This course is designed and delivered by leading research scientists from the pharmaceutical industry to give early career scientists the opportunity to learn how to perform an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Western Blotting, two of the most highly sought-after biochemical & molecular biology techniques.

The programme provides practical laboratory-based training in ELISA & Western Blotting.

The course content is ideal for scientists from undergraduate through to postgraduate level who wish to learn well-established techniques. This course is also ideal if you are applying for further research studies or scientific posts and require new skills to add to your CV.

We ask participants to design their own experiments and allow students to make (safe) mistakes in order to learn from them. This helps participants to develop independent research skills and gain confidence in their own ability in the laboratory.

The ELISA and Western Blot programme runs from 9:30am – 4pm for 2 consecutive days with an hour break for lunch. We teach at a very low student-to-tutor ratio (5:1) meaning that participants are supervised and encouraged throughout their course.

Day 1 - Western Blot I

Hands-on training in SDS-PAGE & Western Blotting for the detection and analysis of proteins from a cell sample. Participants learn how to prepare and load samples into an SDS-PAGE gel for electrophoresis, after which they perform a transfer step and incubate their blots in primary antibody overnight.

Day 2 - Western Blot II & ELISA

During the morning session, participants perform the final steps in the western blotting protocol, visualise and analyse their blot results. In the afternoon, participants learn the principles of ELISA and perform a quantitative ELISA.

• This course is designed for scientists who wish to gain ‘real’ experience in setting up their own protocols.
• To get the most from this course you must be confident and competent in a laboratory setting. Thus, you may be asked to complete a questionnaire prior to the commencement of your course to ensure you are able to meet the required competencies.
• If you do not yet possess the necessary laboratory skills, you must attend our 1-day ‘Introduction to Laboratory Skills’ course before commencing this course.

• Perform your own ELISA and Western Blotting using well-established protocols and techniques to answer real research questions.
• Learn how to design and perform your own experiments.
• Learn how to analyse your results.

This course provides scientists from undergraduate through to postgraduate level with a set of transferable skills and techniques in the laboratory, to help them progress into jobs which will involve the use of these skills on a day-to-day basis. The skills and techniques learnt on this course also provide scientists with the tools to progress into postgraduate research projects involving these techniques.

Attendees gain valuable insights into the range of careers and laboratory research opportunities available. On completion of the course, your new skills and laboratory techniques will be endorsed by our lecturers on LinkedIn and a factual reference is provided upon request.