Requirements - Theory-labs separately (Biophysics)

Department: Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology, Biophysics Division
Semester recommended for taking the subject: 1st year, 1st semester
Semester for the regular course: 1st
Prerequisites of the course: no prerequisites
Teaching staff: Prof. Dr. Péter Nagy and members of the Department
Educational advisor: Dr. Zsolt Fazekas

Aim of the course: The course is aimed at providing the necessary theoretical background for the understanding the physical principles applied in biology and medicine, and for the description of the physical processes in living organisms. The course introduces students to biophysical techniques facilitating (1) the understanding of the pathomechanism of diseases; (2)  development of novel therapeutic approaches; (3) development of novel diagnostic tools: e.g. ECG, MRI, PET; (4) understanding the functioning of cells, tissues and organs at the molecular level in order to provide a solid background for Physiology, Clinical Physiology and Radiology
 
Short description of the course: Students will be introduced to the quantitative description of the physical basis of selected topics in biology and medicine.

Structure of the course

  • Introduction to natural sciences (e.g. basic principles of atomic and nuclear physics)
  • Medical physics (e.g. physical principles of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures)
  • Molecular biophysics (e.g. diffusion, membrane biophysics)
  • Organ biophysics (e.g. vision, hearing, circulation)

Compulsory reading

  • Medical Biophysics (Editors: S. Damjanovich, J. Fidy, J. Szöllősi, Medicina, Budapest, 2009, ISBN: 978-963-226-127-0)
  • Educational material published on the Moodle link provided on the web page of the Department.

Web page of the Department: http://biophys.med.unideb.hu/en and the link to the Moodle within.

Exam: Written exam during the exam period after the 1st semester.

Lectures

  • Attendance to lectures is emphatically recommended. All material covered in lectures is an integral part of the subject, and therefore included in the self-control tests and the final exam. Some new concepts and ideas are discussed in the lectures only and are not present in the textbook.

Seminars

  • Attendance to seminars is compulsory, however, a student may miss maximum 7 (seven) seminars. Students may attend the seminars according to their group assignment only. In the seminars, students are encouraged to ask questions related to the topic of the lectures discussed (see timetable of lectures and seminars). Besides, students may prepare short presentations (7-15 minutes) about the topic of the seminars (max. 2 students/seminar). The topic list for short presentations is posted to the web page of the Department. The talks are graded on a scale of 0-3. This grade counts toward the bonus points earned during the semester. Students obtaining less than 3 points for the presentation may prepare an additional one (in the student’s own group) given that spots are still available. In this case the better score is considered for bonus points (the two presentations are not cumulative). To get the maximum 3 points for the presentation the followings must be fulfilled:
    •  keeping the allocated time (min. 7, max. 15 min);
    •  good quality of the figures (axis labels, color combinations, appropriate resolution);
    •  simply reading the text from the slides is not appropriate
    •  teaching merit of the presentation (too many slides without proper explanation is not accepted here).
  •  The presenting student must show up at the beginning of the class to allow time for file uploading and technical arrangements; students arriving late may be denied of the chance to present their work.

 Exemptions

  • Requests for exemptions must be turned in to the Educational Office. The Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology does not accept such applications.
  • Conditions for signing the lecture book
    • 7 or fewer absences from seminars;

Self-control tests

  • There will be 2 self-control tests (SCT) during the semester (week 8 and week 11).
  • Topics for the 1st SCT: lectures up to (including) week 5, and discussed on seminars on week 6.
  • Topics for the 2nd SCT: lectures up to (including) week 9, and discussed on seminars on week 10. Approximately 90% of the questions will focus on the topics not included in the 1st SCT.
  • None of the SCTs is obligatory. The type of the questions will be similar to those on the final exam (FE). The SCTs will include five minimum requirement questions as well proportional to the SCT topics plus the physics background questions. Each SCT will be graded (0-100 %, 0% for absence) and the results of the two SCTs will be averaged (Xave). The missed test is counted as 0% in the calculation of the average. Missed SCTs cannot be made up at a later time. Based on the written tests students may obtain the following bonus points and exceptions from the final exam:
    • if Xave is at least 66 points, the student is exempted from part II of the biophysics final exam (see below);
    • according to Xave SCT bonus points earned to the FE are as follows:
      • XaveSCT bonus pointsXaveBonus pointsXavebonus points
      • 0-34.99 – 0p
      • 35-49.99 – 5p
      • 50-54.99 – 6p
      • 55-60.99 – 7p
      • 61-65.99 – 8p
      • 66-72.99 – 9p
      • 73-78.99 – 10p
      • 79 and above – 11p
      • 85 and above – see below
    • if Xave is at least 85, the student is eligible for a grade-offering oral exam conducted at the end of the semester, where – based on his/her performance – grades 4 or 5 can be offered. Topics of the oral exam only include the lectures that were not included in the two SCTs (i.e. lectures from Week 10 on).
    • If the student does not show up in the oral exam or his/her performance is not sufficient on the grade-offering exam, no grades are offered and the student should take the regular written FE during the exam period.

Final Examination (FE)

  • Students have three chances (A,B,C) for passing the biophysics final exam in the winter exam period after the semester in which the course was taken.
  • The FE consists of 2 parts:
  • Part I: Minimum requirement questions. It consists of a written quiz of 20 minimum requirement questions. One must pass this part to have the written test (part II.) evaluated. Minimum requirement questions and the answers thereto are provided on the website of the Department. 16 out of 20 have to be answered correctly in order to pass this part. Exemption from this part of the FE is discussed in 5. i). This part is evaluated as pass or fail, once passed it is valid for further exam chances (B- or C-chance) of the FE. The result of the minimum requirement questions are not counted into the result of the written test (part II. of the FE).
  • Part II: Written exam. It consists of essays, fill-in-the-missing-phrase type questions, relation analysis and various simple test and multiple-choice questions etc. Part II will only be evaluated if part I is passed. The total bonus for the semester (SCT bonus points (max. 11) + seminar bonus points (max. 3) will be added to the score of the written exam ONLY IF a minimum score of 45% is achieved in part II of the FE. Additional exemptions are in point 5. (Self-control tests) i.

Evaluation of the FE:

  • Grade is calculated based on the sum of written exam score + bonus points (see conditions for the bonus points above) 

Grade

  • written exam score + bonus points
    • fail (1)            0- 54.99
    • pass (2)        60 - 64.99
    • satisfactory (3)    70 - 74.99
    • good (4)        80 - 84.99
    • excellent (5)        85 -

Rules for C-chance exams:

  • C-chance exams are conducted by a committee. Exemptions regarding Part I of the FE gained in the given semester apply to the C-chance as well. The evaluation process of the C-chance exam differs from the regular procedure (A- and B-chance) in the following aspects:
    • Part II is evaluated even if Part I is failed.
    • If either Part I or Part II is failed, an oral exam is conducted.
    • If the student passes all two parts of the FE (either based on exemptions or the C-chance written results), the grade will be determined by the result of part II.        
  • Dates, sites and detailed instructions for SCTs and the FE will be announced on the notice board of the Department of Biophysics and Cell Biology and on the educational web site.

Rules for the usage of calculators during self-control tests and the final examination

  • In order to ensure a fair evaluation, to avoid disturbances in the testing room, and to protect the security of the test material the following types of calculators are NOT permitted:
    • calculators with built-in computer algebra systems (capable of simplifying algebraic expressions)
    • pocket organizers, handheld or laptop computers
    • any device capable of storing text. Calculators with a typewriter keypad (so-called QWERTY devices), electronic writing pads and pen-input devices are not allowed either. Calculators with letters on the keys (e.g. for entering hexadecimal numbers or variable names) are permitted as long as the keys are not arranged in QWERTY format.
    • Calculators or other devices capable of communicating with other devices
    • Calculators built into wireless phones
    • Calculators with paper tape or models that make noise
  •  In general, students may use any four-function, scientific or graphing calculator except as specified above. However, we reserve the right to prohibit the usage of ANY type of calculator, computer and data storage and retrieval device during some tests if no calculations or only very simple calculations are necessary. Sharing calculators during tests is not allowed, and the test proctor will not provide a calculator.

Information for repeaters

  •  attendance to seminars is compulsory (see point 2)
  •  all exemptions and bonuses obtained during the failed semester (self-control tests, exemption from minimals) are lost
  •  according to the relevant rules (point 5) self-control tests may be written and exemptions may be obtained again
  •  in the case of schedule collisions with 2nd year classes we ask students to choose the 2nd year groups such that conflicts with the 1st year subjects can be avoided.

Information for Exam Course students

  • Points 1-5 and 8 are irrelevant.
  • Rules regarding the exams (point 6-7) apply to the exam course completely.
  • Point 7 applies.
  • SCT and seminar bonus points and the exemption from taking part I of the exam are not valid for exam courses.  These are valid for the course in which they have been achieved, i.e. if one passes part I in a given exam course it will be valid for B and C chances of that exam course.

Further information:

  • Zsolt Fazekas, PhD, manager of education, Dept. of Biophysics and Cell Biology
  • E-mail: biophysedu@med.unideb.hu
  • Office hours: The location and time of office hours are posted on the website.

 

Last update: 2023. 06. 21. 13:32