Course objectives

The title grants access to all 2rd cycle degree programmes (Postgraduate and 1st level Masters) in accordance with the requirements established by the respective regulations.

The Biotechnology graduate will be able to perform professional roles and immediately enter the job market. Thanks to an interdisciplinary training, the graduate in Biotechnology can work both individually and in working contexts that involve the interaction with groups composed of personnel with different skills and training. The graduate in Biotechnology can find employment in the planning, production and analysis of products and in quality control procedures.

Employment Opportunities: There are many employment opportunities available in the region owing to the considerable concentration of research laboratories and structures and academic and non-academic institutions, the expansion of research and analysis activities of the PMI in the chemical, chemical-pharmaceutical, agro-alimentary fields, and activities connected to advanced biological technology for bioremediation, the disposal of polluting waste, and the use of biomasses. Typically, such structures fall under the following categories: research centers and companies for the development of biotechnological products and services in the biomedical, bioengineering, chemical-pharmaceutical, nutraceutical-cosmetological, zootechnical-veterinary, agri-food and environmental protection sectors; SSN structures, hospitals, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institutes; specialized public and private clinical analysis laboratories; universities and public and private research bodies; entities that develop sanitary or patent regulations concerning the exploitation of biotechnological processes and products.

To be admitted to the study program, students must have a high school diploma required by current regulations or another equivalent qualification obtained abroad, recognized as suitable by the competent authorities of the University. Admission requires adequate initial preparation at the high school level, particularly demonstrating the acquisition of logical-deductive reasoning skills suitable for solving simple problems. The methods for assessing the adequacy of initial preparation and remedying any gaps and educational deficits of the student (to be addressed in any case within the first year of studies) are governed by the Didactic Regulations of the study program.

First cycle degree/Bachelor in BIOTECHNOLOGY

ITALIAN

The Biotechnologist has the tools to understand the basic problems regarding the applicational aspects of molecular and cellular biotechnology. He or she will be able to identify, acquire and interpret data useful in defining problems and in carrying out basic research projects as well as those aimed at productive operations.
The biotechnologist will know how to communicate information, data and solutions to an audience of experts as well as those without specific preparation. He will also know a foreign language (English), and therefore can take an active part in group activities, even international ones.
The graduate in Biotechnology:
-knows and can apply experimental methodologies and specific instrumentation for the analysis and manipulation of biomolecules, genes, proteins and cells;
-possesses basic theoretical knowledge in the field of genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics, as well as the methodologies and instrumentation used in these areas;
-possesses theoretical and practical competences in the fields of biomolecule analysis, pharmacology, immunology, pathology and laboratory diagnostics;
- uses biomolecular and chemical-physical databases to extract data thanks to the knowledge of the mathematical and computer tools of bioinformatics applied to genomics and post-genomics.

The graduate in Biotechnology can work in public and private research laboratories, as well as in the numerous companies in the chemical, medical, pharmaceutical, bioengineering, agricultural, zootechnical, food and environmental sectors that use biological systems or their components, even manipulated ones (cells, viruses, microorganisms, biomolecules, nanomaterials, etc.) as part of the production chain of goods and services. The academic field is also open to the biotechnologist who has earned a master’s degree.

This proposal for a course of study aims at producing graduates with a good basic knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of living systems and with the ability to autonomously implement application protocols aimed at using living organisms (cells, tissues and multi-cell organisms) to achieve results that are not attainable with traditional techniques. Given the numerous and highly diversified applications of Biotechnology, to facilitate entry to the various employment areas it is important to offer the student a core of basic knowledge to better understand the scientific method thanks to the study of mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology.
This initial academic stage will be followed by appropriately balanced teachings in the various scientific-disciplinary fields that integrate the basic training by proposing insights at the molecular, cellular and multicellular levels in the biological, chemical-pharmaceutical and biomedical areas typical to Biotechnology. In fact, the aim is to transmit to the student both specific knowledge and tools for experimental operations applied to the analysis and use – including targeted modifications – of organisms, cellular systems or their components, aimed at the production of goods and services, with the aid of competences in communication management and regulatory, deontological and bioethical issues. To this end, the course of study can be composed of specific training courses, whose details will be better defined by the Course Regulations, which will examine more deeply the biomolecular aspects of the biotechnologies applied to basic and industrial research, as well as those related to research and activities in the chemical-pharmaceutical and biomedical sectors.
The course has a strong technical-methodological imprint. The teaching methods involve conventional classroom lessons, lab sessions and practicals, along with several practical lab courses over the three-year period. The students will complete the curriculum with integrated multidisciplinary activities, some also practical in nature, in order to acquire diversified methodological and experimental competences with a view toward professional possibilities in the field of biotechnology in general and in the biomedical, chemical-pharmaceutical, industrial and agro-alimentary sectors, or toward the continuation of studies.
The integration of basic and methodological knowledge will be assessed in the final test, which will verify the student’s capacity for synthesis and his or her degree of autonomy in studying the theoretical bases of the applied methodologies.