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

Overview

The advanced lab courses are the final physical chemistry practical courses in our master program where you can work with well-established experiments, specifically designed for you. The courses are divided into three topics: "Spectroscopy" (M.Che.1304), "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 of them is mandatory before doing a PC research internship (M.Che.1321). In a lab course, you have to give a seminar talk, perform three experiments and write the corresponding reports, and pass a 15-minute oral exam. A course is worth 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

Each experiment is supervised by a teaching assistant. They will give you a safety-briefing and will discuss the experiment with you in detail afterwards. In this colloquium, the assistant is going to ask you questions about the experiment and its basic theory to make sure that you know what you are doing. You may only start the experiment after receiving the safety-briefing and confirming this with your signature in the provided safety folder. Note that you should bring your own lab coat and goggles and wear long pants and closed shoes.

Reports

For each experiment, you have to write a report and send it to your teaching assistant no later than two weeks after the experiment. The assistant will check your report and ask you to correct it if there are shortcomings. We provide guidelines on how to write the report properly. Make sure to follow these guidelines closely to avoid lengthy corrections. You can submit your report three times. Once your report meets all requirements, the assistant will approve it with their signature.

Seminar talks

Each lab course includes a seminar. In the seminar, you will need to give a 20-minute talk and take questions in the end. You will listen to the talks from the other participants and ask question and share your thought on what could be improved. The slides from the talks are uploaded to StudIP prior to the seminar, so that everybody can have a look and prepare beforehand. To help you get ready for your presentation, a teaching assistant will provide feedback on your slides in the weeks before to the seminar.

Misconduct

Unfortunately, there are times when rules in the lab course aren't followed. To avoid problems, you should always prepare the experiment thoroughly and write your report with care. Do not cancel your participation shortly before the course starts, because we effectively lose one spot. Make sure to meet the deadlines. Importantly, never violate the rules of Good Reasearch Practice: never plagiarize or hide or fake measurement data.

Successful participation

You will do well in the course if you allow yourself enough time, are interested in the topic, and work carefully. Take advantage of the close guidance by your teaching assistants and benefit from their experience by asking many questions! Be aware of submission deadlines, complete your work on time and let us know about problems early.

Winter Semester 2024/25

(For the previous semester, click here.)

In the winter term, two lab courses per topic run parallel over a time period of 2 to 3 weeks from mid February to beginning of March. A preliminary schedule is shown 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")

This semester, the preparatory meeting will be implemented asynchronously, using a video uploaded to StudIP (click here). The presentation slides of the preparatory meeting and other information will be made available there as well. For early registration and asking questions, you should visit the lab course on the first floor of the Institute of Physical Chemistry in the second and third November week (the exact dates will be announced later in StudIP). Later registration via StudIP will also be possible. Questions can also be submitted via email, of course.

Course Schedule (preliminary)

Winter Semester 2024/25