Ph.D. in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biotechnology

Area: Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biotechnology

• Chemical Sciences
• Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical, and Food Sciences

Ph.D. Course in Chemical Sciences

The main objective of the PhD Course in Chemical Sciences is to offer the opportunity of being part of scientifically stimulating research teams in order to train professionals prepared for research activities in all the innovative fields involving chemical processes, ranging from organic synthesis to material development, from applications to analyses, and from chemical characterizations to assessment of food quality.

During the three years Ph.D. course, the students will have personal mentors who educate them to follow research topics, with the goal to allow the students to become able to formulate a scientific problem independently, propose hypotheses and procedures leading to its solving on an experimental or theoretical level in the different fields of Chemical Sciences. The main research topics are in analytical and environmental chemistry, food chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry:

• The research in analytical and environmental chemistry includes the feasibility of CH4-CO2 replacement in marine Natural Gas Hydrate sediments, the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposite functional materials for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries and absorbent/photoactive nanomaterials for energy and environmental applications. Further researches are related to diagnostic methods for characterization, conservation and restoration of cultural heritage, the immobilization technics of dangerous wastes in inorganic polymeric matrices, the chemometric data sets elaboration, and the samples preparation and analysis for the speciation of particular pollutants and analytes in different environmental matrices.
• The primary field of food chemistry research is the assessment of food quality by means of development and application of new methods to identify and quantify both new and classical chemical markers and investigating reactions and compositional changes occurring in food during cooking, processing, and storage.
• The research in inorganic chemistry covers several important areas of chemistry such as coordination chemistry, organometallic chemistry, metal-based drugs, metals in medicine and in biological processes, catalysis, porous coordination polymers, MOFs, and functionalized nano-materials. The main topics focus on: a) design and synthesis of new ligands characterized by the presence of C-, N-, O-, P- and S-donor groups; b) evaluation of their coordination capabilities with main group and late transition metal ions; c) applications in medicinal inorganic chemistry, in the field of composite materials, in catalysis and as materials for optoelectronics.
• The research in organic chemistry is organized around the following areas: catalytic processes for organic reactions; synthetic organic chemistry, focusing on key reactions in the synthesis of a variety of bioactive compounds including organic molecules having pharmacological importance; organic transformations using new sustainable processes by the use of unconventional methods for preparing highly functionalized organic molecules; organic surface chemistry focusing on modification of surfaces using organic molecules to create coatings and materials with controllable properties.

Due to the active scientific collaborations present in the Chemistry Center of the University of Camerino, the Ph.D. students are strongly encouraged to attend part of their activities in other research groups in Italy and abroad. For this reason, the ability to communicate in English, both verbally and in written form, is a mandatory requirement for Ph.D. students.

Ph.D. Course in Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical and Food Sciences

The main goal of this Ph.D. program is to involve Ph.D. students in stimulating research activities in the fields of drug design, rationale synthesis, in vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies, drugs and cosmetics formulation and delivery, food quality and safety, food supplements and nutraceuticals, analytical and biological studies on plant extracts.

During the three years Ph.D. course, the students will have personal mentors who educate them to follow research topics, with the goal to allow the students to become able to formulate a scientific problem independently, propose hypotheses and procedures leading to its solving on an experimental or theoretical level in the above different fields.

The general concept behind all the research activities listed above is related to human health and well-being. Research activities will be related to computer assisted drug design and optimization; synthesis of potential drugs with different synthetic approaches and instrumental characterization; isolated macromolecules, cell tissues and animal pharmacological studies; novel strategies for drug delivery systems; new formulations, mainly based on natural ingredients, for cosmetics; in deep quali-quantitative analytical studies of foods; development of functional food and food supplements, mainly based on nutraceutics; analytical studies and biological properties of essential oils and solvent extracts from plants.

The International School of Advanced Studies

UNICAM has instituted an International School of Advanced Studies with the objective of increasing the internationalization of Doctoral education.

• The International School of Advanced Studies plans, organizes, coordinates the courses to achieve the title of Ph.D.
• The Doctoral course is three years with a final thesis to be written in English, that will be defended in front of a Final Examination Board, made up of professors in the relevant scientific areas. This must include academics and other experts (e.g. from research centers or enterprises), most of whom not from the University of Camerino, and at least one non-Italian.
• In addition to the preparation of the final thesis, doctoral candidates are expected to participate in training activities organized by the SAS, all in English, to acquire transferable skills, (such as communications skills, research career development, research management and project funding, methodological skills) and doctoral training in cooperation with industry and other relevant employment sectors.
• Conducting some research in public or private laboratories external to the host University is strongly encouraged.
• To attain the final qualification there should be at least six months experience at a research or higher education Institution different from the University of Camerino and possibly not Italian.
• The Seven Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training underpin our research programs.

Seven Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training

1. Research Excellence

Striving for excellent research is fundamental to all doctoral education and from this, all other elements flow. Academic standards set via peer review procedures and research environments representing a critical mass are required. The new academic generation should be trained to become creative, critical and autonomous intellectual risk-takers, pushing the boundaries of frontier research.

2. Attractive Institutional Environment

Doctoral candidates should find good working conditions to empower them to become independent researchers taking responsibility at an early stage for the scope, direction, and progress of their project. These should include career development opportunities, in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers.

3. Interdisciplinary Research Options

Doctoral training must be embedded in an open research environment and culture to ensure that any appropriate opportunities for cross-fertilization between disciplines can foster the necessary breadth and interdisciplinary approach.

4. Exposure to industry and other relevant employment sectors

The term 'industry' is used in the widest sense, including all fields of future workplaces and public engagement, from industry to business, government, NGO’s, charities and cultural institutions (e.g. musea). This can include placements during research training; shared funding; involvement of non-academics from relevant industry in informing/delivering teaching and supervision; promoting financial contribution of the relevant industry to doctoral programs; fostering alumni networks that can support the candidate (for example mentoring schemes) and the program, and a wide array of people/technology/knowledge transfer activities.

5. International networking

Doctoral training should provide opportunities for international networking, i.e. through collaborative research, co-tutelle, dual and joint degrees. Mobility should be encouraged, be it through conferences, short research visits, and secondments or longer stays abroad.

6. Transferable skills training

“Transferable skills are skills learned in one context (for example research) that are used in another (for example future employment whether that is in research, business, etc.). They enable subject- and research-related skills to be applied and developed effectively. Transferable skills may be acquired through training or through work experience”. It is essential to ensure that enough researchers have the skills demanded by the knowledge-based economy. Examples include communication, teamwork, entrepreneurship, project management, IPR, ethics, standardization, etc.

Business should also be more involved in curricula development and doctoral training so that skills better match industry needs, building on the work of the University Business Forum and the outcomes of the EUA DOC-CAREERS project. There are good examples of interdisciplinary approaches in universities bringing together skills ranging from research to financial and business skills and from creativity and design to intercultural skills.

7. Quality Assurance

The accountability procedures must be established on the research base of doctoral education and for that reason, they should be developed separately from the quality assurance in the first and second cycle.

The goal of quality assurance in doctoral education should be to enhance the quality of the research environment as well as promoting transparent and accountable procedures for topics such as admission, supervision, awarding the doctorate degree and career development. It is important to stress that this is not about the quality assurance of the Ph.D. itself rather the process or life cycle, from recruitment to graduation.