Intended learning outcomes (knowledge, skills and competences to be developed by the students)

This curricular unit aims to address the fundamental principles of bacterial genetic evolution, providing students with basic knowledge of the evolutionary processes underlying key biological phenomena with a strong impact on clinical practice (e.g., the evolution of pathogenicity or antibiotic resistance). Students are expected to understand the foundations of bacterial evolution and develop skills in designing, conducting, analyzing, and communicating scientific experiments, always within a framework of process transparency to ensure consideration of ethical issues related to scientific research. 

Syllabus 

This curricular unit serves as an introduction to the basic principles governing bacterial evolution, from the generation of diversity to the selection of the bacterial phenotypes better adapted to specific contexts. 
The topics will be covered through a predominantly practical and laboratory-based methodology: 

• Fundamental principles of evolution: mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and horizontal gene transfer
• Experimental design in a research laboratory setting
• Execution of evolution experiments
• Analysis of experimental results
• Presentation of results in a seminar format (15-minute presentation + 5-minute discussion)