Course
"Making sense out of (bio)analytical data in chemical mixture assessment"
Registration has closed for the course taking place in February 2025. Please register your interest in a mail to bioanalytical-tools@ufz.de to register your interest for future courses.
This course is designed to introduce the fundamentals of in vitro assays.
It is a self-paced online course consisting of 4 modules and one introduction meeting on 27 January 2025. Each module focuses on a different aspect of in vitro assays.
Module 1 provides basic knowledge for cell-based bioassays.
Module 2 deals with mixtures and environmental applications of in vitro bioassays.
Module 3 high-lights the importance of quality control and quality assurance of bioassays – after all: Your results are only as good as your methods.
Module 4 covers applications of in vitro assays for the risk assessment of chemicals.
The course can be taken as a 1 to 4 day course – if you do not wish to take the entire course, you can specify this in your registration.
1 day: module 1
2 days: modules 1 & 2
3 days: modules 1 & 2 & 3 or 1 & 2 & 4
4 days: modules 1 & 2 & 3 & 4
The course is based on the book "Bioanalytical Tools in Water Quality Assessment" which you can access by clicking on the link.
Each of the modules consists of some required reading, some recommended reading, exercises and an online session for discussions. In the table below you find these details for each module.
| Module |
Book chapter (re- quired) |
Additional chapters (not required) |
video available at website |
Exercises |
Discussion meetings on Zoom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to cell-based bioassays | 1 | Unit 1.mp4 | Q&a chap. 1 |
Monday 27/01/2025, 8:30-10:00 am CET |
|
| 1. Basic knowledge for cell-based bioassays | |||||
|
I) Principles of cell based bioassays II) Concentration-response modelling |
10 7 |
4, 5, 6 |
Unit 10.mp4 Unit 7.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 10 Q&A chap. 7 |
Thursday 06/02/2025, 9-11 am CET |
| 2. Mixtures and environmental applications of in vitro bioassays | |||||
|
I) Mixtures II) Design of test batteries and interpretation of bioassay results |
8 13 |
14 |
Unit 8.mp4 Unit 13.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 8 Q&A chap. 13 |
Thursday 13/02/2025, 9-11 am CET |
| 3. Your results are only as good as your methods | |||||
|
I) Quality control/quality assurance of bioassays II) Sampling and dosing |
11 12 |
15 |
Unit11.mp4 Unit12.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 11 Q&A chap. 12 |
Thursday 20/02/2025, 9-11 am CET |
| 4. Application of in vitro assays for the risk assessment of chemicals | |||||
|
I) Risk assessment of chemicals II) Water Quality Assessment and whole effluent toxicity testing III) In vitro assays in risk assessment |
2 3 9 |
16 |
Unit2.mp4 Unit3.mp4 Unit9.mp4 |
Q&A chap. 2 Q&A chap. 3 Q&A chap. 9 |
Friday 28/02/2025, 9-11 am CET |
The exercises for each chapter can be found on this website on the corresponding chapter pages. For some chapters there is also a presentations and/or a video available which can also be found on those pages.
The course is held by Prof. Beate Escher, the first author of the book "Bioanalytical Tools in Water Quality Assessment". Prof. Escher presently teaches at the University of Tübingen and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in the areas of environmental chemistry, toxicology and risk assessment, which are also her research area.
To register for the course, please send an email to bioanalytical-tools@ufz.de . You will then be given the access code for the discussion meetings on zoom.
After this course, participants have a basic understanding of the fundamentals and the underlying principles of in vitro assays and their application in environmental monitoring.