The activities listed are in addition to the research carried out for the thesis project.
The courses are organized in collaboration with the BeMM Doctoral School - Molecular Biology and Medicine.
First-year courses focus on preparatory skills; in particular, scientific English is crucial for training, laboratory safety provides essential information for proper laboratory work, and the animal experimentation course offers preliminary information for those who may find themselves using animal models during the doctoral program.
It is recommended that each doctoral student attend courses and training activities among those offered by the program for at least 48 hours over the three years of the program.
Regarding seminar activities, each doctoral student must choose, for each year, a minimum of 10 seminars related to the topic or methodologies relevant to their research project from:
- Seminars taught by the Doctoral School Board;
- Seminars held by Sapienza faculty members external to the Doctorate, organized by the Doctorate's teaching committee;
- Seminars held by faculty members/researchers external to Sapienza, Italian or foreign, organized by the Doctorate's teaching committee;
- Seminars of interest organized by other institutions.
The titles, dates, and locations of the seminars will be announced from time to time by the Secretariat and can be found on the website at https://phd.uniroma1.it/web/SEMINARI-BIOLOGIA-CELLULARE-E-DELLO-SVILUPPO_nH3489_IT.aspx.
Independently selected training activities include courses, schools, or scientific/technological refresher courses held nationally and/or internationally outside the Doctorate.
COURSES OFFERED BY THE DOCTORATE PROGRAM IN CELLULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY IN 2025/2026
MODEL SYSTEMS IN BIOLOGY (1st/2nd/3rd year)
The course illustrates some important eukaryotic model systems and presents their characteristics, methodological aspects, and applications in biology. The course is divided into single-topic modules; each module comprises 4 hours of theory and 4 hours of practice.
Module 1: Arabidopsis thaliana (Prof. Riccardo Lorrai/Simone Ferrari)
February 2nd and 4th, 2026 9-11 am Room B Tecce Physiology bldg. (CU026)
February 3rd and 5th, 2026 9-11 am Laboratory B Botanica bldg (CU022)
Module 2: Caenorhabditis elegans (Prof. Emily Schifano)
February 9th and 11th, 2026 9-11 am Room B Tecce Physiology bldg. (CU026)
February 10th and 12th, 2026 9-11 am Laboratory 101 Physiology bldg. (CU026)
Module 3: yeast (Prof. Arianna Montanari)
February 16th and 18th, 2026 2-4 pm Room B Tecce Physiology bldg. (CU026)
February 17th and 19th, 2026 2-4 pm Laboratory 101 Physiology bldg. (CU026)
DUAL-USE RESEARCH, EMERGING BIOTECHNOLOGIES AND BIOTERRORISM (1st year)
Prof. Teresa Rinaldi
March 2026 (to be defined)
STATISTICS FOR BIOLOGISTS (2nd/3rd year)
Prof. Valerio Licursi (IBPM-CNR) and Mario Fordellone (Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)
June 2025 (to be defined)
Ed. Fisiologia generale e Antropologia CU026 E01PS1L101 Aula I multimediale
OTHER COURSES OFFERED BY THE BeMM SCHOOL2
Bibliographic Research and Academic Writing (Year 1)
Number of Hours: 8
Course Instructor: Maria Squarcione
.
How to Write a Research Protocol (Year 1)
Number of Hours: 4
Course Instructor: Giuseppe La Torre
2D and 3D Image Post Production and Video Animation (Years 1-2-3)
Number of Hours: 4
Course Instructor: Mattia La Torre
.
Biosafety in the Research Lab (1st year)
Number of hours: 6
Course instructor: INAIL staff, Prof. Cutruzzolà
Course on bash shell scripting, Python programming, R programming (3rd year)
Number of hours: 20
Course instructor: Teresa Via, Allegra Colombo qua
Protein production and engineering: from biology to nanobiotech (2nd/3rd year)
Number of hours: 18
Course instructor: Prof. Paola Baiocco, Prof. Maria Carmela Bonaccorsi, Prof. Alessandra Bonamore, Prof. Martino Luigi Di Salvo, Prof. Serena Rinaldo (Department of Biochemical Sciences - Sapienza University of Rome); Dr. Linda Celeste Montemiglio (Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM)-CNR, Rome)
Macromolecular Interactions (II/III year)
number of hours: 10
course teacher: Prof. Serena Rinaldo (Dept. Biochemical Sciences Sapienza University of Rome); Dr. Angelo Toto (Dep. of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome); Prof. Francesca Cutruzzolà (Dept. of Biochemical Sciences Sapienza University of Rome); Dr. Francesco Fiorentino (Dept. of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome); Dr. Gianni Colotti and Dr. Angela Tramonti, (Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology (IBPM)-CNR, Rome)
Novel Genomic and Computational Technologies to Advance Research and Industry (II/III year)
number of hours: 4
course teacher: Davide Cacchiarelli, Beatrice Salvatori (Professor of Molecular Biology, Armenise/Harvard Laboratory of Integrative Genomics School of Medicine, University of Naples "Federico II")
Cellular microscopy and image analysis (I/II/III year)
number of hours: 4
Course teacher: Giulia Guarguaglini
The New Version of The Human Genome: Concepts and Practical Applications (II/III year)
number of hours: 6
course teacher: Viviana Caputo
Bioinformatics: Theory and applications from genomes to drugs (II7III year)
number of hours: 18
Ligand binding and enzyme Kinetics
Number of hours: 12
Course instructor: Prof. Andrea Bellelli (Dept. of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome; Prof. Roberto Contestabile, Dept. of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome); Dr. Alessandro Giuffrè, Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, CNR (National Research Council) Title: Professor Affiliation: Italian
Structural Biology: Basics, Infrastructure, and Application
Number of hours: 14
Course instructor: A. Di Matteo, A. Ilari, C. Savino (Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology, CNR); A. Fiorillo, C. Travaglini-Allocatelli (Dept. of Biochemical Sciences – Sapienza University of Rome); S. Longhi (AFMB Laboratory – Architecture and Function of Biological Macromolecules, CNRS – Aix-Marseille Univ.) and M. Vendruscolo (Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge).
Course for Advanced Microscopy
Number of hours: 10
Course instructors: Prof. S. Di Angelantonio, Sapienza University; Dr. V. de Turris, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT); Dr. R. Macco - Bruker; Dr. C. Brighi, CrestOptics; Dr. A. Rossi, Crisel Instruments; Prof. E. De Stefano, Sapienza University; Prof. G. Giardina, Sapienza University; Prof. Nicolas Bayens, Free University of Brussels; Prof. R. Strippoli, Sapienza University; Prof. M. Rosito, Sapienza
Metabolism and Metabolites
Number of Hours: 14
Course Instructor: Prof. Alessio Paone, Prof. Mario Fontana, Prof. Luciana Mosca, Prof. Alberto Macone, Dr. Roberto Mattioli, Prof. Elena Forte, Prof. Daniela De Biase (Dept. of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome)
ATAC-seq Course (Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing) (2nd/3rd year)
Number of Hours: 8
Course Instructor: Valerio Fulci
Biophysical Sciences: Nanomedicine (3rd year)
Number of Hours: 10
Course Instructor: Giulio Caracciolo
Public Speaking (3rd year)
Number of Hours: 4
Alternative Careers in Science (3rd year)
Number of Hours: 2
Course Instructor: Professor of the Laboratorio 11 Youth Association
Preparing Artwork for Scientific Papers (3rd year)
Number of hours: 8
Course instructor: Prof. Giorgio Giardina, Prof. Gianni Stefano (Dept. of Biochemical Sciences)
From Cell to Animal Models: Guidelines and Best Practice (3rd year)
Number of hours: 16
Course instructor: Dr. Tramutola, Prof. Di Domenico, Prof. Barone, Prof. Mangoni, Prof. Perluigi, Prof. Di Angelantonio, Prof. Sanchini, Prof. Basilico (Sapienza)
Career Development Plan for Early-Stage Researchers (3rd year)
Number of hours: 6
Course instructor: Prof. Alberto Boffi (Dept. of Biochemical Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome; Dr. Elisa Napolitano and Dr. Sabrina Tiberi)
Beyond the Frontiers of Translational Immunology (3rd year)
Number of hours: 12
Course instructor: Paolini, Scagnolari, Strippoli, Piconese, Paiardini (Sapienza, Rome)