course is equivalent to a FELASA B level but not yet formally certified by Felasa.
Credits
3 University credits for the full course, 2 credits when the practical part is not completed.
Time & Place
This is a web-based education using Canvas Catalog. You work on your own time at your own computer.
Content of the course
The course is in English and contains 15 modules
- Module 1: Ethics and Animal Use
- Module 2: Swedish Legislation
- Module 3: Animal Records
- Module 4: Identification Methods
- Module 5: Humane Endpoints
- Self-assessments Legislation, Animal Records, ID & Humane Endpoints
- Module 6: Biology
- Module 7: Ethology
- Module 8: Husbandry
- Module 9: Animal Care and Supervision
- Self-assessments Husbandry, Animal Care and Supervision
- Module 10: Anaesthesia, Analgesia and Euthanasia
- Module 11: Diseases in Laboratory Animals
- Module 12: Animal Experimental Methodology
- Module 13: Genetically Modified Organisms
- Module 14: Alternative Methods
- Module 15: Safety in Biomedical Facilities
To complete the course
Estimated time to complete the course is 40 h. The different modules will be examined continuously with self-assessments. Upon completing the theoretical part, there is a practical part which extent depends on your planned upcoming practical activities. Upon this you will receive a certificate valid for operate with animals.
Course literature
All literature is available on Canvas Catalog with additional links to Internet sites, which contain further information.
If you have questions about the course, please contact: djurutbildning [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (djurutbildning[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Training in Laboratory Animal Science - to apply (Lund University Staff Pages)
Other elective courses are offered as needed and are published on this website as they become available. If you have suggestions for an elective course that you would like to take and that you think we should offer, please contact PhDcourses [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (PhDcourses[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Course dates
Spring 2025:
Week 11-13, 10th-28th of March. Lectures are held in the mornings in class and the afternoons consist of individual work from the 10th-21st of March and labs from the 24th-27th of March; examination in the form of a presentation on 28th of March.
Course organizers
Nils Norlin Nils [dot] Norlin [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Nils[dot]Norlin[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Ritha Gidlöf Ritha [dot] Gidlof [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Ritha[dot]Gidlof[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Examinator
Gunilla Westergren-Thorsson Gunilla [dot] Westergren-Thorsson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Gunilla[dot]Westergren-Thorsson[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Target group
The course is aimed towards PhD students and researchers at the Faculty of Medicine.
Participation is free for PhD students from European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Other external participants might require a fee for participation for this course.
Description
The course is aimed at PhD students and researchers who wants to increase their knowledge about how to perform preclinical imaging in general.
At Lund University Bioimaging Center (LBIC) our mission is to combine knowledge in the fields of medical physics, preclinical and clinical medicine, chemistry, technology and applied mathematics in order to provide and develop imaging methods for the advanced study of human morphology, cellular metabolism and physiological function in health and disease.
In the preclinical arena, LBICs infrastructure provides equipment for both in-vivo, ex-vivo and in-vitro imaging. This graduate course aims to give PhD students, post-docs, researchers and others theoretical and practical experiences of LBICs preclinical imaging modalities as well as give an overview about the current state-of-the-art. The course will touch upon advanced light microscopy techniques (confocal, STORM, TIRF), electron microscopy (TEM/SEM) and the in vivo imaging techniques PET, SPECT, CT and MRI and upcoming (imaging based) omics methods for molecular profiling of tissues and cells. The course provides a base which helps to incorporate different imaging technologies into the scientific questions to be answered within biomedical research.
There will be time to ask individual questions to our lecturers about your own potential imaging research questions during the course.
Location
The course will be aimed to be conducted on campus in Lund for all days.
Examination
To pass the course you will need to attend the days in class, have an active participation in discussions and teamwork during these days, and completion of all the labs as well as hold a group presentation as the examination.
Credits
The course is rewarded with 3 ECTS credits (equal to three weeks full time studies) for enrolled PhD students. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance for the course.
Resources and literature
1) Molecular Imaging, Basic principles and Applications in Biomedical Research,
2nd Edition, Imperial College Press, Markus Rudin
2) Sample preparation - Handbook for Transmission Electron Microscopy,
Springer, Jeanne Ayache.
3) Handbook of Sample Preparation for Scanning Electron Microscopy,
Springer, Patrick Echlin
4) In Vivo NMR Imaging Methods and Protocols,
Humana Press, Leif Schröder and Cornelius Faber editors
Complementary material will be handed out during the course. These will also be available on Libguide.
Registration
You can register through the link in the right hand margin. If you are an external participant (outside of Lund University), please clearly state this and your affiliation and professional title in “Other comments”, and try to fill the other information in as good as possible (if not relevant leave blank)
3 credits
Course dates
Spring 2025 February 10- March 7
This is a part-time course conducted on campus.
Preliminary dates: 10/2, 11/2, 12/2 18/2, 25/2, 26/2 6/3
Number of participants: 16
Course Leaders
Lina Magnusson Lina [dot] Magnusson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (Lina[dot]Magnusson[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se)
Target group
The target group is doctoral students who are to conduct qualitative studies within the framework of their third-cycle studies at the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University. Researchers who hold a doctoral degree and doctoral students from other faculties or higher education institutions may be admitted to the course subject to the availability of places.
Language of instruction
English
Objective
The course provides an introduction for the participants on how to apply qualitative methodology.
Course design
The course is made up of lectures, group discussions and seminars. The course concludes with a seminar that includes a presentation of the student’s plan and peer review of another student’s plan for a qualitative study.
Course content
The course includes study design of qualitative studies and different types of qualitative data collection methods. The course focuses on common qualitative data analysis methods in medical and health sciences research. Reliability aspects in relation to qualitative methodology are introduced and discussed in relation to the various parts of the qualitative research process. The seminars and assignments in the course are designed to enable the students to work according to a plan that includes a research question, data collection method and preliminary analysis of pilot interviews and/or focus group discussions that relate to the student’s own area of research.
Course leaders
Patrik Önnerfjord (patrik [dot] onnerfjord [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se)
Lotta Happonen (lotta [dot] happonen [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se)
Examiner
Prof. Johan Malmström (johan [dot] malmstrom [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se)
Target group
PhD students at the Faculty of Medicine
Scope
The course equals one week (1.5 ECTS credits). Five days are scheduled as well as some some self-studies.
Place
This course will be given physically and partly digitally.
Time
Autumn 2024. Week 49 (Dec2-Dec6). Self-studies the week before the start of the course are included (about 4 hours), consisting of reading course literature and part one of the assignment. Compulsory attendance all days from 8-16.
Number of participants
Max 12
Language
English
General information
This is an electable course for PhD students who are interested in learning more about biological mass spectrometry and clinical proteomics. Mass spectrometry (MS) is a technique to measure the molecular weight (m/z) of biomolecules such as proteins or peptides. Proteomics describes the large-scale analysis of proteins in a biological sample and MS based proteomics is used extensively in the life science area with numerous applications spanning from basic research questions to precision medicine e.g. in the hospital where MS is used for bacterial phenotyping in acute sepsis to select the effective drug treatment and thereby save lives. Clinical proteomics focus on clinical samples such as tissues, cells and various biological fluids, that need special considerations to be successful. There are local infrastructures for biological mass spectrometry available at the Medical Faculty: translational proteomics (CTP), structural proteomics (SciLifelab) as well as the national resource for biological MS (BioMS).
The aim of the course is to provide the students with an introduction to current methodologies in the field of MS-based proteomics. The students should obtain an overview of typical proteomics applications and be introduced to proteomics experimental workflows to enable the technology to be included in their own research project.
Learning objectives: On completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- explain the basic principles of mass spectrometry and proteomics
- understand how biological MS can be used in a wider perspective as for example to obtain critical sequence information from unknown proteins, and how MS can be used to investigate protein structure and protein-protein interactions
- perform basic MS data analysis including identification and quantification of proteins
- describe and suggest analytical approaches to biological questions – discuss advantages and limitations
- participate in scientific discussions regarding proteomics technologies and critically evaluate scientific results
- plan how to incorporate mass spectrometry/proteomics into your own PhD work and enable this versatile high-performance technology to potentially improve your individual research project
Content and design
The course will cover basic principles of mass spectrometry, separation of proteins and peptides, sample preparation techniques, data acquisition methods, data analysis, analysis of post-translational modifications (PTMs) and bioinformatics analysis. There will also be invited lectures (senior researchers within biological MS and clinical proteomics) that will include specific applications in various research areas.
Learning activities include lectures, group exercises, instrument demos (to generate MS data) and a round tour at BMC D13. Participants are expected to have access to a laptop.
Furthermore, the course includes one compulsory assignment, in which the doctoral student is to reflect on a research situation (preferably from their own PhD-project) where biological mass spectrometry might be used, present it for the course participants and finally propose in writing how this technology can be used to enrich the previously described research situation.
Assessment
To pass the course, approved individual assignment is needed in addition to active participation in all course events.
Grades
The grades awarded are Pass and Fail.
Admission requirements
Applicants admitted to research studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Lund are prioritized.
Literature
Selected research articles and other study materials will be made available before and during the course.
Course leader
Fredrik Ek (Fredrik [dot] Ek [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (fredrik[dot]ek[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se))
Ana Carneiro (Ana [dot] Carneiro [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (ana[dot]carneiro[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se))
Examiner
Marcus Järås (Marcus [dot] Jaras [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (marcus[dot]jaras[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se))
Target group
Ph.D. students at a Faculty of Medicine
Language
English
Scope
The course equals two week (3 hp/credits). 10 days are scheduled, as well as self-studies.
Place
See schedule
Number of participants
15
Course content
The course covers the general process for development of a new drug from preclinical discovery via pre-clinical development and clinical trials. The course will address scientific, strategic and regulatory challenges from discovery to approval of a new drug and also includes key methods and terminology. It also covers the importance of the professional groups that are involved in the different phases of the development of a new drug. This course will prepare you for future work in the pharmaceutical industry as well as work in academia regarding innovations, early drug development and entrepreneurship.
Learning outcomes
- give an account of drug development from discovery to registration of a new
- drug and describe commonly occurring methods associated with drug development.
- give an account of important breakpoints in the drug development process
- give an account of different types of patents that occur in drug development
- describe the laws and rules that control the development of a new drug in the pre-clinical and clinical phase
- describe the different phases of the clinical development
- give an account of different possibilities for funding drug development in the preclinical and clinical phase
- participate in teamwork to provide theoretical and practical solutions for assignments related to drug development and clinical trials
- behave with a professional approach, respect others' opinions in discussions of drug development and clinical trials and meet set deadlines
- reflect on ethical considerations during the drug development process
- reflect on different strategies to achieve scientific, market-related and regulatory goals during drug development
Course design
The fundament in the course is seminars by experts mainly from the Life science industry, but also from Region Skåne and Lund University. In addition to seminars, the students will carry out team-based activities. The working methods in the course mostly involve active learning, requiring the students to prepare before each teaching component. The students are expected to behave professionally and, just as in a future work situation, participate constructively in team-based activities.
Assessment
Multiple-choice questions to test learning outcomes for knowledge and understanding. If there are special reasons, other forms of assessment may apply. The examiner, in consultation with Disability Support Services, may deviate from the regular form of examination in order to provide a permanently disabled student with a form of examination equivalent to that of a student without a disability.
Grades
Marking scale: Fail or Pass.
To achieve the grade of Pass as a final grade, the grade of Pass is required on the multiple-choice question test.
Entry requirements
PhD students at a Medical faculty.
Literature
Relevant articles will be distributed to the students during the course. The students will also search for relevant information themselves.
Course leader
Karin Engström (karin [dot] engstrom [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se)
Examiner
Helena Persson
Target group:
Ph.D. students at the Faculty of Medicine
Scope
The course equals one week (1.5 ECTS credits). Five days are scheduled, as well as self-studies.
Place
BMC E11073 Rådslaget
Time
Autumn 2024 - Week 38 (September 16-20)
Monday-Thursday 9-16. For the last day, attendance on-site is not compulsory.
Number of participants
24
Language
English
Objectives
The purpose of the course is to provide basic knowledge of the programming language R to facilitate independent future use of applications written and / or implemented in this language, such as statistical analysis programs.
Learning outcomes
On completion of the course, the student shall be able to:
• perform basic data operations using R
• identify potential pitfalls when handling data with R
• create basic and visually appealing diagrams using R
• identify online resources to independently answer questions and troubleshoot when programming in R
Content
This course introduces students to the basic terms and concepts used within programming. The focus is on the handling of data with R, e.g., importing it into RStudio/Posit, summarising, cross-referencing, merging, creating new data. Different forms of relevant and graphically appealing visualisations will also be covered, as well as exporting the data and diagrams created in different formats. Packages in the Tidyverse software collection are used.
Design
A pre-course assignment involves installing RStudio/Posit and studying basic programming concepts and terminology with the help of provided course literature. Access to a laptop computer is required. The course consists of four compulsory full days. Teaching methods include lectures, programming demonstrations, and individual exercises. On the final day of the course, students work independently on the examination, with teachers available online. On-site participation is not compulsory during the final day of the course. Students who are unable to participate in the compulsory classes have the opportunity to work on the specified exercises on their own and to contact the teachers according to their scheduled availability.
Assessment
The examination consists of solving assignments using programming in R. The programming scripts that are used to answer the questions are then sent to the teachers for evaluation.
Grades
The grades awarded are Pass and Fail.
Admission requirements
Applicants who are admitted to postgraduate studies at Lund University are given priority. Other applicants affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine can be accepted if there are vacancies.
Required reading
Literature on programming concepts distributed before the start of the course.
3 credits (half-time)
Dates: November 4–29, 2024
Course content and aim: The course provides the participants with in-depth knowledge of different methods in regression analysis and how these methods can be applied in medical research.
The course consists of the following five themes:
- Introduction to theory and methods of regression analysis
- Linear regression for continuous outcomes: analysis, diagnostics, and robust methods. Analysis of variance (ANOVA).
- Logistic regression for binary outcomes: analysis, interpretation, and diagnostics. Prediction of outcome probabilities and transformation of parameter estimates into risk ratios and risk differences.
- Ordinal and multinomial logistic regression for categorical outcomes: analysis, interpretation, and diagnostics. Prediction av outcome probabilities.
- Poisson regression and other methods for count data: analysis, interpretation, and diagnostics. Prediction of outcome probabilities.
Schedule:
Monday November 4: Individual preparations, such as learning basic Stata commands. (Note: Participants can choose between the statistical programs Stata and R.) An introductory material to Stata for beginners will be sent out.
Tuesday November 5: Lectures and exercises 9–16
Thursday November 7: Lectures and exercises 9–16
Tuesday November 12: Lectures and exercises 9–16
Thursday November 14: Lectures and exercises 9–16
Monday November 18: Lectures and exercises 9–16
Tuesday November 19–Thursday November 21: Group projects (expected time to spend: 2 days)
Friday November 22: Project presentations 9–12
Monday November 25 – Friday November 29: Take-home exam (expected time to spend: 1–2 days)
Course teachers:
Anton Nilsson, associate professor, PhD, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University (anton [dot] nilsson [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (anton[dot]nilsson[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se))
Pär-Ola Bendahl, associate professor, PhD, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University (par-ola [dot] bendahl [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (par-ola[dot]bendahl[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se))
Sara Ekberg, PhD, Red Door Analytics (sara [at] reddooranalytics [dot] se)
Course examiner:
Jonas Björk, professor, PhD, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Lund University (Jonas [dot] Bjork [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se (jonas[dot]bjork[at]med[dot]lu[dot]se))
Language: English
Target group: PhD students in medicine. Participants should have passed Applied Statistics I and II, or equivalent.
Number of participants: 20
Location: Lund
Literature:
- Vach, W. Regression models as a tool in medical research. CRC Press, 1st ed., 2013. (Available as an e-book at the Lund University Library.)
- Additional readings that will be made available to the participants.
- Activity balance during health, ill health and sickness
- Collecting and using biobank samples in research
- Applied Epidemiology and statistics III: Causal inference with non-randomized data
- Approaches to handling of missing data (samarbete med GU - online course)
- Basic Data Handling and Visualization with R
- Clinical proteomics and biological mass spectrometry
- Complex interventions in health care with a special focus on the care of adults and older persons
- Diabetes research
- Drug development and clinical trials
- Epidemiology I - Introduction to Epidemiology
- Flow cytometry, introductory course
- Flow cytometry, continuation course
- Glycobiology
- Health and Environment with special focus on climate change and sustainability
- Introduction to programming
- MAX IV/ESS-based imaging for medical and biomedical research, experimental setup
- Medical Bioinformatics, Introduction
- Neutron scattering for medical and biomedical research, experimental part.
- Perspectives on gender and intersectionality in medical and health research
- Preclinical imaging
- Applied Epidemiology and Statistics III – Causal inference with non-randomised data
- Applied Qualitative Methodology II
- Applied Statistics III – Statistical methods for repeated measurements
- Applied Statistics III – Time Series Analysis in Clinical and Environmental Epidemiology
- Applied Statistics III – Survival Analysis
- X-ray micro- and nanoimaging for medical and biomedical research, experimental part
Contact
phdcourses [at] med [dot] lu [dot] se
Courses within COMPUTE
More information on the research school's website.
Courses in Life Science
Read more on the website for Center for Molecule Protein Science (CPMS).
Courses within the Research School Agenda 2030
More information on the research school's website.
Support for systematic reviews
If you are going to conduct a literature review or systematic review, or update clinical guidelines, you can get help with keywords, literature searches, method tools and registration of protocols.