Rome, Italy
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* visa seeking candidates: april 29, 2024
Key Summary
Scholarships
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Introduction
Over the last few years, there has been an extraordinary boom of genetics and molecular biology, two disciplines that have become progressively integrated to currently embody the core of modern biology. They are jointly used to investigate and understand the genetic-molecular bases governing the implementation of complex biological processes, such as cell development and differentiation both in animal and plant systems. Moreover, the grasp of such mechanisms allows us to understand how the malfunctioning of genes is linked to the onset of human diseases.
Therefore, genetics and molecular biology make important contributions not only to basic but also to applied research, primarily research aimed at improving human health.
Genetics, born as the study of heritable traits, has quickly evolved into the study of the structure and function of hereditary material. The results obtained in the first decades of the last century demonstrated that the genetic composition of an organism not only determines the various levels of its phenotypic organisation but also the interaction modalities with its environment. At the same time, molecular biology allowed us to explain the molecular mechanisms of many essential biological processes. The molecular details of the chemical structure of a gene, as well as its replication, transcription, and translation modalities, are well-known nowadays. In addition, the latest genetic engineering technologies have provided a strong research tool to overcome the limits laid by the same nature of the biological systems under study, that were seemingly insurmountable until a few years ago.
This created new fields of basic and applied research and enlarged those already existing. A specially developing field is that of research applied to the genetic and molecular study of both inherited and acquired human diseases. There has been therefore a strong demand for specialists in this field, who can perform top-level research at universities, research institutes, and industry.
Admissions
Curriculum
First-year
First semester
- Gene expression regulation in eukaryotes
- At the student's choice
Second semester
- Structure biosynthesis and analysis of proteins
- Human genetics
Second year
First semester
- At the student's choice
- Stage
Second semester
Final exam
Program Outcome
The MSc programme in Genetics and Molecular Biology aims at providing students with:
- An in-depth knowledge of the unicellular and multicellular organisms that may be used as models to study basic mechanisms of gene expression or cell development, differentiation, and transformation
- The acquisition of genetic concepts and methodologies, with special regard to those used in the genetic dissection of complex processes and to study of human populations
- An in-depth knowledge of the molecular bases of the main processes involved in the regulation of nucleic acid and protein structure and function
- The knowledge of basic methodologies to study and manipulate biological macromolecules
- The ability to investigate and develop basic methodologies which may be usefully applied to biomedical and biotechnological research
- The acquisition of genetic-molecular skills for the diagnosis and treatment of genetic diseases
- The skills suitable to identify the biological processes grounding the physiopathology of organs and systems, with special regard to human beings.
Scholarships and Funding
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Career Opportunities
Thanks to their specific expertise and skills, master's graduates in Genetics and Molecular Biology may enjoy valuable job opportunities at laboratories of biomedical, genetics, food, toxicological, microbiological, and forensic analyses, in the field of biotechnological and pharmaceutical industry and in that of public and private healthcare.
The skills acquired by master's graduates in Genetics and Molecular Biology are devoted to basic and applied research activity, the promotion and development of scientific methodologies, and scientific dissemination in the genetics, biomolecular, and biotechnological fields.
Masters graduates in Genetics and Molecular Biology are also qualified for admission to advanced programs in Ph.D. schools as well as in Genetics and Biomolecular postgraduate courses and masters.
The Master’s Degree Programme in Molecular Biology fully taught in English will also pave the way for career opportunities abroad.