Course Contents

The following themes are addressed:

Biology and husbandry of laboratory animals This theme focuses on aspects related with biology and husbandry of animals used in research, including behaviour, stress, welfare, husbandry, genetics, nutrition of laboratory animals. A combination of lectures, group assignments and self-study exercises is used.

Microbiology and disease This theme covers microbiology / gnotobiology, diseases of small laboratory animals, pathology and necropsy. A combination of lectures, hands-on practicals and interactive software is used.

Health hazards and safe practices in the animal house Design and conduct of animal experiments This theme covers statistics and methodology, including experimental design, power analysis and statistical analysis of data.   

Anaesthesia, analgesia and experimental procedures This theme combines lectures with  practical classes and demonstrations. Basictheory in anesthesiology and pharmacology is covered in lectures, whereas practical classes give students the opportunity for hands-on training of different experimental procedures.

Alternatives to animal use Ethical aspects and legislation, including ethical theories, the ethical dilemma of animal research, harm-benefit analysis and decision-making as well as Portuguese and European legislation.

Analysis of scientific literature This group exercise consists in critical analysis of specific literature and hypothesis formation and testing.

Project work for Cat C course Throughout the course, the students have to prepare a complete protocol for a research project or an experiment, as if it was to be presented to an ethics committee. The projects are presented and defended orally on the evaluation day.