The aims of the three components are:
• Physical Chemistry of the Condensed State: this will describe the basic physical chemical concepts of processes in the condensed state, including electrochemical potentials, structure of liquids, conductivity of electrolytes, colloids and micelles. This is also aimed at achieving an understanding of the physical chemistry which underlies a number of important technologies, namely batteries and fuel cells, colloids and surfactants.
• Protein Structure and Protein Folding: to discuss the application of basic physical chemistry concepts for describing protein structure and folding and to show how advanced physical chemistry methods are used for investigating these important aspects of proteins.
• Atmospheric Photochemistry: The aim of this section is to give the students a broad view of the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere. The course will describe the structure of the Earth's atmospher e, its categorisation into different layers and the physical processes that generate this structure. It will describe the different (photo)chemical processes that occur in different regions of the atmosphere, concentrating in particular on the photochemistry of the stratosphere. The course will conclude with a brief discussion of anthropogenic effects on the Earth's atmosphere.

(LO1) Ability to describe and discuss the physical chemistry underlying electrochemical cells, batteries and fuel cells, and to perform fundamental thermodynamic calculations on electrochemical cells.

(LO2) Ability to apply the physicochemical knowledge gained in the course, including the relevant equations, to solve problems relating to the physical chemistry of the condensed state.

(LO3) Ability to describe the physical chemistry of surfactants and colloids.

(LO4) Ability to describe the experimental methods that are used to study protein structure and folding, to discuss their analysis, and to discuss and apply (quantitatively) the physical chemistry principles underlying these methods.

(LO5) Ability to discuss the importance of protein structure and dynamics for understanding biological processes. 

(LO6) Ability to describe the physical structure of the atmosphere.

(LO7) Ability to discuss the chemistry occurring in different layers of the atmosphere and to relate this to thermodynamics and to the physical and chemical behaviour of different layers.

(LO8) Ability to compare the physical chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere to extra-terrestrial atmospheres.

Lectures. This module will use podcasts for providing the material which normally would be presented in 24 lectures. These will cover the background material necessary to succeed in this module, including the final exam.
Workshops. The lecture podcasts will be supported by ten (in-person) whole-class 1-hour workshops. There will be an introductory workshop in week 1, during which the module leader will explain the flipped classroom approach to teaching used in this module. Each lecturer will set weekly online quizzes which contribute (to a very small extent) to the total mark and hold a weekly workshop. The workshops will give students the opportunity to ask questions on the material and to solve problems and receive feedback, typically on the material which the students were expected to study in the previous week.
Coursework. The workshops will be followed by one problem set for each section of the module which contribute to the total mark. In these workshops and assignme nts students will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have gained from the lectures to problems of varying difficulty. Coursework timings are estimated as 7 hr per assignment and 3 hr for online quizzes.
*Lectures: 24 hr
*Workshops: 10 hr

Protein Structure and Protein Folding
• Importance of 3D protein structure for function
• Protein structure classification: Primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary
• Secondary structural elements: alpha-helix, beta-sheets, turns
• Ramachandran plot
• Methods for protein structure determination: diffraction methods, NMR, CD, FTIR/Raman
• Physical chemistry background: protein crystallisation, diffraction, 2D-NMR, electronic and vibrational spectroscopies
• Levinthal paradox
• Forces relevant for protein folding; hydrophobic interaction
• Basic kinetic schemes encountered in protein folding, protein folding models
• Observing the folding process - initialisation methods:
rapid mixing, photochemical methods, temperature and pH jumps
• Observing the folding process - detection: Fluorescence, UV/vis-absorbance, CD, FTIR/Raman, NMR

Physical Chemis try of the Condensed Phase
• Half cell reactions and standard electrode potentials. Use of the Nernst equation.
• The electrochemistry of batteries
• The structure of liquids and properties of electrolyte solutions: Ion-solvent interactions. Examples of ionic hydration energies.
• The electrochemistry of fuel cells
• Surface tension and liquid surfaces: surface tension and capillary rise. The principles of surfactants effects.
• The physical chemistry of colloids and micelles. Structure of colloidal solutions. Origin of colloid stability. Lyophilic and lyophobic colloids. Structure and properties of amphiphilic molecules. Critical micelle concentration.

Atmospheric Photochemistry
• Thermodynamic models of a simple planetary atmosphere.
•Structure of the Earth's atmosphere.
•Photochemistry of the stratosphere.
•Chemistry of the troposphere.
•Composit ion of the atmosphere and its development; anthropogenic effects.