Kursinformation

In the preceding course "Biophysical Chemistry I" in SS2020 we introduced several biophysical techniques such as cryo-EM, X-ray, CD spectroscopy, FRET, super resolution microscopy, NMR and EPR which have a fundamental role in the characterization of biomolecules.

In this course, I will focus on magnetic resonance techniques applied to the structural investigation of biomolecules and I will provide the fundamental physical background necessary to understand the principles of NMR and EPR experiments.

Are you interested in understanding how a spin echo is formed? Do you want to know which magnetic interactions are measured to obtain a high resolution structure of a protein via NMR?

Do you like classic and quantum mechanics? Do you want to learn what is a spin Hamiltonian? Are you curious about how strong the dipolar coupling between 1H and 13C can be and do you know why this interaction vanishes at room temperature in a small protein?

Do you want to know which is the longest distance we can measure between two electron spins?

If you answered yes to some of those questions, join the course!

The course will start from the very basic introduction of a magnetic dipole moment in classical mechanics, and will bring the students to the quantum mechanical description of the spin Hamiltonian. Key biological applications of NMR and EPR will be given at the end of the course.

Exercises will be provided to facilitate the understanding of the topics introduced in the lectures. In WS20/21 the course will be online (via zoom).