Research topics

The research themes of the PhD in Biotechnology and Biosciences are focused on the study of the function, organisation, and regulation of the genomes of microbial, animal, and plant organisms, with particular emphasis on potential biotechnological applications. These topics are largely aligned with those of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), in line with sustainable development goals and the activities of the Department of Chemical, Life, and Environmental Sustainability Sciences, within which the PhD programme is situated. The Department’s status as a Department of Excellence, awarded since 2018, provides further opportunities for challenging and innovative research topics and objectives. The methodologies employed include genomics, including functional genomics, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, applied biology, and computational biology.

Building upon this shared cultural and educational objective, with the aim of training PhD graduates with highly specialised and diverse skills, three main research areas have been defined:

Environmental Biotechnology;
Genetic and Evolutionary Biotechnology;
Molecular Biotechnology.
PhD students in Biotechnology and Biosciences will be actively involved in developing a research project focused on topics within one of the aforementioned areas, and will gain a significant degree of scientific and managerial autonomy, benefiting from numerous international and non-academic scientific collaborations within the programme. The College of Professors for the PhD in Biotechnology and Biosciences includes experts from both academia and industry in the various research areas of environmental biotechnology, genetic and evolutionary biotechnology, and molecular biotechnology.