Course overview

Unlike other Master Programs, in the LM Plus Advanced Biotechnology the students - on a voluntary basis and following a selection procedure - will be enrolled for 5 semesters, instead of the standard 4, 2 of which spent as a learning experience in a firm or organization, with a dedicated financial support. More info about the "LM Plus" Master Program.

The Master in Advanced Biotechnology (Laurea Magistralis) aims to prepare specialists possessing advanced expertise, both scientific and professional, with a marked interdisciplinary connotation in the different areas of the advanced biotechnology. The graduated will be professionalists endowed with a good education in Chemistry and Biology and with an elevated attitude towards and control of the techniques aimed at the study, purification and manipulation of the biological macromolecules (mainly protein and nucleic acid) and a deep knowledge of their structure, properties and function as well as of their potential application in various sectors of basic research and industrial activities. In addition, they will be able to hold important roles in research and development of biotechnological processes and in the management of industrial biotechnological systems.
The formation in Advanced Biotechnology will allow to carry out activities of :
- research and development in productive areas requiring the use and modification via genetic engineering of cells and enzymatic systems, as well as the recognition and characterization of biomolecules.
- basic and pre-applicative research in public or private structures aiming at development of genetic engineering methods for producing and exploiting proteins and enzymes and detecting and identifying molecular targets on the base of genomic and metagenomic informations and successive developments (postgenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, system biology etc.) and of specific molecules able to interact/interfere with such targets.
- applied research in the field of genetic improvement of plants and of the organisms and microorganisms interacting with them by means of cellular and molecular methods. A wide range of companies some of which (for instance those dealing with phyto-nutra/farmaceuticals or biofuels) is very interested in such research.
- basic and applied research concerning : the control, monitoring and restriction of insects parasites or vectors of pathogens, of both agronomic and sanitary interest; the assisted reproduction in sanitary and zootechnic areas; the development of processes, syntheses and productions concerning molecules with low environmental impact by means of biotechnological methods.
- basic or applied research in public or private laboratories devoted to control and protection of typicalness of italian agro-industrial and alimentary products.
- management of productive structures and services performing biological and environmental analyses connected with industrial biotechnologies.
- professional performances in analysis and quality-control laboratories working in areas connected with bio-molecular and toxicological disciplines. The formation pathway foresees the acquisition of 54 characterizing credits + 12 credits in affine sectors. Through the choice of other specialized courses, the students will have the possibility to direct themselves more towards the basic and pre-applicative research, or towards an even more applicative approach, closer to the requirements of the companies working in agro-industrial and alimentary field.
A broad and intense work aimed at preparing the final thesis will complete the formation path.