Biological Sciences

The course introduces basic elements of marine botany that allow students to recognize the diversity of algae. Combining lectures, laboratories and field trips, students are exposed to concepts and vocabulary specific to the complexity of this highly diverse group of organisms.

In Fundamental Cognitive Neuroscience, learn about these processes as well as other complex phenomena such as consciousness, brain structure, and how we change as we age. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject of cognitive neuroscience and is aimed at both students and professionals in, for example, healthcare, or education. The course covers perception, attention, how memory works, emotions, higher cognitive function, communication and our view of others.  All based on what we know about the brain today.

Behavior is a unique trait in animals that allows them to respond rapidly to a changing environment. Most of the exciting, fast-moving phenomena associated with living organisms – fighting, flying, flocking, swimming, sensing, mating, communicating, spreading disease, and more – fall under the umbrella of behavior. As well as being important to understand in natural contexts, all of these traits and processes also have correlates or analogues in human behavior and society, adding further motivation to understanding them deeply and on a fundamental level. Ultimately, taking this perspective, the study of behavior is the study of rapid responses and interacting agents in all forms. This course introduces to the fundamental mechanisms and theories underlying behavioral processes and taught how to think like a behavioral scientist. The course discusses what behavior is and how it works across all possible scales, conveying the groundwork in the underlying structure of nervous systems and building through physiology, learning, communication, collective behavior, and social systems, up to responses to environmental stress. Drawing these lessons together, it discusses the role that behavioral science plays in understanding and managing animal populations and species in a rapidly changing world.

The course contains description of those planets and those among their moons in the solar system that can be envisioned to have physical and/or chemical preconditions to develop life. The development of the earliest lifeforms on Earth, and extreme environments for present-day life on the bottom of the oceans, around hot springs, deep underground, in permafrost, or in radioactive environments. Design of space probes, as well as experiments to study biologically relevant environments on other planets. Analysis of extraterrestrial material in the laboratory, and risks for spreading organisms between different planets. Current and planned instruments and methods to find and to study planets around other stars. Development over geological ages of different planets together with their host star and the development of their atmospheres and climates. The search for intelligent life in the Universe, and possible philosophic and other consequences of a possible discovery thereof. The prerequisites required for admission to the course are at least 60 credits of approved courses within the faculties of either science, technology and/or medicine.

This course explores the chemistry and biochemistry of fermentation and microbial metabolism, with a focus on their applications in metabolic engineering and enzymatic conversion. Students examine current trends and industrial examples involving the production of food biomaterials, biofuels, chemicals, and bioplastics through microbial fermentation. Emphasis is placed on both fundamental principles and applied strategies for microbial process development. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of fermentation chemistry and acquire applied knowledge in microbial metabolic engineering for the production of value-added products such as food additives, industrial chemicals, and renewable biofuels. 

Prerequisites: Prior coursework in biochemistry and microbiology is strongly recommended. 

This interdisciplinary course examines the biological, psychological, social, and cultural dimensions of sleep and circadian rhythms. We will investigate the science behind sleep: its functions, regulation, and role in health, cognition, and emotion.  

In parallel, the course will explore how sleep has been represented in literature, visual art, music, and film. We will consider how artists and thinkers have interpreted dreams, memory, insomnia, and altered states of consciousness, and how these portrayals reflect and inform our evolving understanding of the sleeping mind. 

Topics include What Is Sleep, and Why Does It Matter; The Physiology of Sleep; Circadian Rhythms and Biological Timekeeping; Sleep and the Brain; Dreams: Science and Symbolism; Sleep and Society; Sleep Disorders; Sleep in Art, Music, and Film 

There is no prerequisite for this course; however, a basic understanding of neuroscience, biology, and physiology concepts will be beneficial for students. 

At the end of the course, students have acquired knowledge on the main morphological, physiological, and molecular responses of higher plants to environmental cues and the basic mechanisms of tolerance and adaptation to adverse conditions. Students learn about how plants contribute to air quality by the release of biotic particulates and by interfering with air pollutants derived from anthropogenic activities. Due to changes in plant distribution in relation to climate change, students become acquainted with the contribution of alien species to the release of such biotic particulates. Students also learn about methods employed in aerobiology for the quantitative and qualitative assessment of pollen and other air-borne allergens, gain the capacity to interpret data, and critically read scientific literature relating to this topic. They also acquire knowledge on the ability of plants to monitor environmental quality and influence it, on the release of volatile plant compounds with therapeutic effects as well as on the possible use of plants in environmental phytoremediation. Additionally, students in the laboratory acquire methods to analyze plant allergenic proteins, to monitor the effect of stress on photosynthetic activity; in addition, students analyze an aerobiological sample, allowing them to know that a myriad of microorganisms and particulates (many of which are respirable) are present in the atmosphere.

Laboratory activities:

1. Microscopic recognition of aerobiological slide: allergenic and non-allergenic pollen

2. Western blotting/dot blotting for apple and pollen allergenic proteins

3. Pollen-fruit cross-reactivity with specific Ab and comparison with non-cross-reactive pollen/food

4. Handy-Pea: evaluation of photosynthetic activity in stressed and non-stressed plants (e.g. plants maintained at 4 °C)

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course is aimed at the comprehension of the fundamental principles of how ecological systems work. It focuses on the ecological problems caused by human activities as well. Fundamental and applied aspects of ecology are emphasized. An understanding of the scope of the problems facing us (climate change, unsustainable use of resources, pollution, extinctions, and the erosion of natural biodiversity) and the means to counter and solve these problems depend on a proper grasp of ecological fundamentals. Although the course analyzes all the main types of ecosystems, it works in particular on aquatic ecosystems, covering concepts such as sustainable development, ecosystem services, and environmental monitoring in detail.

The course content is divided as follows:

1. Introduction: the cultural roots of ecology, the aims of ecology, the levels of ecological organization, temporal and spatial scales, ecology as a science, ecological methods and tools
2. Interactions between organisms and their environment: ecological niche, life cycles and energy acquisition
3. The populations: life histories, growth models, life cycles, carrying capacity, the concept of metapopulation, examples of methods of sampling and estimations
4. Biotic interactions: competition, predation, parasitism, facilitation and other positive interactions, direct and indirect interactions
5. Communities and biodiversity: community structure, ecological successions, distribution, biodiversity and biodiversity indices, factors affecting biodiversity.
6. Ecosystems and their dynamics: food chains and food webs, ecosystem functioning, trophic cascades, disturbances and resilience, regime shifts, alternative stable states.
7. Ecosystem, general concepts: energy flow, biogeochemical cycles, biomass on earth, decomposition and detritivores, biomes, microclimate and Biotic pump.
8. Different types of ecosystems: lentic ecosystems abiotic dynamics, lentic ecosystems communities, terrestrial ecosystems, biomes and microclimate.
9. River ecosystems: lotic environments and their catchments: Hydrology, geomorphology and river community.
10. Natural depuration process (NBSs): riparian ecotones, characteristics and function, wetlands, natural phytodepuration systems, other NBSs.
11. Threats to biological diversity: habitat degradation and loss, pollution, eutrophication, overexploitation of natural resources, invasive species, climate changes.
12. Introduction to conservation biology: the natural capital, ecosystem goods and services
13. Conservation of populations and ecosystems: vulnerability and conservation status, reintroductions, restorations, protected areas, spatial planning, current legislations, examples of management of anthropogenic exploitation, success conservation and management stories, monitoring

The purpose of this course is to introduce recent breakthroughs in the physical and biological sciences that are now being explored for biomedical applications. The topics come directly from the research expertise of the lecturers, all of whom are young principal investigators in the new research institutes at the UM: MERLN and M4I. The course covers a broad range of topics, including nanomaterials for regenerative medicine, supramolecular biomaterials, big data and computer learning, electron microscopy, imaging and diagnostic mass spectrometry, and structural biology of tuberculosis. Gain firsthand experience of scientific research taking place at the UM and have the opportunity to visit research laboratories as part of a demonstration of some of the topics discussed in the lectures. In addition to a final content-based oral exam, there are two papers for evaluation. For their midterm, students choose a recent discovery reported in the press and investigate the scientific claims and integrity of the reporting. In the final paper, the student acts as the reporter, and write an opinion piece on a topic of research in either MERLN or M4I; this report is informed by an interview with one of the lecturers. Prerequisites include at least one of: SCI2017 Organic Chemistry, SCI2037 Cell Biology, or SCI2038 Physics. Highly motivated students with a different background should speak to the course coordinators. 

This survey course covers an extensive review of the human body's structural framework and describes how it functions. The course introduces terms in anatomy and physiology; students get to know the body's anatomical structures and gain insight into how the structures and systems function in sickness and health.  

Topics include The human body: reading the map, Cells, Tissues and systems, Skeletal system, Muscular system, Integumentary system, Nervous system, Endocrine system, Cardiovascular system, Respiratory system, Lymphatic system, Immune system, Urinary system, Reproductive system.