Course syllabus

Course-PM

MCC026 Nanoscience lp2 HT23 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience. Lectures take place in the MC2 building. 

Contact details

Course Goals

a) to introduce basic physical concepts at the nanoscale, in the border between chemistry and physics.
b) to illustrate state of the art achievements in the field.
c) discuss possible future directions of research in nanoscience.

The course is open for graduate and master students in Engineering Physics, Electronics, MC2, Chemistry/Bio and industry with a relevant background.

Schedule

NOTE: Lectures take place Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (13:00-15:00) in the MC2 building, see TimeEdit

TimeEdit

Course literature

No mandatory literature. If needed, research papers will be distributed to students during the lectures.

Course design

The course consist of 14 lectures taught by 10 different lecturers. Each lecturer will hand out a homework, with no solution provided. The written exam is based on the homeworks. The lecture period ends on Dec. 2nd.

A key part of the evaluation is the project, which consist in writing and presenting an original research proposal idea. The student will select a topic and one of the lecturers will serve as student coach.

The written exam follows a more classic approach to learning, in which students prove the acquired knowledge during lectures and homework.  The project part of the course is oriented towards project-based and problem-based learning pedagogic strategies, in which students identify and propose the solution to an open-ended problem.

The written exam takes place in january, and the project presentation takes places before christmas.

Changes made since the last occasion

For the course edition 2024-2025:

  • Julia Wiktor joins to teach "Density functional theory (DFT)".
  • Nils Johan Engelsen joins to teach "Nanomechanics".
  • Homeworks will be in a separate file

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

  • Describe available experimental techniques for studies of electron transport though nanomaterials
  • Exemplify optical microscopy techniques with resolution well below the diffraction limit; methods of single-molecule optical spectroscopy such as fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy etc.

  • Evaluate the potential of nanomechanical resonators for sensing applications and for studies in fundamental research and describe methods for transducing and detecting nanomechanical signals

  • Describe the implications of nanoplasmonics and nanostructured materials for the future energy saving and conversion technologies.
  • Develop original research ideas in the field of nanoscience. 
  • Evaluate the potential and feasibility of novel research ideas.

 

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

Examination form

Examination is composed of four parts:
 
  1. (60 points) Written exam 
  2. (6 points) Original research proposal 
  3. (2+2 points) Peer-review process. 
  4. Attendance: To be present at >70% of the lectures.

    The course grades are calculated as:
    41-70 points - 5
    31-40 points - 4
    21-30 points - 3
    <21 points - Fail

For more details read the "Rubrics" Tab.