PhD Courses
All PhD courses are conducted 'in person' and are delivered in English.
Science Communication
| Teacher in charge: Elisabetta Mutto Accordi |
| Teaching Hours: 13 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: January 2026: 20, 15:30-17.30 seminar room 5th north floor | 21, 15:30-17.30 seminar room 5th north floor | 23, 15:30-17.30 seminar room 5th north floor | 30, 15:00-18.00 seminar room 5th north floor February 2026: 4, 16:00-17.30 seminar room 5th north floor | 6, 15:30-17.30 seminar room 5th north floor | 10, 15:00-18.00 seminar room 5th north floor | 13, 15:00-18.00 seminar room 5th north floor | 18, 15:30-17.30 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course unit contents
Science communication - Communication process - Content selection - Storytelling - Persona Branding - Written communication - Public speaking – PowerPoint presentations
Basic course of programming in Python
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Emanuele Buccio |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: January 2026: 13, 14:30-16:30 room TBD | 15, 10:30-12:30 room TBD | 20, 10:30-12:30 room TBD | 26, 10:30-12:30 room TBD | 29, 10:30-12:30 room TBD |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- What is Python?
- Python Basics
- Functions
- Control statements and loops
- Lists, Tuples, Sets, and Dictionaries
- Python Libraries (for data science and data visualization)
Grant writing
| Teacher in charge: Maria Pennuto |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: January 2026: 13, 15:30-17:30 room RN Vallisneri | 14, 15:30-17:30 room RN Vallisneri | 16, 15:30-17:30 room RN Vallisneri | 19, 15:30-17:30 room RN Vallisneri |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Overview of a successful grant application;
- The core of the application in 1 page: Specific Aims and Significance;
- Background and Preliminary data;
- Experimental plan, Gantt chart, Future perspectives, Collaboration letters, Graphical Abstract;
- Practical part for evaluation.
Neuromuscular Plasticity
| Teacher in charge: Marco Narici |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: June 2026: 29, 16:00-17:00 seminar room 5th north floor | 30, 16:00-17:00 seminar room 5th north floor July 2026: 1, 16:00-17:00 seminar room 5th north floor | 3, 16:00-17:00 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Skeletal muscle, structural and functional characteristics;
- Motor units, histological, biochemical and contractile properties, nervous control;
- Neuromuscular adaptations to chronic inactivity;
- Neuromuscular adaptations to exercise;
- Neuromuscular plasticity in ageing;
- Skeletal muscle, structural and functional characteristics;
Protein Structure Analysis: Databases, Visualization, and Functional Insights
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Emanuela Leonardi |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: July 2026: 17, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 20, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 21, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 22, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 24, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Introduction to protein structure and databases;
- Visualization tools and structural analysis;
- Structural prediction and homology modeling;
- Function, interactions, and biotechnological implications
- Residue Interaction Networks (RIN) and their applications
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins: structural and functional characterization and their key role in human diseases
| Teacher in charge: Dott.ssa. Maria Cristina Aspromonte |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: January 2026: 26, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 27, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 28, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor February 2026: 2, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 3, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Introduction to IDPs and IDRs. Definition and characteristics of IDPs and IDRs; structural and functional properties
- IDPs and IDRs in Biological Processes and Diseases;
- Role of IDPs/IDRs in phase separation and biomolecular condensates;
- IDPs/IDRs and their implications in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and other disorders;
- Computational Approaches for IDP/IDR Analysis. a)Databases and bioinformatics tools for IDP/IDR prediction and annotation; b)Identification of disorder-related features and molecular interaction; c)Practical Training and Hands-on Sessions;
- Using in silico tools and databases to retrieve and analyze IDP/IDR-related data. Case studies on IDP/IDR function, regulation, and disease involvement.
Genomic Bioinformatics
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Marco Giorgio |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: May 2026: 4, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 5, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 6, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 11, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 12, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Cell identity and plasticity, epigenetic errors, transcriptional noise and cellular heterogeneity;
- Exposome-genome crosstalk, long term imprinting and maladaptation;
- NGS devices, theory and practice;
- Chromatin and RNA tools, at single cell and spatial levels;
- RNAseq data set analysis - pipeline description - be part of the galaxy "community";
- Hands-on from fastq to bam files, quality check, alignment to ref genome, samples clustering, stat tricks, differential analysis, gene onthology, upstream regulators.
Neurodegeneration
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Emanuela Zuccaro, Elisa Greggio, Elena Ziviani |
| Teaching Hours: 13 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: March 2026: 10, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 11, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 18, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 20, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 27, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor April 2026: 3, 14:30-17:00 Facility microscopia Practical experience |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- The accumulation of misfolded and aberrant proteins, the inflammatory response, and the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration, as well as disease propagation;
- The initiation, genetic contributions, and pathomechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases;
- Diagnostic methods and potential strategies for therapeutic intervention;
- Animal and cell culture models pivotal to research on neurodegenerative diseases;
- Residue Interaction Networks (RIN) and their applications.
Practical experience
The practical part of the course consists of 3 hours, structured as follows:
- Theoretical session (1 hr) covering microscopy techniques used in the subsequent rotations (TEM, confocal, and high-content imaging);
- TEM visualization (40 mins), focusing on mitophagy defects and other proteostasis impairments in Parkinson’s disease models;
- Confocal microscopy (40 mins), using mouse brain sections with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s pathology;
- High-content imaging (Operetta) (40 mins), demonstrating high-throughput screening approaches to identify/evaluate potential druggable molecules based on cellular readouts (e.g., protein aggregation, increased target phosphorylation, etc.).
The world of RNA: from cell biology to personalized medicine
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Rosario Rizzuto, Dott.ssa Annamaria Lia |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: June 2026: 8, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 9, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 10, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 16, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 17, 16:00-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Introduction to the world of RNA;
- RNA Delivery: strategies and limitations;
- mRNA based strategies: applications;
- RNA interference and ASOs;
- siRNA: advantages and examples;
Microengineered Systems for Organoids and Organ-on-Chip Models
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Nicola Elvassore |
| Teaching Hours: 12 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: March 2026: 2, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 3, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 9, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 16, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 23, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 30, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course contents
The course provides an overview of microengineered approaches for creating and studying human organoids and organ-on-chip models. It covers the integration of stem cell biology, biomaterials, and microfluidic technologies to reproduce human tissue development and function in vitro. Topics include design principles of microphysiological systems, the biophysics at microscale, the dynamic control of the cellular microenvironment, and applications in disease modeling, drug testing, and regenerative medicine.
Notes for statistical data analyses
| Teacher in charge: Prof. Federico Ferraccioli |
| Teaching Hours: 20 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 3 |
| Course period: January 2026: 26, 09:00-12:00 | 27, 09:00-12:00 | 28, 09:00-12:00 | 29, 09:00-12:00 | 30, 09:00-12:00 |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Statistical inference: hypothesis testing, interpretation of p-value, types of errors, power. Confidence intervals. The problem of multiple tests;
- Basic methods: inference on proportions and means, comparisons of two or more samples. Non-parametric alternatives (Wilcoxon, Kruskall-Wallis);
- Advanced methods: One-way or two-way analysis of variance. Introduction to regression models. Introduction to principal component analysis;
Learning, memory and actions: from neural circuits to complex behaviours
| Teacher in charge: Dott. Manuela Allegra, Letizia Mariotti |
| Teaching Hours: 10 |
| Number of ECTS credits allocated: 2 |
| Course period: March 2026: 17, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 24, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 25, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor | 31, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor April 2026: 1, 16:30-17:30 seminar room 5th north floor |
Course unit contents
The course includes the following lessons:
- Role of hippocampus in learning and memory (spatial memory and navigation);
- Role of superior colliculus in actions (goal-oriented actions and adaptive behaviours);
- Learning, memory and actions impairment in neurodegeneration: focus on stroke and Alzheimer’s disease;
- Fundamentals of in vivo electrophysiology and its application in freely moving animals;
- Fundamentals of in vivo imaging in freely moving animals;
- Fundamentals of in vivo optogenetics in freely moving animals.
