The programme

Overview

The PhD course in Inflammation, Immunity, and Cancer offers an interdisciplinary training program designed to equip the next generation of doctoral candidates with advanced knowledge and skills for a an holist approach to the study of cancer biology, and of the roles of immunity and inflammation in health and disease.

Our program goes beyond traditional academic training by involving the doctoral candidates in cutting-edge research projects on multidimensional analyses of complex model systems and patient tissues. This initiative is supported by a multidisciplinary team of experts from cell biology to clinical research, ensuring a rich, collaborative learning experience.

The doctoral candidates will benefit from unique learning opportunities across various settings, including academic institutions, clinical environments, patient advocacy groups, and the publishing system. The course emphasizes the societal implications of biomedical advancements, preparing young scientists to ethically and thoughtfully evaluate the impact of their research. 
A key component of our curriculum, focuses on developing skills for inclusive engagement with patients, clinicians, and policymakers, fostering greater public trust in scientific endeavors.

By completing our program, graduate students will emerge as strong and adaptable, ready to lead in various sectors of biomedical science, making significant contributions to their fields and society at large. 

TRAINING OBJECTIVES

The PhD Course aims to equip young researchers with

  • Specific Research Skills: involvement in cutting edge research projects supported by our advanced infrastructure and dedicated team. The supervisors' laboratories, combined with our international collaboration network, ensure comprehensive training in specialized methodologies.
  • General Research Skills: dedicated actions such as courses, workshop, mandatory secondments at international collaborators will cover for training sub-objectives such as science communication, problem solving, biostatistics, inclusivity. Hands-on experience within individual laboratories will also contribute towards increasing competence in scientific writings.
  • Personal development: we emphasize the development of personal skills also through the exposure of the students to different cultural environments. This will be further stimulated through mandatory secondments at international research institutions.  

PhD SUPERVISION

The faculty members of the PhD course constitute the supervisory board (SB). Each doctoral candidate will be assigned a supervisor from the SB and a co-supervisor from a different institution. Together, they will monitor the candidate's progress and provide evaluations critical for the student's advancement. Each candidate will receive initial hands-on training and supervision throughout the project from senior scientific staff, such as post-docs, in the hosting laboratories. Doctoral candidates are required to report on their work progress during the course's PhD Day. During secondments, hosting institution scientists will assume supervisory roles. 

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Our PhD course prepares DCs for diverse roles across the Life Science ecosystem, including: 

  • Research and Development 
  • Data science and analytics
  • Academia and Research Institutes 
  • Healthcare and Clinical Research 
  • Policy and governmental organization 
  • Consulting and Advisory services 
  • Quality assurance and regulatory compliance. 

Engagement in inclusivity and communication activities opens doors to additional opportunities in

  • Science communication
  • Project management
  • Education

Overall, the PhD Course aspires to provide young researchers with a highly innovative and interdisciplinary training experience that will facilitate access for the young researchers to the career landscape that they encounter at end of program, be in science, industry, or education.

RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES 

The doctoral candidates will have access to modern laboratories and facilities which are equipped with advanced technological platforms including single-cell sequencing technologies, flow cytometry, and proteomics.
 



Faculty Board of PhD in Inflammation, Immunity and Cancer

Coordinator
Corbo Vincenzo
Type of body
PhD committee
Department
Medicina
Records and documents present in the year:

March 13, 2024

January 31, 2024

January 9, 2024

QA Board of PhD in Inflammation, Immunity and Cancer

Coordinator
Corbo Vincenzo
Type of body
Quality Assurance Board
Department
Medicina
Tasks

Further information on MYUNIVR

Vincenzo Corbo
QA Manager
Nicola Tamassia
member
Camillo Balanzin
PhD student representative
Records and documents present in the year:

The Italian University system

schema_qualita

First-cycle degrees: Bachelor’s degree programme

First-cycle degrees are aimed at enabling students to achieve a command of general scientific methods and content, and to acquire specific professional knowledge.
Admission requirements: secondary school diploma after completing 13 years of study in total and passing the relevant State examination, or equivalent foreign qualification; admission may be subject to further assessment.
Duration: three years.
Graduation: in order to obtain the degree, it is necessary to gain at least 180 CFU; doing an internship and preparing a dissertation/thesis may also be required. Upon completion of a Bachelor’s degree, graduates may continue their studies by enrolling in a Master’s degree or other second-cycle degree programmes and courses.
Academic title: upon completion of a Bachelor’s degree (Laurea), graduates are awarded the title of “Dottore”.

Second-cycle degrees: Master’s degree

Second-cycle degrees aim to provide students with an advanced training and knowledge to take on highly-skilled roles.
Admission requirements: applicants must hold a Bachelor’s degree, or a foreign equivalent qualification; curricular admission requirements for each course may vary depending on each University.
Duration: two years.
Graduation: in order to obtain the degree, it is necessary to gain at least 120 CFU, as well as preparing and presenting a dissertation/thesis.
Academic title: upon completion of a Master’s degree (Laurea Magistrale), graduates are awarded the title of “Dottore magistrale”. Single cycle/Combined Bachelor+Master’s degrees
Some courses (Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics, Pharmacy and Industrial Pharmacy, Architecture and Building Engineering-Architecture, Law, Primary Education) are offered as Single cycle/Combined Bachelor+Master’s degrees (Corsi di Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico).
Admission requirements: applicants must hold a secondary school diploma or equivalent foreign qualification; admission is subject to passing an admission test.
Duration: five years (six years and 360 CFU for Medicine and Surgery, and Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics).
Graduation: in order to obtain the degree, it is necessary to gain at least 300 CFU, as well as preparing and presenting a dissertation/thesis. Upon completion of a Single-cycle degree, graduates may continue their studies by applying for a PhD programme (Dottorato di Ricerca) or other third-cycle courses.
Academic title: upon completion of a Master’s degree (Laurea Magistrale), graduates are awarded the title of “Dottore magistrale”.

Third-cycle degrees

PhD programmes: these courses enable students to gain reliable methodologies for advanced scientific research through innovative methodologies and new technologies, and generally include internships abroad and lab activities at research laboratories. Graduates wishing to apply for a PhD programme must have a Master’s degree (or a foreign equivalent qualification) and pass an open competition; PhD programmes have a minimum duration of three years. In order to complete the programme, students must produce a research thesis/dissertation and present it at a final examination.
Academic title: upon completion of a PhD programme, students are awarded the title of “Dottore di ricerca”, or “PhD”.
Postgraduate specialisation courses: these are third-cycle courses aimed at enabling students to develop advanced knowledge and highly-specialised skills, such as in the medical, clinical and surgical fields. To be admitted to these courses, applicants must have a Master’s degree (or a foreign equivalent qualification) and pass an open competition. Postgraduate specialisation courses may last from two (120 CFU) to 6 years (360 CFU) depending on the type. Academic title: upon completion of this programme, graduates are awarded a “Diploma di Specializzazione”.

Professional Master’s programme

1st-level Professional Master’s programmes: these courses enable students to further enhance their scientific knowledge and professional skills. In order to apply, applicants must have a Bachelor’s degree, or foreign equivalent qualification. The minimum duration is one year (60 CFU). Please note that completing this course will not provide you with direct access to a PhD programme (Dottorato di Ricerca), or other third-cycle courses, as these courses are run and managed by each University at the local level. Upon completion of this programme, students are awarded a “Master universitario di primo livello”.
2nd-level Professional Master’s programmes: these courses enable students to further enhance their scientific knowledge and professional skills. In order to apply, applicants must have a Master’s degree, or foreign equivalent qualification. The minimum duration is one year (60 CFU). Please note that completing this course will not provide you with direct access to a PhD programme (Dottorato di Ricerca), or other third-cycle courses, as these courses are run and managed by each University at the local level. Upon completion of this programme, students are awarded a “Master universitario di secondo livello”.

Other useful things

Crediti Formativi Universitari (CFU/ECTS credits): Italian university courses are based on the CFU system. 1 CFU is equal to 25 hours of study. The average annual academic workload for a full-time student is generally assumed to be 60 CFU. CFU and ECTS credits serve the same purpose and generally have the same value.
Degree class: Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes that have the same learning objectives and activities are grouped into “degree classes". The educational content of each programme is set autonomously by each university; however, universities are required to include certain educational activities (and the corresponding number of CFU credits) set at the national level. These requirements are established in relation to each degree class. Degrees in the same class have the same legal value.
Double/Joint degrees: the Italian universities may establish degree programmes in partnership with other Italian or foreign universities. Upon completion of these courses, graduates are awarded a joint or double/multiple degree, one from each Partner University.

Partnerships

Academic and scientific partnerships are currently running with Italian and international universities/research institutions in order to enrich the education path of Ph.D. students.

  • Prof. Jens T. Siveke, University Hospital Essen, Germany
  • Dr. Giulia Biffi, CRUK Cambridge Institute, Cambridge, UK
  • Dr. Peter Bailey, Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Center, Lisbon, Portugal
  • Dr. David A. Tuveson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA
  • Prof. Maarten Bijlsma, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • Prof. Christian Pilarsky, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
  • Prof. Nektarios Tavernarakis, University of Crete, Crete, Greece
  • Dr. Pedro F. Costa, PhD, BIOFABICS - 3D Biotissue Analogues, Porto, Portugal
  • Dr. Javier Iglesias Fernandez, Nostrum Biodiscovery, Barcelona, Spain
  • Prof. Sven Brandau, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
  • Prof. Silvia Uriate, University of Louisville, KY, USA

Documents

Title Info File
File pdf UniVr - UPenn pdf, it, 1637 KB, 10/04/24

PhD course organization

The "External Advisory Board" (EAB) contributes to defining the educational path of the doctoral program, particularly in terms of favouring the implementation of implementing new technological and methodological approaches in the the PhD project. The EAB is composed of internationally renowned experts in their respective fields of expertise: Dr. Giulia Biffi (CRUK Cambridge Institute, UK) regarding cancer biology; Prof. Giuseppe Sciumè (Università La Sapienza di Roma) concerning inflammatory diseases; and Dr. Fulvia Vascotto (TRON, University of Mainz, Germany) regarding the study of immunology in neoplastic diseases.

The stakeholder committee includes representatives from various sectors that represent the preferred employment channels for doctoral students after completing their educational journey. This committee is consulted annually during the course design phase with the goal of providing doctoral candidates with an educational path that enhances their employability.
The Course Committee is composed as follows:

  • Academic sector, Prof. Maria Teresa Scupoli, Director of the LURM interdisciplinary center at the University of Verona; Dr. Elisa Giovannetti, group leader at the University of Amsterdam.
  • Clinical sector, Dr. Stefano Milleri, Director of the Clinical Research Center of Verona; Dr. Roberto Ferrara, Thoracic Oncologist at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan.
  • Industrial sector (Dr. Karla Queiroz, Senior Scientist at Mimetas BV, Leiden, Netherlands);
  • Non-profit organizations promoting research (Dr. Federica Valsecchi from the Nadia Valsecchi Foundation);
  • Scientific publishing sector (Dr. Sara Monaco, Editor, Review Commons).