Biochemistry Degree (2nd Ed.)

• Admission profile

  The students can be admitted into the Biochemistry degree if they fulfil the access requirements, although a prior specific training is not required, it is recommended that the training of the student is of the profile of Sciences and Technology. Within this profile it would be recommended, not mandatory, for the student to have studied subjects with mathematics, biology, physics, and chemistry contents.
  It is recommended that the students of the degree posses some of the following skills or abilities:
  · Analysis and synthesis skills
  · Interest on problem solving.
  · Research and experimentation interest.
  · Appropriate training in the science field.
  · Work method and rigour.
  · Teamwork skills.
  · Creativity.
  · Knowledge and interest on the use of computer tools for the management of data.
  · Linguistic competence in other languages besides Spanish and Galician, especially English.

• Minimum number of ECTS enrollment credits per student and school period

  The students can be admitted into the Biochemistry degree if they fulfil the access requirements, although a prior specific training is not required, it is recommended that the training of the student is of the profile of Sciences and Technology. Within this profile it would be recommended, not mandatory, for the student to have studied subjects with mathematics, biology, physics, and chemistry contents.
  It is recommended that the students of the degree posses some of the following skills or abilities:
  · Analysis and synthesis skills
  · Interest on problem solving.
  · Research and experimentation interest.
  · Appropriate training in the science field.
  · Work method and rigour.
  · Teamwork skills.
  · Creativity.
  · Knowledge and interest on the use of computer tools for the management of data.
  · Linguistic competence in other languages besides Spanish and Galician, especially English.

• Tutorial action and reception

  The USC has a student-tutor program for the undergraduate degrees, so that final year students, after receiving training from the University, can perform orientational tasks to students initiating their studies.
  The student tutor is a student enrolled in a degree at the centre, in the 2nd year or later, who guides and supports new students who join the centre, trying to help them with their integration.

  https://www.usc.gal/es/centro/facultad-ciencias/alumnado-tutor

• Title suspension rules

  When a degree suspension occurs, the USC guarantees the adequate development of teachings that were initiated by their students until its suspension. For that, the Government Council approves the criteria related with the admission of new degree entry registration and the gradual suspension of teaching impartation, among others.
  If the suspended degree is substituted for a similar one —modifying the nature of the degree—, the new degree regulations will set the conditions to facilitate students the continuity of the new degree’s studies. These regulations will also set subject equivalences in both programs.

• Access and admission rules

  The entrance tests to the three Galician universities (Baccalaureate Evaluation for access to the University (ABAU) and for people over 25 and 45 years old) are organized by the Interuniversity Commission of Galicia (CIUG). To apply for a place, students must meet one of the following access requirements established in article 3 of RD 412/2014:
  • Have a high school diploma or equivalent and pass the university entrance test.
  • Meet the requirements for access to university in the educational systems of Member States of the European Union or other States with which Spain has signed international agreements on this matter.
  • Have passed the university entrance test for those over 25 years of age, for those over 40 years of age with work or professional experience or the test for those over 45 years of age.
  • Possess a degree in higher vocational training, teaching of plastic arts and design or higher sports technician, or equivalent qualifications.
  • Have an official university degree, master's degree or a title corresponding to the previous organization of university education (university diploma, technical architect, technical engineer, graduate, architect, engineer) or equivalent titles.
  • Have completed partial foreign or Spanish university studies, or who, upon completing foreign university studies, have not obtained their homologation in Spain and wish to continue studies at a Spanish university. In this case, it will be an essential requirement that the corresponding university recognize at least 30 ECTS credits.
  • Be able to access the university according to educational regulations prior to Organic Law 8/2013, not included in the previous sections.

  In general, there are the following access routes to the University:
  - University access test (ABAU) Once you have finished high school, in order to access a university degree, you must pass the Baccalaureate Evaluation for access to the University.
  https://ciug.gal/gal/abau
  - Access from Vocational Training If you have an official title of higher vocational training technician, higher plastic arts and design technician or higher sports technician, or titles, diplomas or studies declared equivalent or approved in the Spanish educational system, you can access to study a degree at the university. Applications will be ordered according
  to the average grade of the higher technical degree completed out of a maximum of 10. If you wish to improve your admission grade for degree studies, you can take the voluntary part of the ABAU test.
  https://www.usc.es/export9/sites/webinstitucional/gl/servizos/oiu/desca…
  - Access test for people over 25 years of age This test can be taken by people who are over 25 years of age in the year in which the test is held and who do not have any academic qualifications that give access to the university through another means.
  - People over 45 years of age Those over 45 years of age can study official degree qualifications after passing an adapted entrance test.
  - Access over 40 through validation of work experience.
  The level of professional qualification required of the applicant will be that corresponding to the professional qualifications of the professional families and levels of the National Catalogue of Professional Qualifications (CNCP), prepared by the National Institute of Qualifications (INCUAL).
  The following list of professional families and levels with access to the Degree in Biochemistry has been established by the University:
  List of professional families and levels with access to the degree in Biology
  • Chemistry: Level 3.
  • Health: Level 3.

The general objective of the degree is to train people with the capacity to innovate, to integrate into multidisciplinary teams and to respond to the real needs of society in the field of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, linking to sectors as diverse as the alimentary, bio-sanitary (clinical analysis, molecular diagnosis, development and monitoring of new therapies), cosmetic, pharmaceutical, environmental and chemical. Also, to train students to be able to carry out work and studies in any area linked to Biochemistry and its relationship with living beings, in good agreement with the profiles defined in the White Paper of the Degree in Biochemistry. These profiles cover a wide range of professional activities such as: teaching, research, work in R&D&i laboratories, in the pharmaceutical industry and in other areas. Finally, to complement the academic offer of existing degrees at Campus Terra.
Training objectives of the mention
The Degree in Biochemistry consists of a Mention in Agro-alimentary Biochemistry, which training objectives are framed and contribute to the development of the specialisation axes of Campus Terra
* Plant Production and Sustainable Agriculture:
· Plant health: diagnosis, prevention, control of pests and pathogens and obtaining resistant varieties.
* Sustainable Animal Production and Health:
· Animal nutrition, health and well-being: One Health
* Safe and Healthy Eating:
· Food safety
· Food, health and consumers
· Food technology and processing
In relation to the transversal axes, the training objectives of the Mention would be linked to the use of Omics.

• Competencies

  Comp01 - Develop the ability to appropriately organise and plan the workload, on the basis of a prior synthesis and analysis that enable the student to make decisions.
  Comp02 - Develop leadership capacity that enables the student to offer timely and creative solutions in complex professional situations.
  Comp03 - Develop the ability to identify and correct inequalities due to gender, socioeconomic reasons, etc.
  Comp04 - Act professionally, governed by ethical principles, scientific rigor and sustainable development.
  Comp05 - Collaborate in interdisciplinary teams in any work environment, based on knowledge of the environment and current legal regulations.
  Comp06 - Develop the ability to learn autonomously with initiative and entrepreneurial spirit.
  Comp07 - Use the basic tools of information and communication technologies.
  Comp08 - Be able to communicate conclusions and knowledge in an argued manner to specialized and non-specialized audiences with clarity and precision, also in foreign languages, mainly in English.

• Abilities and skills

  A/S01 - Apply appropriately the physical, chemical, mathematical and statistical tools to the study of biological processes.
  A/S02 - Use the fundamentals of chemical balance to manage and execute the main methods of analytical instrumentation.
  A/S03 - Employ the chemical and thermodynamical principles of biocatalysis and the role of enzymes in the functioning of cells and organisms.
  A/S04 - Integrate and interpret the bases of endocrine regulation and of the different systems of intercellular communication and intercellular signalling.
  A/S05 - Employ the appropriate techniques for the study of the structure and function of genetic material oriented to the development of biotechnological applications.
  A/S06 - Critically analyse and assess the genetic, molecular and biochemical markers associated to the different pathologies and features of interest.
  A/S07 - Design and execute immunochemical techniques and interpret the results.
  A/S08 - Plan and employ the main experimental methods oriented for the analysis of biological activity, insulation techniques, characterisation of biological molecules, development of therapeutic systems and assessment of active substances.
  A/S09 - Interpret the information of the main biological data bases (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, etc) and the bibliographical data, employing the basic bioinformatic tools.
  A/S10 - Assess the nutritional needs of the human organism in every stage of life.
  A/S11 - Establish the main current issues and applications in the field of virology.
  A/S12 - Create, write and orally present a study or project in the field of Biochemistry, critically interpreting the obtained results and assessing the conclusions reached.
  A/S13 - Appropriately apply the knowledge and techniques acquired in the different subjects of the degree to analyse a complex situation or concept and find means to solve it.

• Knowledge

  K01 - Recognise the structure and functions of the different cellular types. Understand the diversity and remember the biological taxonomy.
  K02 - Recognise the physical, chemical, mathematical and statistical bases of the biological processes.
  K03 - Know the chemical fundamentals that determine the structure of the molecules and the reactivity of the functional groups.
  K04 - Prove the knowledge of the chemical bases that enable the design of any experimental technique necessary for the analysis of molecules.
  K05- Know and interpret the diversity of the microbial world, the metabolism, physiology and genetics that regulates its functions.
  K06 - Understand the depth of the main physiological and metabolic processes of multicellular organisms, as well as, identifying and explaining the molecular bases and the regulation of these processes.
  K07 - Know and interpret the structure, organisation, transmission, expression, regulation and evolution of genetic material.
  K08 - Assess in depth the chemical and biological bases that determine the three-dimensional structure of molecules and supramolecular complexes and link their structure and functions.
  K09 - Identify and associate the components of the immune system, its structure, function and mechanisms of action.
  K10 - Acquire knowledge and distinguish the different applications of the main experimental and instrumentation methods.
  K11 - Adequately interpret the institutional and legal framework in the business field, protection of intellectual and industrial property, ethical and bioethical aspects, etc.

Mobility

Student mobility is regulated through the “Regulation of inter-university exchange.” Exchange programs are managed through the International Relations Office, such as national exchange programs (SICUE) as well as Europeans (ERASMUS) and from outside the European Union (exchanges with Latin American countries or English-speaking countries):
Movility

Internships

The external academic internships will be carried out in their curricular modality, as a part of the study plan and the training project and are specified in a mandatory subject of the 2nd semester of 6 credits.
Students will carry out internships in a collaborating entity, company, or institution, duly coordinated and will allow the student's academic training to be completed through interaction with the world of work and business, thus improving both the scientific and technical training acquired in the mandatory subjects of the degree as well as its transversal competencies and personal skills.
During the internship, students will have an academic tutor from the University, who must be teaching staff of the degree and an external tutor from the collaborating entity with professional experience and knowledge necessary for effective tutoring.

• Graduates profile

  This degree enables the students to the immediate incorporation to the labour market, in those professional activities pertaining to Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. It also provides training for master's studies in the areas related to biosciences, thereby guiding students towards a professional profile in both university and non-university research and teaching.

• Professional outlets

  The career opportunities available for Biochemistry graduates include a wide range of fields in which they can develop their work, which would be organised as follows:
  ⦁ Application of molecular biosciences to the study of health and disease, including the study of the mechanisms of disease, as well as the scrutiny, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of human diseases.
  ⦁ Biomedical and bioanalytic activity. Application to clinical medicine of biochemical technologies at hospitals, pharmaceutical and clinical analysis laboratories, health research centres and related industries.
  ⦁ Research and higher teaching. In universities, public and private scientific and technological research centres and R+D+I I departments of companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, analytic, instrumental and other similar areas.
  ⦁ Teaching in high schools. This degree provides the necessary training for teaching (secondary education and Baccalaureate) in the area of experimental and life sciences (natural sciences, physics, chemistry and biology).
  ⦁ Alimentary industry: food production and modification as the starting point for the eradication of many problems in the world of alimentation.
  ⦁ New technologies: such as advances in biological computing, which enable molecular organisms to develop tasks characteristic of computers.
  ⦁ Chemistry and environment: such as the generation of fuels respectful with the environment and the processing and assessment of waste.

The Final Dissertation consists of a mandatory subject of the 2nd semester of 12 credits, at the time of its presentation the student must have passed all the other credits necessary to obtain the degree (228 ECTS).
The final dissertation may be carried out in any of the lines of research offered by the degree professors. The specific work topic will be assigned by the academic committee of the degree to each student, taking into account the lines of work offered, the preferences expressed by the students and the availability of teaching staff.
In the case of students who wish to obtain the Minor in Agri-Food Biochemistry, it will be necessary for the final degree project to be carried out on topics linked to the Minor.
To determine the origin or viability of a topic to be developed as a TFG, the student must present a proposal following a standardized form to the Commission for the Degree in Biochemistry. Once approval of the proposal is obtained, the TFG can be prepared and presented for defence. The final degree projects must have a tutor who will be the one who assists in the direction of the student. Co-tutors may also be appointed with the functions that are previously determined.
In the case of work carried out within the framework of agreements or with companies or institutions, a co-guardian may be appointed, who may be staff of the entity in which the work is carried
depending on the type of TFG that the student is going to complete. Once the work is completed, the student must prepare a report, which must be presented to the corresponding court.