TouchStart Science Summer Programme

Everything in this physical world is made of matter. Why is particular matter used to make things functional? Why do different types of materials behave differently? This workshop provides an opportunity to explore the multidisciplinary field of materials science. Through hands-on activities, students will learn about the structure-property relationships of materials and scientific methods to characterise materials.

 

     

Day 1: Introduction to materials science, hands-on experiments, and group discussion
Day 2: Introduction to materials characterisation techniques, hands-on experiments, and group discussion
Day 3: Group discussion, presentation and feedback session

Drugs play an essential role in our world, not only as effective substances for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease but also to improve 'quality of life'. The process of drug discovery typically involves understanding the character of targets (e.g., enzymes, cells, tissues, etc.) related to the disease, setting up the concept of drug design, providing lead compounds (via traditional medicines, natural products, biological macromolecules, compound libraries, computational chemistry, etc.). In particular, analysing the structure-activity-relationships of a drug molecule and target plays a vital role in drug discovery and leads optimisation process. This workshop will help students to understand the mode of action at a molecular level suitable for secondary school students.

Day 1:

• Science Talk: The chemical biology of drug design and discovery
• Project Introduction: Drug molecules
• Lab tour
Day 2: TLC Analysis of painkillers & IR characterisation of drug molecules
Day 3: Organic Synthesis of a drug molecule