The practical course gives the student a chance to test his or her understanding of the material taught in the theory course. A short introduction on each topic will be given on this course for individual topics. The students will be assigned to a small project/task which they have to perform. The students will be assigned into groups of two/three/max four members, depending on the total number of students registered for the course.

Website: https://bioinformatics.charite.de/main/course_practical.php

Structure of the course:

Everyday students will be assigned projects in groups for each topic. They work together to solve some interesting scientific problem. Each group will be closely supervised by the respective tutors. At the end of the lecture series, students (individual group) will be assigned one of the topic of the course, which they have to present in front of the wider audience. This will provide students, a way to practice presentation skills and can help them to develop the expertise needed to discuss their research in a clear and meaningful way.

Learning how to answer specific questions and present data to a range of individuals, will help students in other endeavors, including future conference presentations, masters or dissertation defenses.

Topic for practical lectures are:

1. Introductory session
2. Homology modeling
3. 3D molecular superimposition of small molecules
4. In silico screening, molecular fingerprints and chemical similarity
5. Natural products and fragments based drug discovery
6. In silico toxicity prediction
7. Personalized medicine

Important: Material from the theory course will be intensively used in the practical course. It is advisable, that the students need to attend the theory course before participating in the practical course. Both the courses are interlinked.