Course of the LM in Chemical Sciences, open to PhD students and teachers of Chemistry/Sciences, with the aim of identifying teaching strategies based on the active involvement of the student, by exploiting the discussion between teachers and undergraduates/PhD students interested in a career as teachers about the problems associated with the teaching/learning of Chemistry.

Course of the LM in Chemical Sciences, open to PhD students and teachers of Chemistry/Sciences, with the aim of identifying teaching strategies based on the active involvement of the student, by exploiting the discussion between teachers and undergraduates/PhD students interested in a career as teachers about the problems associated with the teaching/learning of Chemistry. This module focuses on laboratory experiments.

The course will explain the basic principles of immunochemical techniques, as part of the biochemical methods for the study of proteins, applied to the biomedical/biomolecular research. The course will cover notions of antigen/antibody and immunocomplex formation, principles and applications of the western blotting (WB) technique and immunoassay systems based on the labeling of antigens or antibodies with enzymes (ELISA).

The first part of the course introduces the basic principles of optical thermometry and provides an overview of the main nanometric and molecular materials displaying temperature-dependent optical properties. The second part of the course illustrates actual examples of applications of optical thermometry in chemistry, biology and nanomedicine. This course is intended as a further advancement of the “Photonic materials and photophysical methods” course held in the a.y. 2022/2023, but it only requires basic competences of optical spectroscopy. The language of the course is English.

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of the equilibrium and dissociation kinetic properties of metal complexes through a combination of seminars and laboratory sessions. During the two-hour seminar, the following topics will be covered: thermodynamic properties, equilibrium constants, experimental methods for characterizing the equilibrium of metal complexes, species distribution and conditional constants, dissociation kinetic properties, dissociation rate and mechanisms, experimental methods for characterizing dissociation reactions, estimation of the dissociation rate and half-life of metal complexes. The four-hour laboratory practice will involve, investigating the Fe3+ - TIRON systems using pH-potentiometry and Vis-spectrophotometry, studying transchelation reactions between [Fe(TIRON)x](2x-3)- and CDTA using Vis spectrophotometry. At the end of the course, students will possess both theoretical knowledge and practical skills for characterizing the equilibrium and dissociation kinetic properties of metal complexes. They will also learn to assess the "stability" of these complexes through straightforward calculations in complex environments. This foundational knowledge will stimulate students to apply these techniques to novel metal-based systems.

A journey through history to meet some of the chemists who have combined scientific rigor with the drive of the discipline. We will start from alchemy and through the centuries we will reach our present. An intellectual path will be traced that explains the processes by which today we can define knowledge of the world.

The course introduces the regulatory aspects of gene expression in eukaryotes, and is dedicated to illustrate different technologies that may be used to analyze gene expression: from real time PCR to “omic” technologies.

Domestication and breeding have reduced genetic diversity in cultivated plants; new approaces that include TILLING procedures, tranformation and genome editing can introduce new variability and will be treated in the course.

Any advancement in technology is a challenge, and strong initial efforts are necessary. Although the proper use of new omics techniques can result in time savings in sample preparation, instrumental analysis and evaluation of non-target data, the interpretation of omics results continues to represent now a major challenge for many researchers. Within the course it will be shown how to best understand the main challenges that complicate the identification of metabolites, lipids and proteins to allow you to develop critical operational knowledge, adopting different strategies to improve analytical performance. It will also be demonstrated how, thanks to the use of the "two-dimensional omics" approach, a further competitive advantage can be obtained, developing a simultaneous quantification of target metabolites while maintaining a non-target metabolomics strategy in a wide range of complex biological matrices. During the course, several applications will be shown and many practical examples will be provided to make the most of omics techniques in biomedical, environmental and food research.

Teaching for Master's degree in Biology, for doctoral students and science teachers. The course is aimed at providing useful methodologies for  life sciences teaching and at developing practical experiences to be proposed to the students.

This course will explain the basic principles of sustainable development and the applications of this concept to the chemical industry. The teoric principles will be accompanied by examples of environmentally friendly industrial processes.

The course describes the ways to deal with the determination of emerging pollutants through a targeted approach, while at the same time deepening the aspects related to the toxicity of the degradation products that form and their identification through untargeted approaches.

Multivariate chemometric methods will be described for advanced applications in both research and industrial fields, covering different areas: image analysis, artificial neural networks, biomarker identification, process monitoring. Numerous examples and applications will be provided.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress plays an importan role in eukaryotic cells. ER is the first cell component which is involved into signal transduction and hoemostatic changes sensing. Subsequent signalling cascade could determine pro-survival or pro-apoptotic response.

The course gives an introduction into the photophysical and photochemical principles used to build new molecular systems based on organic compounds with technological applications for optical materials.

Progress in precision medicine necessitates the creation of novel imaging protocols to identify the initial phases of diseases and offer biomolecular characterization. Consequently, a significant hurdle in chemistry research has been the formulation of smart and highly sensitive contrast agents suitable for imaging techniques used in both clinical and preclinical settings. This is an important issue that needs the collaboration between chemists and biologists. The objective of this course is to examine the fundamental principles of various imaging techniques (MRI, X-Ray CT, OI, US, PAI, PET/SPECT), underscore the attributes of developed contrast agents, and illustrate examples of their applications in biomedicine.

The course is aimed at PhD students, postdocs, and, in general, to researchers from academia and industry interested in deepening their understanding of 2°C limit and carbon neutrality 2050 challenge. The 2°C limit and the carbon neutrality challenge by 2050 present a formidable task for industries worldwide, demanding a radical shift in their operational paradigms. The industrial sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and achieving carbon neutrality necessitates a comprehensive re-evaluation of production processes, energy sources and supply chains. Companies must prioritize the adoption of sustainable technologies, renewable energy, and energy-efficient practices to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. The challenge lies not only in decarbonizing existing operations but also in fostering innovation for the development of greener alternatives. Industries must invest in research and development to create low-carbon technologies, implement circular economy practices, and collaborate with stakeholders to navigate the transition towards a sustainable future. Striking a balance between economic growth and environmental stewardship poses a unique challenge but embracing the 2°C limit and carbon neutrality imperative is essential for the long-term viability and resilience of the industrial sector in the face of climate change. The course will cover various aspects, state-of-the-art methods and applications of sustainable technologies, renewable energy, and energy-efficient practices existing in industries.

The thylakoid membrane is the site of the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis, where the photosynthetic electron transport occurs. Photosystem II is a multimeric enzyme embedded in the thylakoid membranes that, in the light reactions of photosynthesis, oxidizes water, shuttling the extracted electrons to plastoquinone molecules involved in the photosynthetic electron transport. In the first part, we will focus on the molecular determinants of grana stacking in plant thylakoid membranes and their dynamics induced by light variations deciphered by using a combination of proteomics and cryo-electron microscopy. In the second part, we will focus on an amperometric electrochemical biosensor incorporating thylakoid membranes for the detection of photosynthetic herbicides.

Pollution has become of global concern in recent years. In fact environments and their related ecosystem services are threatened by many human activities around the world and are affected by either point or nonpoint source pollution. Numerous chemicals can be present simultaneously in the environments and chemical interactions in a mixture can cause complex and substantial changes in the pure chemical properties of its constituents, including bioavailability and toxicity. For this reason, there is a growing awareness that focusing mainly on chemical data of pollutant concentration in environmental matrices is insufficient to reliably assess the potential risks for the environmental and human health. The growing attention to these concerns has promoted the development of environmental “diagnostic” tools to allow early warning detection of pollution exposure. The need to detect the biological effects of chemical contaminants also at low concentration and in complex mixture has increased the study of the relationships between exposure to chemical contaminants and alterations in several biochemical and cellular processes in the organisms in order to use the latter as markers (commonly referred to as biomarkers) of exposure and early response to chemical contaminants. Nowadays, biomarkers are an essential component of environmental monitoring programs in several countries in support of the commonly used chemical monitoring.  Biomarker measurements in bioindicator organisms are valuable tools for environmental monitoring aimed to surveillance, hazard assessment, or to document remediation in environments.

The focus on recycling materials poses significant challenges from the analytical point of view due to the need of characterizing  complex samples and/or of varied and uncertain origin. Moreover, the "green" approach aims to optimize and make the analysis process more sustainable. Therefore, the complexity of the samples, the attempt to use the most sustainable, economical and rapid analysis techniques, the development of combined techniques, faster and more sensitive instrumentation, have all contributed to increase the complexity of the datasets to be analyzed, both in terms of variables explored and size of the instrumental data. For this reason, it is necessary to resort to techniques that can allow us to "see" the information of interest and guide us in understanding the experimental responses. In this seminar, practical cases and some strategies and approaches to obtain the desired information will therefore be presented.