The aims of the three components are:

·        Physical Chemistry of the Condensed State: this will describe the basic physical chemical concepts of processes in the condensed state,including electrochemical potentials, structure of liquids, conductivity of electrolytes, colloids and micelles. This is also aimed at achieving an understanding of the physical chemistry which underlies a number of important technologies, namely batteries and fuel cells, colloids and surfactants.

·        Protein Structure and Protein Folding: to discuss the application of basic physical chemistry concepts for describing protein structure and folding and to show how advanced physical chemistry methods are used for investigating these important aspects of proteins.

·        Atmospheric Photochemistry: The aim of this section is to give the students a broad view of the chemistry of the Earth''s atmosphere. The course will describe the structure of the Earth''s atmosphere, its categorisation into different layers and the physical processes that generate this structure. It will describe the different (photo)chemical processes that occur in different regions of the atmosphere, concentrating in particular on the photochemistry of the stratosphere. The course will conclude with a brief comparison of Earth''s atmosphere with that of one or more of the other planets or moons to illustrate the unusual nature of the Earth''s atmosphere.   

Ability to describe and discuss the physical chemistry underlying electrochemical cells, batteries and fuel cells, and to perform fundamental thermodynamic calculations on electrochemical cells.

Ability to apply the physicochemical knowledge gained in the course, including the relevant equations, to solve problems relating to the physical chemistry of the condensed state.

Ability to describe the physical chemistry of surfactants and colloids.

Ability to describe the experimental methods that are used to study protein structure and folding, to discuss their analysis, and to discuss and apply (quantitatively) the physical chemistry principles underlying these methods.

Ability to discuss the importance of protein structure and dynamics for understanding biological processes. 

Ability to analyse a Protein Databank entry and to create graphical representations of the structure of a protein highlighting different aspects.

Ability to discuss the chemistry occurring in different layers of the atmosphere and to relate this to thermodynamics and to the physical and chemical behaviour of different layers.

Ability to compare the physical chemistry of the Earth''s atmosphere to extra-terrestrial atmospheres.

Lecture -

Tutorial -

whole group problem classes

Workshop -

VMD sessions

Protein Structure and Protein Folding (8 lectures)

• Importance of 3D protein structure for function
• Protein structure classification: Primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary
• Secondary structural elements: alpha-helix, beta-sheets, turns
• Ramachandran plot
• Methods for protein structure determination: diffraction methods, NMR, CD, FTIR/Raman
• Physical chemistry background: protein crystallisation, diffraction, 2D-NMR, electronic and vibrational spectroscopies
• Levinthal paradoxon
• Forces relevant for protein folding; hydrophobic interaction
• Basic kinetic schemes encountered in protein folding, protein folding models
Observing the folding process - initialisation methods:
rapid mixing, photochemical methods, temperature and pH jumps
• Observing the folding process - detection:
  Fluorescence, UV/vis-absorbance, CD, FTIR/Raman, NMR

Physical Chemistry of the Condensed Phase (8 lectures)

• Half cell reactions and standard electrode potentials. Use of the Nernst equation.
• The electrochemistry of batteries
• The structure of liquids and properties of electrolyte solutions: Ion-solvent interactions. Examples of ionic hydration energies.
• The electrochemistry of fuel cells
• Surface tension and liquid surfaces: surface tension and capillary rise. The principles of surfactants effects.
• The physical chemistry of colloids and micelles. Structure of colloidal solutions. Origin of colloid stability. Lyophilic and lyophobic colloids. Structure and properties of amphiphilic molecules. Critical micelle concentration.

Atmospheric Photochemistry (8 lectures)

• Thermodynamic models of a simple planetary atmosphere.
• Structure of the Earth''s atmosphere.
• Photochemistry of the stratosphere.
  
• Chemistry of the troposphere.
• Composition of the atmosphere and its development; anthropogenic effects.
• A comparison with the atmospheres of the other rocky planets or moons.