Basic information
| Type | Bachelor's degrees |
|---|---|
| Faculty or school | Faculty of Biology |
| Branch of knowledge | Sciences, Health Sciences |
| Mode of delivery | face-to-face |
| Credits | 240 |
| Number of places available | 60 |
| Length of course | 4 academic years |
| Language(s) of instruction | Catalan 70,8%, Spanish 19,2%, English 10% |
| Admission grade |
12.162 (July 2022, start of process, via official entrance examinations/vocational training) |
| Approximate price per credit | 18,46 € |
| Compulsory placements | No |
| Coordinator | JOSEP IGNASI RAMIREZ SUNYER |
| Course details | Indicators |
Objectives and competences
Objectives
- To acquire conceptual and methodological training required to work and to continue studying at a postgraduate level.
- To become knowledgeable of the standard techniques of biochemistry and use them properly.
- To acquire training in the principles of experimental design and basic quantitative aspects of biochemistry.
- To acquire the general preparation required for a career in science, industry or academia.
- To learn to use cutting-edge technologies and common research tools and resources.
- To apply the safety techniques to work in a laboratory and understand the ethical and bioethical aspects of this area.
- To develop entrepreneurial skills and an understanding of the dynamics of knowledge transfer and patent development.
Competences
General competences
- Commitment to ethical practice (critical and self-critical capabilities, and capacity to demonstrate attitudes consistent with accepted notions of ethical practice).
- Capacity for learning and responsibility (capacity for analysis and synthesis, to adopt global perspectives and to apply knowledge in practice, and capacity to take decisions and adapt to new situations).
- Ability to work in a team (capacity to collaborate with others and contribute to a common project, and capacity to work in cross-disciplinary and multicultural teams).
- Creative and entrepreneurial skills (capacity to conceive, design and manage projects, and capacity to research and integrate new knowledge and approaches).
- Concern for sustainability (capacity to assess the social and environmental impact of actions taken in a particular setting, and capacity to adopt integrated and systemic approaches).
- Communication skills (capacity to understand and produce spoken and written Catalan, Spanish and a third language, including the comprehension and use of specialized terminology, and capacity to research and integrate information in these languages).
- Capacity to study organisms at the cell and molecular levels in order to understand life processes.
- Knowledge of biochemical bases of biological diversity, from molecule to organism.
- Ability to work safely in the laboratory environment.
Specific competences.
- Knowledge of the main metabolic circuits and systems, of their regulation and integration and their relations with the environment.
- Capacity to understand and explain the underlying chemical principles of biochemical reactions and techniques.
- Skills in the application of instrumental, analytical and molecular techniques.
- Capacity to separate substances isolated from living cells and determining their structures, chemical properties and functional properties.
- Capacity to combine substances isolated from living cells under controlled conditions, to determine how they react and what results are obtained.
- Ability to research and interpret databases of biological and chemical data, compare data on integrated biological systems ('omic' disciplines), and understand the main concepts of bioinformatics.
- Capacity to design, plant, carry out and evaluate experiments and research projects.
- Skills in the assessment and interpretation of scientific literature, as well as in communicating results orally and in writing.
- Knowledge of basic probability and statistics tools to apply them to the analysis of data from biochemical studies.
- Knowledge of basic mathematical tools applied to modelling experimental situations in biochemistry.
- Capacity to use quantitative tools to analyse biochemical data.
- Understanding of the concept of life and its physical and chemical principles.
- Understanding of the mechanisms of genetic inheritance, particularly at a molecular level.
- Ability to describe the structure and function of living beings at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels.
- Understanding of regulation and integration of functions in organisms.
- Knowledge of structures and processes conforming a eukaryotic cells.
- Knowledge of structures and processes conforming a prokaryotic cells.
- Ability to prepare cell, tissue and microorganism cultures.
- Understanding of organisms' reaction to molecules alien to their metabolism.
- Knowledge of the applications of biological systems to human activities.
Access and admission
Applicant profile and access requirements
Recommended applicant profile
Successfully completed school-leaver studies in the fields of science and technology, especially biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.
English language skills.
Access requirements and conditions
Admission for students with studies completed outside Spain.
Applicants holding higher educational qualifications from a university outside Spain should consult the page Admission with foreign qualifications to find out about specific admission requirements.
Pre-enrolment
Students that have studied abroad and who wish to study at the University of Barcelona may be admitted to EHEA bachelor's degree courses. Procedures for gaining admission will depend on the qualifications held by each applicant.
For further information about admission, consult the page Admission with foreign qualifications.
Enrolment
As a general rule, at the UB you will be required to enrol online via the Món UB portal. To find out the date and time you have been assigned, check the specific information for your course. Remember that you can lose your place if you do not enrol on the day you have been assigned.
Academic information
- Documents required for enrolment
- Procedure to formalize enrolment
- After enrolment
- Grants and financial aid
Welcome
Support and guidance
Pre-enrolment information and events
Course curriculum
Subjects and course plans
Distribution of credits
| Type | ECTS |
|---|---|
| Basic training | 66 |
| Compulsory | 126 |
| Optional | 36 |
| Compulsory placements | 0 |
| Compulsory final project | 12 |
| TOTAL | 240 |
List of subjects
| FIRST YEAR |
| Subject | Language | Type | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | 1st semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Chemistry I | 1st semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Mathematics | 1st semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Physics | 2nd semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Structural Aspects of Organic Chemistry | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Bases of Organic Reactions | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Chemistry II | 2nd semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Cytology and Histology | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Laboratory I | 1st semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Statistics | 2nd semester | Basic training | 6 |
| SECOND YEAR |
| Subject | Language | Type | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bioenergy and Transport | 1st semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Cell Biology | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Macromolecular Structure | 1st semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Microbiology | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Molecular Genetics | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Animal Physiology | 2nd semester | Basic training | 6 |
| Genetics: Genetic Analysis | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Laboratory II | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Molecular and Cell Biology of Microorganisms | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Molecular Recognition and Interaction | 2nd semester | Basic training | 6 |
| THIRD YEAR |
| Subject | Language | Type | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genetic Engineering | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Laboratory III | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Metabolic Pathways | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Molecular Endocrinology and Cell Signalling | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Plant Physiology | 1st semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Bioinformatics | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Cell Cultures and Tissue Engineering | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Immunology | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Laboratory IV | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| Metabolic Regulation | 2nd semester | Compulsory | 6 |
| FOURTH YEAR |
| Subject | Language | Type | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Experimental Design and Data Analysis |
1st semester
2nd semester |
Compulsory | 6 |
| Industrial Biochemistry and Microbiology |
1st semester
2nd semester |
Compulsory | 6 |
| Final Project |
1st semester
2nd semester |
Compulsory final project | 12 |
| OPTIONAL YEAR |
Pathways and specializations
BiochemistryCheck the planning of the different pathways of the degree
Previous years
Placements
Placements are supervised by tutors and subject to assessment.They are therefore included in the academic record. There is also an option to complete non-curricular placements of up to 500 hours, which can be extended to 900 hours. For both curricular and non-curricular placements, an educational cooperation agreement is signed between the UB and the company, institution or other organization at which the placement will be carried out.
Institutional information
Career opportunities
What can you work on ?
- Basic and applied research in public centres.
- Applied research in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food and biotechnology sectors.
- Medical laboratories.
- Laboratory analysis and diagnosis.
- Private sector provision of services, materials and scientific equipment.
- Specialist publishing and science dissemination.
- Secondary and higher education.
Data from the university system in Catalonia
Contact us
Faculty of Biology
Diagonal, 643 - 08028 Barcelona
Secretary: 934 021 087secretaria-biologia@ub.edu
Questions mailbox
