Experimental Physical Chemistry:
Advanced Courses in Kinetics, Spectroscopy, and Surface Sciences and Vacuum Techniques

Overview

(For the current schedule, scroll down.)

The advanced lab course is the final physical chemistry practical course in which you are able to work with well established experiments specifically designed for you. Formerly a mandatory course for all chemistry students, the "PCF Praktikum"–german for Physikalisch-Chemisches Fortgeschrittenenpraktikum–has now been adapted to the increased flexibility of the master's program and has been divided into three topical lab courses: "Spectroscopy" (M.Che.1304), "Chemical Kinetics" (M.Che.1305), and "Surface Science and Vacuum Techniques" (M.Che.1308). The participation in these courses is voluntary, but participating in at least one course is a prerequisite for the physico-chemical research internship (M.Che.1321). Each lab course is worth 6 credits and includes a seminar presentation, three experiments, and a graded 15-minute oral exam.

What can you expect from participating in a lab course, and what should you be aware of? We discuss the most important things in the following sections.

Experiments and general safety

As you are probably familiar with from previous practical lab courses, each experiment is accompanied by a discussion with the assistant lasting approximately one hour (colloquium). This is to ensure that you have thoroughly prepared for the respective experiment (keywords from the experimental instructions help with this) and can perform it without danger to yourself or others. Sources of danger in the lab course are, for example, lasers with high optical power, vacuum setups, or toxic gases. Your supervising assistant will show you the safe handling of the setup at the beginning of the lab day. For this purpose, each experiment is accompanied by a safety folder with supporting documents. You may only use the experimental setup after this safety briefing. Please bring your own personal protective equipment (lab coat and goggles) and wear long pants and closed shoes.

Reports

You have to hand in a report to the assistant no later than two weeks after the experiment has been carried out. After three submissions, the report must be approved, no later than two months after the last day of the lab course (final report approval deadline). Please note that the assistant may refuse to thoroughly correct the report should there be serious shortcomings or important content missing–you effectively lose one of the three submissions. The PCF Reporting Checklist (available in Stud.IP) will protect you from such problems, and it is best to read through it before writing the first report.

Seminar talks

In addition to the laboratory work, you will participate in a seminar during which you will listen to talks by other participants and also give a talk yourself. Your goal is to clearly explain a topic that is relevant to the lab course in 20 minutes. Your presentation slides will be shared with the course participants and serve as a handout. A teaching assistant will be assigned to your talk and provide feedback and corrections. In order to promote a lively discussion, we require that you ask at least one question in the seminar.

Successful participation

Your participation will be particularly successful if you allow yourself sufficient time for the lab course, have a special interest in the subject matter and work carefully. Take advantage of the intensive supervision and benefit from the experience of your assistant: Ask questions! Address problems early on! Be aware of submission deadlines and complete your work on time! Be diligent! Your future self, browsing through your old lab reports, will thank you.

Winter Semester 2023/24

(For the previous semester, click here.)

In the winter term, two lab courses per topic run parallel over a time period of 3 weeks from mid February to beginning of March, see the schedule below. Note that you can participate in only one of these courses. Doing two lab courses is only possible in summer semesters.

Preparatory Meeting (Vorbesprechung)

The obligatory preparatory meeting will take place on Friday, October 27 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM in the seminar room MN32. The meetings is organized via this StudIP group. The presentation slides of the preparatory meetings will be made available there as well.

If anything is unclear, contact Nils Lüttschwager (IPC Room 1.123, nluetts[at]gwdg.de).

Preliminary Course Schedule

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