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Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology

Field of studies


Infectious diseases play a significant role worldwide, as well as in Germany. The subject of hygiene, microbiology and virology is intended to provide the basics for understanding these diseases and is therefore relevant for every medical professional. In the main lecture, the pathogens that are significant in human medicine are introduced. Starting from the biological basics, the clinically important concepts of disease transmission and infection prevention, control and therapy are taught at the same time. The areas of general and special bacteriology, mycology and parasitology are covered by professors and lecturers from the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology. Virology is taught by colleagues at the Institute of Virology.

The practical course complements the contents of the lecture. Using cultures and microscopic preparations, you will be able to look at the germs presented and examine them with specific microbiological methods under guidance. You will also have the opportunity to try out the analysis techniques you have learned on yourself and in this way get to know your own bacterial flora. Through concrete case presentations, you will learn to apply microbiological diagnostics to clinical examples. In the bacteriology section of the course, you will supervise a clinical case throughout the entire section. Starting with the initial anamnesis, through the submission of examination samples, to the performance of bacteriological analyses, you can in this way become familiar with the course of bacteriological infection diagnostics.

You can find the current lecture and practical schedule on WueCampus2.


Examination dates:

Exam Hygiene (also repeater) for students of human medicine


Medical microbiology and virology for students of dentistry

Oral microbiology deals with microbial diseases of the oral cavity. Here, the most common microbial disease is dental caries, but there are many other microbiological diseases affecting the oral cavity.

The aim of this lecture series is to provide you with in-depth basic knowledge of medical microbiology, including microbiological principles of caries and periodontal diseases. In addition, bacteria, fungi and viruses that infect the human body and their oral manifestations are systematically discussed.
The current lecture schedule can be found on WueCampus2.

Lecture slides can also be obtained for a limited time via WueCampus2.

Contents of the lecture include:

Basics of microbiology and diagnostics, oral flora, dental plaque, microbiology of periodontal diseases, marker germs for severe and aggressive forms of periodontitis (including Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis), infections of the oropharynx, antibiotics, tuberculosis and vaccination, basics of virology as well as selected viruses (herpes viruses, hepatitis viruses, HIV).


The courses on the topics of medical microbiology (bacteriology, mycology, parasitology), virology, immunology and hygiene comprise a lecture and a practical course with compulsory attendance. The lecture and practical course schedule can always be found up-to-date at WueCampus2.

Lecture:

Due to the current COVID-19 epidemic, unfortunately no face-to-face lectures can be held until further notice. This is to protect the health of all participants! However, the lectures will be deposited on WUECAMPUS in the form of discussed PowerPoint presentations. It is therefore an asynchronous online event.

Practical course:

The practical course currently takes place as a face-to-face course in compliance with the currently valid protection and hygiene concept for the implementation of practical courses at the University of Würzburg ( see https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/corona/studierende).

Script for lecture and practical course:

A script for self-study with the complete contents of the lecture and the practical course are deposited for you on WUECAMPUS.

We hope that we can make you an attractive offer for self-study despite the difficult circumstances. Please also visit our homepage regularly for up-to-date information on the lecture and course.

Contents of lecture and course, written exam

Not least due to the increasing spread of multi-resistant bacteria or the appearance of new human pathogenic viruses (so-called "emerging pathogens"), good basic knowledge of medical microbiology (= bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology), hygiene and immunology is becoming more and more important for pharmacists. In addition, numerous new professional fields are opening up for pharmacists, for example in industry in the development of new antibiotics or in hospitals within the framework of so-called "antibiotic stewardship" programmes.

The lecture and the course "Introduction to medical microbiology, hygiene and immunology for pharmacy students" are intended to provide the necessary basic knowledge and skills for this. According to the Approbationsordnung für Apotheker (AappO, Appendix 13 to § 17 Para. 3), this includes, among other things

  •     the "systematic classification and physiology of [...] microorganisms with special consideration of pharmaceutically and medically important organisms",
  •     "viruses",
  •      "basic microbiological terms and techniques" and the
  •      "basic features of the immune system".

The course and lecture are jointly organised by lecturers from the Institutes for Hygiene and Microbiology (IHM) and Virology and Immunobiology (VIM).

According to § 7 of the study regulations, attendance of the practical course is compulsory. There is an attendance check. Regular participation in the practical course is a prerequisite for admission to the written examination.

Registration for the practical course also includes registration for the multiple-choice examination at the end of the same semester. In case of acute illness on the day of the exam, the cancellation must be made on the same day and the doctor's certificate must be submitted within three days after the exam. In case of unexcused absence, the exam is considered failed.


The study programme "Translational Medicine/ TMed" was launched in 2018 at the Medical Faculty of the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg as a supplement to the study of human medicine or dentistry. The study programme is funded by the Elite Network Bavaria.

TMed can be completed during the clinical part of medical studies as a supplementary study programme or after graduating from medical studies as a Master's study programme. TMed is aimed at students of human medicine or dentistry who are particularly capable and willing to perform, or at graduates who can use it to gain qualifications for management positions in academic medicine, but also in business.

The study programme is predominantly research-oriented and deepens the understanding of the individual phases of translation from the scientific fundamentals to preclinical research and clinical studies to the implementation of new findings in medical care. The training programme includes theoretical and practical components ranging from basic experimental biomedical research to clinical and epidemiological research and the implementation of clinical trials. Concepts of translational medicine, critical analysis of scientific literature and initial involvement in research projects are integral parts of the curriculum. TMed offers intensive supervision by internationally renowned scientists and is closely integrated into the research networks and clinical research centres at the Würzburg location to actively involve students in a competitive research environment.

Further information can be found on the programme's homepage: go.uniwue.de/tmed


Food chemistry is an applied subject. Above all, analytical-chemical questions play an important role, but microbiological and food law aspects are also significant. Therefore, our aim in this block practical course is to provide you with in-depth basic knowledge of medical microbiology (= bacteriology, virology, mycology and parasitology) and hygiene as well as basic microbiological techniques.

The teaching events on the topics of medical microbiology, virology and hygiene take place within the framework of a block practical course in the form of lectures and a practical course requiring attendance.

You can always find the current schedule of lectures and practical courses at: https://wuecampus.uni-wuerzburg.de/moodle/.

Registration takes place via WueCampus2. Course scripts and lecture slides can also be obtained from WueCampus2 for a limited period of time.

Contents of the lecture include:

Pathogenicity and virulence; different classes of foodborne pathogens, modes of transmission, spread of disease, host defence mechanisms of humans, pathogenicity mechanisms: attachment and colonisation of host tissue, invasion/penetration in host cells, capsule, biofilms, secretion systems, bacterial toxins (endo- and exotoxins) & mycotoxins. Survival and persistence in host cells, microbial evolution and infection ecology, molecular diagnostic methods (PCR, 16S rRNA sequence, ELISA).

Contents of the practical course include:

Safety in the microbiology laboratory, basic microbiological techniques, microscopy, staining of bacteria, culture techniques, anaerobic culture techniques, obtaining a pure culture, identifying enterobacteria, evaluations of antibiograms.


Lecture and course plan of medical microbiology for students of food chemistry


Within the framework of the lecture "Microbiology" of the Bachelor's programme as well as Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral theses, the Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology participates in the study programme "Biomedicine" jointly conducted by the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Biology.

Details of the study programme can be found in the online course catalogue.


In cooperation with the Chair of Zoology I (Cell and Developmental Biology), the IHM Parasitology group has been involved in organising the 'Lecture Series in Molecular Parasitology' and the F1 practical course 'Molecular Parasitology' for biology master's students since 2017.

Furthermore, this working group is part of the summer school 'Modern Methods in Infection Biology' for international biology students, which has been organised since 2016 under the leadership of the Chair of Bioinformatics.


The Institute of Hygiene and Microbiology also participates in courses at the Graduate School of Life Sciences. Thus, doctoral seminars are regularly offered within the framework of the GSLS by professors and lecturers from our institute.