Lectures
The aim of the Lectures of the PhD program in Neurobiology is to provide students with a common framework starting from different backgrounds.
Lectures will take place at the beginning of the PhD Program, so to have more time to focus on the scientific research project that will be carried out during the PhD. There will be a first set of lectures dedicated to specific experimental methodologies and safety procedures followed by two main scientific modules.All the lectures will be in English and will be held by an expert in the field.
Module 1 will be devoted to fundamental aspects of Neurophysiology and Neurobiology: we will review basic notions about neurons, synapses and sensory systems. We will also cover properties of neuronal networks underlying perception in the cortex and locomotion in the spinal cord.
Module 2 will be dedicated to emerging tools and experimental methodologies from Nanotechnology, which can be used to investigate molecular properties of neurons, synapses and sensory cells. Properties of the interactions between neurons and new materials, such carbon nanotubes and grapheme, will be covered as well as basic properties of Atomic Force Microscopy and advanced Photonics.
Moreover, the students will have the chance to attend additional lectures organized by other PhD courses at SISSA.
Students with specific scientific interests, not covered by the planned series of Lectures, will be encouraged to participate in International Schools devoted to these specific topics.
Thesis
The essence of the PhD Program in Neurobiology is the completion of the scientific PhD Thesis which will consist in a project at the frontline of contemporary investigation in Neurobiology.
At the beginning of the PhD course students receive information about the available research projects, which constitute the fundamental element of the PhD course.
Each new student will start, at the latest within the month of January after the beginning of the PhD course, working on a research project for his/her PhD dissertation agreed with one of the available Supervisors. The distribution of the projects aims at matching the student’s own experience and research interests with the needs of the research programs and the structures available. The Supervisor is finally assigned by the Teaching Board, taking into account the student’s wishes.