Vision of the course and training objectives (specific and transversal)

The doctorate in Molecular, Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology is an interdisciplinary doctoral course focused on basic and applied research relating to living beings and their use in the agro-industrial and environmental fields. In particular, the doctoral course in Biotechnology studies the genetic, proteomic, metabolic and physiological characteristics of different living beings and their interaction with the external environment. The various issues relating to the biological, chemical, agricultural and engineering areas are therefore addressed in order to develop basic research in the biotechnological field, which is then used as a driving force for the implementation of applied research in the industrial field and in terms of environmental sustainability.

The PhD in Biotechnology provides the doctoral student with:

• the skills, both theoretical and experimental, necessary for biotechnological training;
• the directions and motivations necessary so that the investigative efforts are also directed towards application problems relevant both for methodological and industrial purposes or of relevance for public health and/or the environment.

In particular, the doctoral course in Molecular, Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology aims to acquire the theoretical bases and methodological knowledge to carry out research activities in the field of various sectors of biotechnological sciences, involving chemical, biochemical, physiological, genetic, microbiological disciplines. , bioinformatics and engineering. Specifically, the main areas of investigation concern the exploration of the structure, function and regulation of the genome of microbial, plant and animal organisms, including humans; the development of models to evaluate the effects of interactions between environmental factors and genetic factors; the study of the structure/function relationship of macromolecules of biological interest; the study of the structure and function of proteins for the understanding of biological processes, also through the application of bioinformatic and biophysical methods; the development of applications and the analysis of the regulation of the proteome of living organisms; the analysis of the metabolome of different organisms and the use of biomolecules for industrial purposes; the development of innovative biotechnological processes through the use of plants and microorganisms; processes for the production of bio-energy and bio-fuels both from photosynthetic organisms and from civil and industrial waste; the characterization of the response of microbial and plant organisms to environmental factors with the aim of improving their productivity and resistance to stress as well as their use in remediation processes; the study of soil carbon sequestration mechanisms in a climate change scenario, and the sustainable use of waste biomass in agricultural soils

Outgoing professional profiles and employment opportunities

The PhD in Industrial and Environmental Molecular Biotechnology trains professional figures destined in the first instance to independently carry out research activities in the various scientific-cultural areas covered by the course. The PhD in Industrial and Environmental Molecular Biotechnology is suitable for inclusion in a university career and in public and private research centers where basic and applied biotechnological research is conducted, as well as for inclusion in many other work fields which, given the multi -disciplinarity of the Doctorate, include a wide variety of typologies, such as consultancy and technology transfer activities. The expected employment opportunities concern both the continuation of scientific research activity in the academic field and the inclusion in corporate realities with jobs related to their training path

Research infrastructures and services available to doctoral students

Doctoral students have access to the following infrastructures:

• Equipment and/or Laboratories - Platform for transcriptomic and genomic analysis, NMR Spectroscopy Laboratory, Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Laboratory, Photosynthesis Laboratory, X-ray Biocrystallography Laboratory, Functional Genomics Laboratory, Biochemistry Laboratory, In vitro culture laboratory , Radioisotope Laboratory, Molecular Biology Laboratory, Plant Pathology Laboratory, 15 centrifuges 13 UV-VIS spectrophotometers, phytotrons for plant growth, 1 greenhouse, sonicators
• Book heritage - The Meneghetti Library makes available 2,000 magazines in paper format relating to the biomedical, scientific and technological fields;
• Online resources - Approximately 20,000 subscription magazines and more than 30,000 free magazines are available in digital format, with online access. Free access is also available to the resources present in the databases Pubmed, Journal Citation Report, ISI web of Science, Scimago, Swissprot, Protein data bank
• Software specifically relevant to the envisaged research sectors - The Biotechnology department, home of the doctorate, has an advanced IT system. The individual research groups also have remote IT resources relating to specific projects (protein structural engineering, NMR, genomes, etc.).
• Spaces and resources for doctoral students and for electronic computing - doctoral students have access to dedicated spaces in the Department of Biotechnology. Access via credentials to the university network with computing stations available at the Department of Biotechnology is also provided; specific computing resources are also available for protein modeling and for genome sequencing and transcriptional analysis