PhD in Biotechnological, Biocomputational, Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences

The doctoral course develops research topics related to the discovery of new therapeutic targets as well as of new drugs (small molecules or biologics) with improved efficacy and safety. The discovery of novel drug targets contributing to a specific disease and/or its progression, in fact, is usually followed by the identification and characterization of new drugs up to the development of the medicinal product.

An integrated and multidisciplinary research training, which spans all the drug development pipeline, is proposed. This will be instrumental for PhD students' future employment in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

The topics are mainly focused on:

• studies of biological systems at cellular and molecular level, to elucidate complex biological and biochemical processes
• biocomputational approaches to study new therapeutic targets and characterize drug-ligand interactions
• design, synthesis, characterization, analysis, delivery, efficacy and safety of new drugs, including those obtained through biotechnology
• development of pharmacological and toxicological studies on the mechanism of action and toxicological aspects of bioactive molecules
• studies of genetic and epigenetic profiles in response to drug treatments, evaluation of drug effectiveness and safety, and identification of risk factors associated with chronic/degenerative diseases
• development of suitable animal models of diseases for the evaluation of new drugs.

Call for further PhD Positions
Appointed by Rectoral Decree n. 1066/2023 Prot. n. 0226313 of 04/08/2023

Call for applications
Appointed by Rectoral Decree n. 709/2023 Prot. n. 149534 of 02/06/2023

* The following shall take part in the work of the Examination Board as expert members for positions linked to specific research topics:

• Serena Tongiani - INDENA S.P.A. (Milano)

The PhD programme will train researchers of high ranking expertise and with a strong background, in the areas of biotechnology and of biocomputational, pharmaceutical and pharmacological studies.

PhD students will be trained in the following areas:

• study of living systems or their endogenous compounds or byproducts obtained by recombinant DNA
• discovery of novel targets and the development of innovative drugs, including biotechnological drugs
• use of analytical and proteomics techniques for the pharmaceutical analysis
• study of pharmaceutical technologies for drug delivery
• drug characterization through a pharmaco-toxicological approach.

PhD students will be able to carry out autonomously a scientific research in one of the described fields, with a particular focus on knowledge transfer to industry. PhD graduates will be also capable to work in the field of higher education.

The PhD programme Academic Board (Collegio) will assign to each PhD student a supervisor among its members or outside (in this case a co-supervisor might be selected among the members) that will follow his/her research activity. The research project (in one of the areas mentioned above) aims to relevant scientific results that will be the object of a final, written thesis. Ph.D. students will present their results in internal periodical meetings with the PhD Board aimed to ascertain their knowledge and skill progress. A mid-term B2F2 Retreat is organized, where PhD students discuss their doctoral projects through a presentation, followed by discussion with external examiners. Furthermore, Ph.D. students will participate to national and international meetings and to specific courses organized by the Board and will follow internships in public or private research laboratories to refine their education also by using advanced instrumentation and to raise their future work placement. Finally, PhD students can perform a limited teaching activity, supplementary to one of the official courses of the University of Bologna. Research activity is supported by funds available from the research team assigned to the PhD student.
Training will not be limited to the individual scientific field; a formation that is intersectoral and interdisciplinary will be promoted. Doctoral students will follow specific courses, Journal Club, and seminars in various scientific areas for at least 70 hours / year and held in part by Board members or foreign experts. In addition, doctoral students will participate in Summer and Winter School on matters related to their research project and bioinformatics, and will follow courses for learning how to write, submit and manage scientific projects and papers, and possibly of scientific English.

The PhD programme will stimulate scientific collaboration between the PhD students involved in several research projects and will offer them the chance to spin and visits to various research laboratories (especially in the first year). One of the main points of this proposal, in fact, is to favor interdisciplinary projects involving research groups from the University of Bologna and non-academic areas. Doctoral students will spend most of their training period at the University of Bologna. However, there is a minimum stay of six months in academic institutions or in companies. These stages will be useful to PhD students to promote synergies between the partners, strengthen their training and prepare them for a wide range of career options.
Acquisition of transferable skills not research-oriented. Doctoral students will be able to disseminate scientific knowledge among young students of secondary schools and play tutorials for laboratory courses, to develop teaching skills.
Soft skills acquisition. The Board will encourage and guide the training of PhD students also beyond the pure scientific domain. They will acquire: autonomy, flexibility / adaptability, ability to plan and organize, to be attentive to detail, on an ongoing basis to learn, demonstrate initiative, communication skills, problem solving, ability to work and collaborate with others, motivate and drag others towards scientific goals, creating consensus and trust between them.

During the PhD programme (possibly between the second and third year), PhD students are invited to spend at least six months as visiting scholars in a foreign University or research institute. Student exchanges with Universities with established links are fostered, as well as creation of new ones. The PhD programme is committed to issue joint titles with foreign institutions in the frame of specific agreements (e.g., Vinci Program). Foreign scientists are invited to deliver seminars within the "B2F2 Ph.D. seminar series" program and foreign Professors may sit in the committee for the final exam. Furthermore, foreign students hosted in the frame of the MSCA, Erasmus mundus or MCI - Mobility CONFAP Italy or other programs, are involved in the Program activities. To promote the participation of foreign students to the PhD programme, the call for applications is sent to the main foreign Universities with courses in biotechnology, pharmaceutical sciences and drug discovery and posted on Twitter. Finally, the PhD programme encourages members of the Board to spend time as Visiting Professors/Visiting Scientists at foreign Universities or research centers, aimed to set-up new joint PhD programmes. The PhD Board has confirmed the availability to collaborate with the National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) University and University of Medicine, Tirana for the issue of double or joint doctoral degrees.

PhD students, within the end of the second year should present, as oral communication or poster, the obtained scientific results at least in one national or international meetings. At the end of the PhD programme, PhD students can be admitted to the final exam only if they can demonstrate to have presented their research results in three meetings and to have published two papers or to have prepared - ready to be submitted to any scientific journal – two manuscripts (one as first author). The scientific journals should have an international reputation and be included in the Journal Citation Report (Thomson Reuters). Furthermore, PhD students are encouraged to publish book chapters and to contribute to patents and to set up scientific softwares connected with their scientific themes developed during the PhD programme. The papers and a brief summary of all the research activities of each PhD student will be sent to the committee conferring the PhD degree.