Essential radiochemistry for society (POK)

The course is addressed to Bachelor students in chemistry, physics, engineering and in general scientific areas, who are interested in realising the involvement of Nuclear- and Radiochemistry in everyday life and understanding the advantages it could introduce. Indeed, Nuclear- and Radiochemistry is certainly needed in addressing many of the current societal challenges related to health, clean energy and food. Within nuclear medicine, diagnostic tools such as PET and SPECT imaging as well as radiotherapy heavily rely on radiochemistry for preparing radionuclide loaded biomarkers or cancer-seeking molecules. Food safety relies on the capability of Nuclear- and Radiochemistry to assess the presence of artificial or natural radionuclides entering the food chain due to anthropogenic activities. To contrast the global climate change, nuclear energy could play a role in the future energy production mix as a low carbon emission technology. Nuclear techniques are fruitfully employed in nuclear forensics for guaranteeing the safety of civil society and also in archaeology for the study, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.

Thanks to the course, students will be aware of the beneficial impact of Nuclear Chemistry and Radiochemistry on our society, and how the scientific community has been developing sustainable technological solutions to safely manage nuclear materials.

The course is also addressed to everyone interested in understanding why Nuclear Chemistry and Radiochemistry is so important and so present in everyday life: lessons 1, 2, 3 of each module explore the topics thanks to a specific format and using a plane language.

You can access the course absolutely free of charge and completely online.

The course materials will still be available to all registered users, even after the closing of the edition.

Further editions of this course will be activated each academic year.