Course
Advanced Organic Chemistry (AOC25-26)
Advanced course for PhD candidates with a solid background and interest in Organic Chemistry, who are intrinsically motivated to develop an advanced understanding of modern organic chemistry and gain insight into reaction mechanisms and the underlying concepts.
Target group
PhD candidates with interest in Organic Chemistry, who are intrinsically motivated to develop an advanced understanding of modern organic chemistry, and its interconnection with other chemical disciplines.
Required knowledge:
ORC-12803 Organic Chemistry 1 and ORC-12903 Organic Chemistry 2 (or comparable), knowledge based on a standard text book such as e.g. Organic Chemistry by J. McMurry.
Preferably, also ORC-30806 Structure and Reactivity.
Course aim
- Develop advanced understanding of modern organic chemistry
- Develop an understanding of the overlap of organic chemistry with neighbouring disciplines (biology, materials sciences, analytical chemistry)
- Develop an eye for synthetic strategies towards organic molecules
- Give an insight into reaction mechanisms and the underlying concepts
Course design
The course will be given via in-person meetings (ca. 2-3h each), which will include a presentation and a problem solving session. Students will receive literature for preparative reading and problems to study (ca. 5h) one week prior the meeting.
Lectures will take place on Wageningen Campus, in Helix or Axis building. Hybrid session will be considered when necessary. Course topics do not repeat within a 3-year cycle. Students are encouraged to contact lecturers and suggest sub-topics that they wish to learn during the session.
Course materials vary with each session and may consist of chapters to read from the main AOC course textbook: The Art of Writing Reasonable Organic Reaction Mechanisms, Grossman, as well as selected scientific literature.
Programme topics
2025-2026
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29.09.2025 – Dr Fedor Miloserdov Total Synthesis
27.10.2025 – Dr Simone Ruggeri Nanoscale Surface Analysis
26.01.2026 – Dr Bauke Albada Peptide Chemistry
16.02.2026 – Dr Eva Meeus In Vivo Catalysis
23.03.2026 – Dr Maarten Smulders Polymer Chemistry
20.04.2026 – Prof. Han Zuilhof Click Chemistry
Organisation
Course coordinator
Dr. Fedor Miloserdov, Organic chemistry, Wageningen University & Research
Other faculty
Dr Fedor Miloserdov
Dr Bauke Albada
Dr Eva Meeus
Dr Maarten Smulders
Dr Simone Ruggeri
Prof. Han Zuilhof
General information
Date & duration
Course meetings are typically scheduled on Mondays afternoon at 3 pm. Dates: 29 September, 27 October 2025, 26 January, 16 February, 23 March, 20 April 2026.
Study load
The study load of the full course is 1.8 ECTS credits per year (6 sessions). ORC PhD candidates will attend the full course, while PhD candidates who are not affiliated with the ORC group can attend selected sessions (0.3 ECTS per session, if the preparative reading and problem solving were performed before the lecture). PhD candidates who previously attended the course can also attend new topics in this year with 0.3 credits per session and a cap of 6 ECTS credits.
Language
The course language will be English.
Contact information
For information about the course contents, please contact the course coordinator Dr. Fedor Miloserdov (Fedor.Miloserdov@wur.nl).
For organizational matters please contact office.orc@wur.nl (for ORC PhDs)
or VLAG Yvonne.Smolders@wur.nl (for PhDs who are not affiliated with the ORC group).
Location & accommodation
Lectures will be on Wageningen Campus, Helix or Axis building. Hybrid sessions will be considered when necessary
Registration & course fee
Participation is free of charge for PhD candidates of the Graduate Schools VLAG, EPS, PE&RC, WIMEK, WIAS and WASS.
Registration of ORC PhD candidates is organized within the ORC group. For others, go to the course registration form.