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Course Name: PhD Program in “Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics”
Academic Year: 2024-25
Teaching Location: University of Palermo
Department: Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND)

Description of the Educational and Research Project

The PhD program in “Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics” (BiND) at the University of Palermo has been active for four cycles (starting from the XXXV cycle). The PhD program in “Biomedicine and Neuroscience”, from which it derives, has been active for six cycles. Notably, the PhD program has been strengthened by an established partnership with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston (USA) since 2012. For the XXXIX cycle, UTMB made available two additional scholarships for two foreign PhD students. In the last 10 cycles, UTMB has awarded a total of twelve scholarships to foreign PhD students without funding, who ranked high enough in the admission competition. Students enrolled at UTMB benefit from the status of “in-state students”; thus, they do not pay PhD program fees, do not pay “bench-fees,” are entitled to health insurance, and receive assistance with housing. All research costs for PhD students are covered by UTMB for the entire duration of their stay at the Texas campus. Students attend courses and earn credits both at the University of Palermo and at UTMB, both of which will be free of charge.

The BiND PhD program is structured in an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary way, enabling students to promptly engage with key topics across the three curricula it encompasses: Biomedicine; Neuroscience; and Advanced Diagnostics. All three curricula address important and current issues in the fields of basic and applied research, which the scientific community recognizes as strategic for technological advancement.

Specifically:

• The Biomedicine curriculum aims to provide PhD students with the technical and scientific skills necessary to address the research topics within the field. These include various aspects of biological sciences, biotechnology, biomedical engineering, and clinical research in various areas (excluding neurological topics, which are covered in the Neuroscience curriculum). This training will enable students to address and solve scientific and practical problems, particularly regarding changes in cell differentiation, tissue homeostasis, and organ remodeling that lead to the onset of diseases.
• The Neuroscience curriculum includes specialized research topics in the main branches of neuroscience, particularly Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, Neurosurgery, Cellular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Computational Neuroscience, Evolutionary Neuroscience, Molecular Neuroscience, Neuroimaging, and Neuroinformatics. This curriculum is also partnered with the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience Graduate Program, PhD in Neurobiology of Disease at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, USA.
• Finally, the Advanced Diagnostics curriculum offers PhD students the opportunity to acquire specific technical and scientific expertise in advanced fields of radiological and biochemical diagnostics, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, computerized analysis with "big data" techniques, digitization and networking of research laboratories, as well as next-generation biomarkers and advanced imaging techniques. Among the most significant and relevant of these, especially for its intersection with the Neuroscience curriculum, is neuroimaging and its innovative applications.

The training project is structured to provide students with the necessary elements for both personal and professional growth across a broad spectrum of topics related to biological sciences, biotechnology, biomedical engineering, clinical research, neuroscience, biomedical engineering in diagnostics, and advanced diagnostics.

International stays are mandatory; specifically, all students who apply to the international pathway must spend at least 18 months at UTMB, while all other students must spend at least 6 months at a foreign research institution. Educational activities will primarily be conducted in English. At the end of each year, students will be admitted to the following year based on an examination, and at the end of their studies, they will present their work in the form of a doctoral thesis in English. Students enrolled in the international program will take two exams, one at the University of Palermo and one at UTMB, and will receive two degrees as a result.

The acquisition of advanced scientific and technical knowledge and essential methodological tools for training highly specialized professionals capable of working in both public and private research institutions enables the following career prospects for PhD graduates in Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, both in Italy and abroad: Academia, public or private research institutions, private high-tech companies in the fields of biomedicine, neuroscience, and advanced diagnostics, and public administration.

The ultimate goal is to train future PhD graduates in the principles of research in the biomedical, neuroscience, and advanced diagnostics fields, in the research sectors where the PhD faculty operate, providing all the necessary tools to pursue future activities in both scientific and technological research, as well as to enter professional roles in the economic and industrial sectors.

 

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During the course, the students participate in educational activities, specifically designed for them and distinct from those offered in undergraduate and graduate degree programs. These activities also include attendance at specialized learning courses, participation in seminars, workshops, study days, or other courses offered by our University, including activities organized by the European Researchers' Charter Group of the University of Palermo.

In recent years, almost all of the specialized seminar activities in our PhD program have been delivered by highly qualified Italian or international experts from academia and research institutions.

The educational activities (see Attachment 1) provided in our PhD program are closely aligned with the research activities pursued in the three curricula. The goal is to train highly specialized researchers in the fields of biomedicine, neuroscience, and advanced diagnostics who can carry out their work at a national and international level as group leaders in public and private research institutions and in companies. Their training will provide them with skills to address and solve scientific and practical problems, particularly those related to changes in cell differentiation, tissue homeostasis, organ remodeling that lead to the onset of diseases, biomarkers, and advanced imaging techniques. The planning and organization document for the educational and research activities will be published on the PhD course website.
The curricula aim to specialize the research topics offered according to priority objectives that are consistent with the most advanced international research areas and those specific to the scientific disciplines of the professors affiliated with the PhD College.
Through experience in specialized laboratories, PhD students are provided with the tools necessary to develop innovative research projects. Moreover, they are encouraged to produce, where possible, interdisciplinary thesis work, often in collaboration with other institutions and on cross-cutting topics.

In addition to the specific training objectives of the PhD course, students will have access to common qualifying activities for all PhD courses, organized by the University of Palermo's Doctoral School, which is a member of the Council for Doctoral Education of the European University Association. In particular, the School promotes and coordinates the cross-disciplinary educational offerings, providing participants with interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary training courses, as well as language and IT courses. It also offers activities in teaching, research management, understanding European and international research systems, promoting and disseminating research results, intellectual property, open access to research data and products, and the fundamental principles of ethics and integrity.

 

Link to previous PhD program: D003 Biomedicina e Neuroscienze