Official topics · annotated
Semmelweis Entrance Exam Topic List 2027, Annotated
All 50 topics of Semmelweis University's official topic list, in its own words, each with what to know, the IvyTest lessons that teach it and the questions of our free sample test that test it. Tick a topic off when you have it; your ticks stay in this browser.
Based on "Admission topics of Semmelweis University: Medical biology and Medical chemistry", dated 14 October 2022, the list Semmelweis University's entrance-exam page still links (checked 14 October 2026). The official wording is quoted as printed; the notes and links are IvyTest's.
Before you start
How to use this list
Semmelweis University calls these topics "a guide and orientation for preparation", not the questions themselves, and it publishes no topic list for the two English tests. Work through a group at a time: read the note, learn it from the lesson, then check yourself on the sample test's questions before you tick it.
The lessons are part of the Semmelweis University Complete Admissions System and open for students who have it; a lesson marked "members" links to the Semmelweis University guide, which says what it includes.
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27 topics
Medical biology
Biomolecules
What to know: The peptide bond and the four levels of structure, the bonds that hold each one (hydrogen bonds, disulfide bridges, hydrophobic and ionic interactions), and how an allosteric effector changes a protein's shape from a site away from the active site.
Lesson (members): Proteins & enzymesSample question 1Sample question 2
Biomolecules
What to know: Glycogen, starch and cellulose (α against β glycosidic bonds, branching), amino sugars and other modified sugars, and how glycoproteins and proteoglycans differ in their share of sugar and their role in the extracellular matrix.
Biomolecules
What to know: Triglycerides as the energy store (glycerol and three fatty acids, saturated and unsaturated) and phosphoglycerolipids as the amphipathic lipids of membranes.
Lesson (members): Lipids & biological membranesSample question 3
Biomolecules
What to know: DNA against RNA (sugar, bases, strands), the jobs of mRNA, tRNA and rRNA, how DNA is packed into chromosomes, gene against allele, and the features of the genetic code: triplet, degenerate, nearly universal, with start and stop codons.
Lesson (members): Nucleic acids & nucleotidesLesson (members): Transcription, RNA & translation
Biomolecules
What to know: Fat-soluble (A, D, E, K) and water-soluble (B group, C) vitamins, and the coenzymes the B vitamins become, such as NAD⁺ from niacin and FAD from riboflavin.
Enzymes and Molecular Genetics
What to know: Competitive and non-competitive inhibition and what each does to Km and Vmax, allosteric regulation and feedback inhibition, and switching enzymes on and off by phosphorylation.
Enzymes and Molecular Genetics
What to know: The Meselson–Stahl result, the replication fork with its leading and lagging strands, DNA polymerases (5′→3′ synthesis, proofreading) and the main repair pathways.
Lesson (members): DNA structure & replicationSample question 6
Enzymes and Molecular Genetics
What to know: Promoters and transcription factors, the three eukaryotic RNA polymerases and what each makes, and how genes are switched on and off.
Lesson (members): Transcription, RNA & translationSample question 7
Enzymes and Molecular Genetics
What to know: Capping, polyadenylation and splicing in the nucleus, then translation on free or ER-bound ribosomes: initiation at AUG, elongation, termination.
Lesson (members): Transcription, RNA & translationSample question 8
Energy Metabolism
What to know: Glycolysis and its net ATP, what happens to pyruvate with and without oxygen (lactate in working muscle regenerates NAD⁺), and the ATP balance of each route.
Lesson (members): Glycolysis & cellular respirationLesson (members): Fermentation & anaerobic metabolismSample question 9
Energy Metabolism
What to know: Where each stage takes place in the mitochondrion, what one turn of the citrate cycle yields, the electron transport chain and how the proton gradient drives ATP synthase.
Lesson (members): ATP, redox & energy couplingLesson (members): Glycolysis & cellular respirationSample question 10Sample question 11
Cell Origins and Compartmentation
What to know: Chemical evolution (Miller–Urey type experiments), why RNA could have come first, what prokaryotic cells have and lack (nucleoid, 70S ribosomes, cell wall, plasmids), and examples of bacterial diseases.
Lesson (members): Evolution & natural selectionLesson (members): Bacteria, viruses & microorganismsSample question 12
Cell Origins and Compartmentation
What to know: The nuclear envelope and its pores, the nucleolus as the site of rRNA synthesis and ribosome assembly, and the mitochondrion's two membranes, own DNA and endosymbiotic origin.
Lesson (members): Cell structure & organellesSample question 13
Cell Origins and Compartmentation
What to know: Rough and smooth ER, the path of a secreted protein through the Golgi, and lysosomes as acidic compartments of hydrolytic enzymes.
Lesson (members): Cell structure & organellesSample question 14
Genetics, Signalling and the Cell Cycle
What to know: Monohybrid and dihybrid crosses and their ratios, X-linked recessive inheritance (an affected father has carrier daughters and unaffected sons), and the maternal inheritance of mitochondrial genes.
Lesson (members): Mendelian geneticsLesson (members): Non-Mendelian & human geneticsSample question 15
Genetics, Signalling and the Cell Cycle
What to know: The phases of the cell cycle, cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases, the G1/S, G2/M and spindle checkpoints, p53, and how growth factors push a cell into division.
Genetics, Signalling and the Cell Cycle
What to know: Cell-surface receptors (G protein-coupled, enzyme-linked) for water-soluble signals and intracellular receptors for steroids, cAMP and Ca²⁺ as second messengers, and protein kinase cascades.
Lesson (members): Cell signalling & receptorsSample question 17
Genetics, Signalling and the Cell Cycle
What to know: The three ranges of chemical signalling, the hypothalamus–pituitary axis, and the main hormones of the pituitary and adrenal glands with what each does.
Human Physiology
What to know: The chambers and valves, systole and diastole, the conduction system from the sinoatrial node, and the action potential of cardiac muscle.
Lesson (members): Cardiovascular system & bloodSample question 18
Human Physiology
What to know: Ventilation, diffusion across the alveolar wall, oxygen carried by haemoglobin, and carbon dioxide carried mostly as hydrogencarbonate.
Human Physiology
What to know: Amylases, proteases and lipases with where each one acts, bile, and absorption in the small intestine.
Human Physiology
What to know: Filtration in the glomerulus, reabsorption of glucose and most salt and water in the proximal tubule, the loop of Henle, and the collecting duct's control by ADH.
Human Physiology
What to know: The sliding filament model, how Ca²⁺, troponin and tropomyosin control cross-bridges, and how skeletal, cardiac and smooth muscle differ.
Lesson (members): Muscular systemLesson (members): Tissues & histologySample question 19
Human Physiology
What to know: Types of neurons and glial cells, the resting potential and the Na⁺/K⁺ pump, the phases of the action potential, and conduction along myelinated axons.
Reproduction, Immunity and Viruses
What to know: Male and female organs and gamete production, testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone, and how meiosis halves the chromosome number and creates variation.
Lesson (members): Reproductive system & human developmentLesson (members): Meiosis & gametogenesis
Reproduction, Immunity and Viruses
What to know: T cells and B cells, plasma cells and the five antibody classes, MHC class I and II, and active against passive immunisation.
Reproduction, Immunity and Viruses
What to know: The parts of a virus, the lytic and lysogenic cycles of bacteriophages, how animal viruses multiply, and reverse transcription in retroviruses.
Lesson (members): Bacteria, viruses & microorganismsSample question 20
23 topics
Medical chemistry
Atoms, Bonds and Water
What to know: Protons, neutrons and electrons, the main elements of living matter (C, H, O, N, P, S and the essential ions), and writing electron configurations with s, p and d orbitals.
Lesson (members): Atomic structure & electronic configurationSample question 21
Atoms, Bonds and Water
What to know: Ionic, covalent and metallic bonds, polar and non-polar covalent bonds, and the forces between molecules: hydrogen bonds, dipole interactions and dispersion forces.
Lesson (members): Chemical bonding & molecular structureLesson (members): Intermolecular forcesSample question 22
Atoms, Bonds and Water
What to know: Why water is polar and hydrogen-bonded, its high boiling point and heat capacity, and its self-ionisation (Kw = 10⁻¹⁴ at 25 °C).
Lesson (members): Intermolecular forcesSample question 22Sample question 23
Solutions, Acids and Equilibrium
What to know: Solvent and solute, and converting between mass percentage, molarity and other ways of giving a concentration.
Lesson (members): Solutions, solubility & concentrationSample question 24
Solutions, Acids and Equilibrium
What to know: What affects the solubility of solids, liquids and gases, and going from a solubility product to a molar solubility and back.
Lesson (members): Solutions, solubility & concentrationSample question 25
Solutions, Acids and Equilibrium
What to know: Brønsted acids and bases, the pH scale, the pH of strong acids and bases, and weak ones such as acetic acid and ammonia.
Lesson (members): Acids, bases, pH & buffersSample question 26
Solutions, Acids and Equilibrium
What to know: Equilibrium constants, how concentration, pressure and temperature shift an equilibrium, and how a weak acid with its conjugate base resists a change in pH.
Lesson (members): Chemical equilibriumLesson (members): Acids, bases, pH & buffersSample question 27
Redox and Electrochemistry
What to know: Assigning oxidation numbers, recognising oxidation and reduction, and the anode and cathode of a voltaic cell.
Lesson (members): Redox & electrochemistrySample question 28
Redox and Electrochemistry
What to know: Using standard reduction potentials to predict a reaction and a cell's voltage, and how concentration changes the potential (the Nernst equation).
Lesson (members): Redox & electrochemistrySample question 29
Redox and Electrochemistry
What to know: Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ and how one becomes the other, iron as a Lewis acid binding ligands, and why heme iron must stay Fe²⁺ to carry oxygen.
Lesson (members): Redox & electrochemistrySample question 30
Thermodynamics and Kinetics
What to know: The enthalpy change and its sign, exothermic against endothermic reactions, and Hess's law as conservation of energy.
Lesson (members): Thermochemistry & thermodynamicsSample question 31
Thermodynamics and Kinetics
What to know: ΔG = ΔH − TΔS, when a process is spontaneous, and how entropy changes between solid, liquid and gas.
Lesson (members): Thermochemistry & thermodynamicsSample question 32
Thermodynamics and Kinetics
What to know: What a reaction rate is, why it rises with temperature, activation energy, and how catalysts and enzymes lower it.
Organic Chemistry Foundations
What to know: Alkanes, alkenes and alkynes with their single, double and triple bonds, and what makes benzene aromatic.
Lesson (members): Hydrocarbons & aromatic compoundsSample question 34
Organic Chemistry Foundations
What to know: Primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols and their oxidation, hydrogen bonding and boiling points, and why phenol is more acidic than ethanol.
Lesson (members): Alcohols, phenols, ethers & thiolsSample question 35
Organic Chemistry Foundations
What to know: Aldehydes, ketones and carboxylic acids as successive oxidation products, with biological examples such as acetaldehyde, acetone, pyruvic and lactic acid.
Lesson (members): Aldehydes & ketonesLesson (members): Carboxylic acids & derivativesSample question 36
Organic Chemistry Foundations
What to know: Primary, secondary and tertiary amines, why they are basic, and how an imine (Schiff base) forms from an amine and a carbonyl compound.
Lesson (members): Amines & nitrogen compoundsSample question 37
Bioorganic Chemistry
What to know: The condensations that form ethers, esters, amides and anhydrides, and the phosphate esters and anhydrides of ATP and nucleic acids.
Lesson (members): Carboxylic acids & derivativesLesson (members): Alcohols, phenols, ethers & thiolsSample question 38
Bioorganic Chemistry
What to know: The thiol group of cysteine, disulfide bridges in proteins, and thioesters such as acetyl-CoA.
Lesson (members): Alcohols, phenols, ethers & thiolsSample question 39
Biochemical Building Blocks
What to know: The four-ring steroid skeleton, cholesterol, and the hormones, bile acids and vitamin D made from it.
Biochemical Building Blocks
What to know: Aldoses and ketoses, glucose, fructose and galactose, ring forms and anomers, and sucrose, lactose and maltose.
Biochemical Building Blocks
What to know: The general structure of an amino acid, side chains grouped as non-polar, polar, acidic and basic, zwitterions, and the peptide bond.
Biochemical Building Blocks
What to know: Base, sugar and phosphate, purines against pyrimidines, the sugar–phosphate backbone and base pairing.
Lesson (members): Biomolecules & biochemical chemistrySample question 40Sample question 38
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Test yourself on the list
The free sample test sets 80 questions in the exam's own format, every one explained. The Semmelweis Entrance Exam guide has the format, dates and scoring in full.