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

Overview

(For the current schedule, scroll down.)

The advanced lab courses are the final physical chemistry practical courses 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 topics, "Spectroscopy" (M.Che.1304), "Chemical Kinetics" (M.Che.1305), and "Surface Science and Vacuum Techniques" (M.Che.1308). The participation in these lab courses is voluntary, but participating in at least one course is a prerequisite for the PC research internship (M.Che.1321). Each lab course includes a seminar presentation, three experiments, and a final 15-minute oral exam. It is weighted with 6 credits.

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.

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 set-ups, or toxic gases. Your supervising assistant will show you the safe handling of the set-up at the beginning of the lab day (safety instructions). For this purpose, each experiment is accompanied by a safety folder with supporting documents. You may only use the experimental set-up after receiving the safety instructions and confirming this with your signature in the safety folder. 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. The report must be approved after three submissions. No later than two months after the last course day, all reports must be approved (final report approval deadline). Please note that the assistant may refuse to thoroughly correct a 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 slides will be made available to your audience and serve as a handout. The talk will be supervised by a teaching assistant who can support you in the preparation of your slides. In order to promote a lively discussion, we require that you ask at least one question in the seminar and record it along with your answer. Also, we encourage discussing the overall performance and comprehensibility of the talk and slides.

Misconduct

Unfortunately, misconduct in the lab course occurs regularly, to the detriment of all involved. This includes inadequate preparation of the experiment, negligent writing of the report, last-minute cancellation of lab course participation, failure to meet a submission deadline, and, at worst, violation of the rules of good research practice (GRP). The disadvantages of such behavior are obvious: avoidable extra work (negligence), unfair time constraints (stretching of deadlines), lost lab course places and working time (cancellations, GRP violations), loss of credibility, mistrust in scientific knowledge (GRP violations).

We sanction misconduct at a minimum by:

  • Repeating the experiment may be required if the colloquium was not properly prepared or the report not approved after three submissions; repeating the talk may be required if the talk had major shortcomings or if the submission deadline for uploading the slides was missed.
  • Exclusion from the lab course may follow if the second experiment would have to be repeated due to misconduct, if the final approval deadline was missed, or good research practice was violated.
  • Exclusion from registration in the following semester may follow if in the current semester you cancel your participation on short notice or drop out due to misconduct.

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 assistants: 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 PCF reports, will thank you.

Summer Semester 2024

(For the previous semester, click here.)

In summer terms, the lab courses run parallel to the lectures. We offer two time slots, Course 1 at the beginning of the semester's lecture period (April, May) and Course 2 at the end (June, July), see the schedule below. Note that the courses each have their own preparatory meeting and deadlines. You can book both, the earlier and the later course, for example Course 1 in Spectroscopy (M.Che.1304) and Course 2 in Kinetics (M.Che.1305).

Preparatory Meeting (Vorbesprechung)

Course 1 and 2 each have their own preparatory meeting. The preparatory meeting for Course 1 will take place on Friday, March 1 from 1 PM to 2 PM in the IPC seminar room MN32. The meeting for Course 2 will take place on Friday, April 5, 1 PM to 2 PM, also in seminar room MN32. The preparatory meetings are organized via the following StudIP group, please enroll there: StudIP group for preparatory meeting. 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).

Schedule

March 2024
Fri 01
PM1
Sat 02
Sun 03
Mon 04
R
Tue 05
R
Wed 06
R
Thu 07
R
Fri 08
R
Sat 09
Sun 10
Mon 11
DLT1
Tue 12
Wed 13
Thu 14
Fri 15
Sat 16
Sun 17
Mon 18
Tue 19
Wed 20
Thu 21
Fri 22
Sat 23
Sun 24
Mon 25
Tue 26
Wed 27
DLD1
Thu 28
Fri 29
Sat 30
Sun 31
April 2024
Mon 01
Tue 02
Wed 03
Thu 04
Fri 05
PM2
Sat 06
Sun 07
Mon 08
R
Tue 09
R
Wed 10
DLS1
Thu 11
R
Fri 12
C1
Sat 13
Sun 14
Mon 15
Tue 16
Wed 17
Thu 18
Fri 19
C1
Sat 20
Sun 21
Mon 22
Tue 23
Wed 24
Thu 25
Fri 26
C1
Sat 27
Sun 28
Mon 29
Tue 30
May 2024
Wed 01
Thu 02
Fri 03
C1
Sat 04
Sun 05
Mon 06
Tue 07
Wed 08
Thu 09
Fri 10
DLT2
Sat 11
Sun 12
Mon 13
Tue 14
Wed 15
Thu 16
Fri 17
Sat 18
Sun 19
Mon 20
Tue 21
Wed 22
Thu 23
Fri 24
Sat 25
Sun 26
Mon 27
Tue 28
Wed 29
DLD2
Thu 30
Fri 31
June 2024
Sat 01
Sun 02
Mon 03
Tue 04
Wed 05
Thu 06
Fri 07
Sat 08
Sun 09
Mon 10
Tue 11
Wed 12
DLS2
Thu 13
Fri 14
C2
Sat 15
Sun 16
Mon 17
Tue 18
Wed 19
Thu 20
Fri 21
C2
Sat 22
Sun 23
Mon 24
Tue 25
Wed 26
Thu 27
Fri 28
C2
Sat 29
Sun 30
July 2024
Mon 01
Tue 02
Wed 03
Thu 04
Fri 05
C2
Sat 06
Sun 07
Mon 08
Tue 09
Wed 10
Thu 11
Fri 12
Sat 13
Sun 14
Mon 15
Tue 16
Wed 17
Thu 18
Fri 19
Sat 20
Sun 21
Mon 22
Tue 23
Wed 24
Thu 25
Fri 26
Sat 27
Sun 28
Mon 29
Tue 30
Wed 31

Legend

PM : Preparatory meeting R : Registration (via StudIP) DLT : Deadline choose seminar topic DLD : Deadline submit draft of slides DLS : Deadline submit slides C1 : Course 1 C2 : Course 2
Revised