Introduction to basic concepts of Materials Science; Salient properties of important material classes; Property requirement of biomaterials; Concept of biocompatibility; Structure and properties of biological cells & tissues; cell-material interactions and foreign body response; Assessment of biocompatibility of biomaterials, in vitro biochemical assays (cellular adhesion, cellular viability using MTT, osteogenic differentiation using ALP assay; Biomnuneralisation using Osteocalcin assay);