The PhD course in Cell and Developmental Biology is an interdisciplinary doctorate which aims to train scientists with professional qualifications that will enable them to enter research, with particular emphasis on:
1) cell biology, using various cellular models (from yeast to nerve cells), both animal and plant;
2) neurobiology, with an in-depth study of cellular and molecular mechanisms in the development and pathophysiology of the nervous system;
3) microbiology, including genetics, molecular biology, and biotechnology of microorganisms and the study of the microbiome;
4) functional genomics and proteomics of model organisms and the study of epigenetic mechanisms in transcriptional regulation;
5) physiology and pathology of the immune response;
6) plant physiology and biotechnology, and the development of sustainable solutions for agriculture;
7) bioinformatics, with particular reference to the integration of multi-omics data in basic biological research and personalized medicine;
8) the study of extracellular vesicles in intercellular communication, pathogenesis, and the development of new drugs;
9) oncopathology, including the study of genomic stability in neoplasms.
The course aims at providing a high-profile and highly interdisciplinary preparation, based on widely diversified conceptual and methodological approaches, such as for example:
• In vitro cultures
• Bacterial, yeast, Drosophila, mouse and plant genetics
• Chemical genetics
• Heterologous expression in bacterial and eukaryotic systems
• Cell / organism genetic transformation (including "genome editing")
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• "Omics" studies (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, interactomics etc.)
• Cell fractionation
• In vivo microscopy
• Immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy
• Structural biology
The training plan provides, in the first year, the start of basic training for young researchers, within the interests of individual doctoral students. In the second and third years, the advancement of the training of young researchers is promoted and brought to completion. During the three years, the training activities are chosen independently by the PhD students, in line with their research.
The course aims to develop scientific rigor, a critical attitude, and the ability to communicate their results and acquired knowledge in the doctoral students, both in oral and written form. Various actions are envisaged for this purpose:
• PhD students must illustrate the results achieved both in the form of public seminars and written reports, drawn up in the form of a scientific manuscript suitable for submission to high-level international journals;
• internal or external tutors are appointed who critically discuss the results with the students;
• the dissemination of results at international congresses and internships is stimulated;
• the finalization of the work carried out with scientific publications in quality journals is requested.
Another objective of the course is to train the doctoral student in continuous updating, through the consultation of scientific literature and an intense seminar activity. The seminars are monographic or integrated into thematic series and are often co-organized with doctoral courses similar to or coordinated with the other courses of the BeMM Doctoral School - Biology and Molecular Medicine, which brings together different doctorates from the Faculties of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences and of Medicine, including this Doctoral Course. The many courses and activities for doctoral students organized within the BeMM school allow for the exchange of information and encourage the interdisciplinarity necessary to address the complex issues of biology.
Internationalization is an intrinsic characteristic of this PhD Program, pursued through various actions:
• PhD students are encouraged to spend at least 3 consecutive months internships abroad, with the financial support of this PhD course, also to obtain the additional title of Doctor Europaeus;
• collaborations with high quality foreign laboratories are promoted;
• foreign teachers are recruited from the college;
• foreign teachers are invited for lectures and seminars;
• lectures, seminars, tests and final exam are in English;
• foreign students are attracted;
• foreign external auditors and foreign teachers participate in the evaluations.
Occupational and professional opportunities
The Doctorate aims to train people with a professional qualification in the scientific field such as to make it possible for them to be included in the public and private fields, and at a national and international level, in research, including applied research, which requires skills in Cell Biology and Development Biology. Doctors will have access, for example, to:
- bodies responsible for drafting health and patent regulations in the field of biomedical, food and environmental biotechnologies; communication and technical-scientific information in the biotechnological and medical-molecular fields.
- health system structures, hospitals and specialized public and private laboratories;
- Universities and other public and private research institutions;
- Industries;
- coordination offices of the funding bodies of scientific research projects: national agencies (AIRC, Telethon, etc.) or European (EU-FP7, Marie Curie Fellowships, ERC, EMBO, etc.);
- National and international scientific publishing houses (e.g. scientific journal Editors)
- Production companies in the biotechnology, biomedical and diagnostic fields.
The expected employment opportunities, both nationally and internationally, are in the field of biotechnology, diagnostics and pharmaceutical sciences: molecular diagnostics; production of vectors for both experimental and gene therapy use; generation of engineered cells for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions ; generation of transgenic animals for the production of therapeutic proteins or for xenografts; collaboration in clinical drug trials; collaboration in the optimization and personalization of drug therapy; preclinical drug monitoring; application and development of biotechnology-based diagnostic tests; biotechnological analyzes and experiments .
More than 75% of those who have obtained the PhD in Cellular and Developmental Biology carry out research activities.
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