PhD Course in Structural Biology

The International Doctorate in Structural Biology is an international doctorate in collaboration with the Universities of Frankfurt and Utrecht. It was established with an agreement signed by the three Rectors in 2001. On the basis of this agreement, the PhD title that students obtain at the end of the program is considered equivalent to that obtained at the Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and to the PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Frankfurt.

The doctorate course aims at the formation of PhDs who are at the forefront of knowledge and education in the field of modern investigation methodologies in structural biology, biotechnology, and systems biology. It provides a wealth of knowledge to the training of experts in the field of structural chemistry applied to biological macromolecules in solution, in fibrils, in membranes or in cells, and in the field of molecular biology for the expression of isotopically enriched recombinant proteins.

Host Institution

The Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM) of the University of Florence is a Research Infrastructure supported by the European Commission for providing transnational access to biological NMR. CERM is one of the first laboratories in the world for quality of equipment, production and scientific credibility in the field of structural biology and NMR. The infrastructure is uniquely equipped with a large number of NMR spectrometers ranging from 1200 MHz down to 0.01 MHz, through 950, 900, 850 WB, 800, 700, 600, 500 and 400 MHz spectrometers. Many of these instruments are equipped with a cryoprobe. It has a specialized tradition in the investigation of metalloproteins, particularly paramagnetic metalloproteins. CERM is a core member of INSTRUCT, the European infrastructure for integrated structural biology, which includes centers for cutting-edge technology, scientific expertise, and training.

The University of Florence dates back to the Studium Generale set up by the Florentine Republic in 1321. It has had very famous scholars (Galileo Galilei) and professors as well as the two most recent Italian Prime Ministers (Giuseppe Conte and Mario Draghi). Only in 1923 however, the University acquired its actual name and was transformed into a modern comprehensive university, with its 21 Departments and 10 Schools.

The Unifi offers 127 Bachelor's Degrees 57 Masters's Degrees, 9 Long-cycle degrees, 24 PhD Programs and over 50 specialization schools. Amongst those programmes, over 40 are international: 10 taught in English and 31 with double or joint degrees. Within most degree programs, courses in English are offered.

Unifi is one of the most popular Universities for Erasmus students (over 900 incoming a year) and is part of EUniWell, a European Universities Alliance. The network has identified four key areas for research and teaching, closely linked to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The University of Florence is one of the most important Italian public universities and has a strong international vocation. It fosters cooperation with academic and research institutions all over the world and welcomes foreign teaching staff, researchers and students to promote cultural and scientific internationalization. To this end, through its Departments and Schools, the University promotes the hospitality of highly qualified guests from all over the world.

Moreover, it traditionally devotes particular attention to the development of collaborative relationships with foreign universities and to the process of internationalization, which has become a strategic and dominant aspect of the life of the university in research, teaching, the organization of study programmes, mobility of teachers, researchers and students.

For these reasons, the University of Florence qualifies itself as one of the privileged destinations for international guests.

Welcome Service

The Welcome Service helps international students, PhD students, fellows, researchers and professors hosted by the University of Florence within specific European or International projects to find suitable accommodation in town.

The Welcome Service can book the guests in the university residences and other local accommodation facilities and provides information on online platforms for finding accommodation.

Studying in Florence

One hundred and forty-six degree courses (first and second level and single-cycle) of which 15 are in English, organised into 10 Schools, a total population of around fifty-one thousand enrolled, a quarter of whom come from outside the region. The University of Florence is a large university, with a very wide range of courses spanning all subject areas. There are over nine thousand graduates every year in Florence. Moreover, the percentage of Florentine graduates in work one year after graduating is above the national average, according to Almalaurea data.