Lecturer(s): C3A and FEM health and safety officers and consultants (org. by UNITN)
N hours: 12

Summary: Lectures and practicals in general laboratory safety procedures, equipment use, and basic first aid. 
Description: Legally required basic (4 hours) and specific (8 hours) training in health and safety and risks connected to work activities.
Skills acquired: knowledge of basic chemical manipulation, laboratory skills, biological hazards, fire and radiation safety and basic first aid. 

Learned Evaluation procedure: Multiple choice quiz.
Notes and Pre-requisites: Obligatory for all PhD students (unless certificate of previous courses available)
Calendar: First session in November 2022 - Second Session in January 2023

Lecturer(s): Ilaria Pertot
N hours: 10
ECTS: 1 type B

Summary: Basic knowledge on how to prepare a research project for my PhD. What is the aim of the research project, what are the main steps and sections, Gannt chart and other tools.(8 hours lesson and 2 hours for a draft project preparation). Useful support for the PhD project preparation.

Learned Evaluation procedure: Project proposal
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st Year PhD students
Schedule: 30/11-6/12/2022 - online classes

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Omar Rota Stabelli
N hours: 24 (21 class hours + exam)
ECTS: 3 

Summary: The course. Evolution can deepen our understanding of biological processes by revealing how things come to be the way we currently observe them. A useful type of methods is those based on phylogenetic inferences. The aim of the course is to understand the principles of some of these methods aimed at exploring how species evolved and how genes evolved in these species. The course is structured in 3 full days (8 academic hours per day) with a combination of lectures, practicals, and presentations.

Skills acquired: an overview of the practical tools for studying the evolution of genes and the diversification of species (molecular phylogenetics, metabarcoding, estimates of divergence times using molecular clocks); skills in presenting and discussing scientific articles that use phylogenetic methods

Learned Evaluation procedure: article presentation
Notes and Pre-requisites: --
Schedule: 19-21 December - location: FEM - timetable: 9.00-13.00 - 14.00-17.00 - see calendar for details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Mirco Rodeghiero, Nadia Vendrame
N hours: 16
ECTS: 2

Module 1 (8 hours):overview of the main instruments and variables measured in a meteorological station. Instruments sensors and data collection. Measurement of precipitation, pressure, temperature, wind, solar radiation, humidity and soil moisture. Main features of an agrometeorological station. 

Module 2 (8 hours): introduction to the study of vegetation-atmosphere interactions, focusing on the physical processes influencing the life of plants and determining the productivity of agricultural crops. 

Skills acquired: type of sensors used for monitoring of main meteorological/environmental variables; vegetation-atmosphere exchanges of mass and energy.

Learned Evaluation procedure: Oral presentation of a scientific paper chosen by the PhD student
Notes and Pre-requisites: NA
Schedule: 16-25 January - timetable: 9.30-11.30 see calendar for details - location: DICAM

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Emanuela Bozzini, Francesca Forno, Natalia Magnani
N hours: 24
ECTS: 3

Summary: The objective of this course is to critically discuss the transformations in patterns and practices of production and consumption, giving particular attention to sustainability ideas and practices. The class will be articulated in three main modules (8 hours each).
Module 1 (8 hours): Overview of long-term trends in agricultural production and its sustainability
Skills acquired: Knowledge on historical trends in agricultural production, resource use, chemical input across world regions; knowledge on issues of sustainability of current agricultural systems in relation to demography, urbanization and resource depletion.
Module 2 (8 hours): Consumer Culture and Society. This module offers the opportunity to engage with sociological theories of consumption and contemporary consumer society.  
Skills acquired: Familiarity with sociological concepts to investigate changes in consumption practices and lifestyles, with a special attention on food consumption trends. The focus will be on the practice of consumption with regard to lifestyle, consumer subjectivity, meaning making, sustainability and ‘food diversity’.

Module 3 (8 hours): Social innovation and sustainability. The module aims to introduce students to sociological theories and debates concerning the development of social innovation for sustainability.
Skills acquired: familiarity with debates on sustainability and social innovation, with a special attention to food and food systems.

Learned Evaluation procedure: Final written report or presentation
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st Year Students
Schedule: January- February - location SRS - see courses calendar for details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Roberto Rosà, Rachele Nieri
N hours: 16
ECTS: 2

Summary: 8 hours of lectures on the basis of eco-epidemiological models with application both in agriculture and public health. 8 hours of practical exercises with software R using experimental data from agriculture and public health case studies.
Description: this course will provide an insight on the development and analysis of ecological and epidemiological models with applications in agriculture and public health.
Skills acquired: conceptual ideas and mathematical tools needed for implementing ecological and epidemiological models, especially population dynamic models as well as epidemiological models.

Learned Evaluation procedure: presentation on a topic agreed with the student
Notes and Pre-requisites: 2nd year - Students are expected to know the basic concepts of mathematics and statistics. Prior knowledge of open source software R use is also required
Schedule: 30/01-10/02/2023 - location: FEM

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Simone Cerroni
N hours: 24
ECTS: 3

Summary/Description: The course provides students with an in-depth description of state-of the-art methods and tools that are used to evaluate the demand for innovative food products (e.g., lab meat, antibiotic-free products) and welfare benefits generated by environmental and agri-food policies of recent relevance (e.g., climate change, sustainable consumption). Among the methodologies covered in the course: stated preferences (i.e., discrete choice experiments), experimental methods (i.e., experimental auctions) and randomized control trials. The course also provides principles of statistics and econometrics to be used in data analysis. Classes will consist of 7 standard frontal lectures, 1 tutorial on statistics and econometrics, 1 tutorial on research ethics in policy evaluation, and 3 interactive practical lectures.
Skills acquired: The course will improve knowledge and understanding of new trends and policies in the agri-food sector. Students will familiarize with methods and tools for demand and policy evaluation that can be useful in the job market. Strengths and limitations of these methods will be covered to stimulate critical thinking and the elaboration of new research ideas. The course also aims to improve students’ knowledge and understanding of principles of statistics and econometrics applied to evaluation problems.

Learned Evaluation procedure: 

• Oral presentation of an academic paper (20%)
• Oral presentation and short report on the development of an experimental protocol (40%)
• Oral presentation and short report on conducted data analysis (40%)

Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st year
Schedule: 30 January - 28 February 2023 - location: DEM see Phd courses calendar for schedule

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Monica Tolotti, Maria Cristina Bruno, Walter Bertoldi, Guido Zolezzi
N hours: 24
ECTS: 3

Summary: The course provides an insight on the physical, chemical, ecological and biological properties and dynamics of freshwater ecosystem, considering natural conditions (Module 1) and the effects of human stressors (Module 2). Specific case studies of different freshwater ecosystems will provide examples of the possible methodological approaches. 

Module 1 (12 hours): Aquatic ecosystem in natural conditions. This module addresses the main variables and processes driving the habitat dynamics in natural freshwater ecosystems.
Skills acquired: ability to describe and interpret aquatic habitats in running waters and lakes, across time and space, including physical, chemical, morphological variables, such as flow, temperature, nutrients, and foodweb descriptors and the effects of vegetation on the above. 

Module 2 (12 hours): Aquatic ecosystem under direct and indirect human stressors. This module provides insight on direct (e.g., pollution, water withdrawals, engineering) and indirect (land use and climate change). 
Skills acquired: methods to recognize and quantify stressors such as  source and point pollution, hydro-morphological alterations, thermal alterations, extinction and creation of habitats; methods for mitigation /restoration strategies (e-flows, morphological restoration, sediment augmentation).

Topic of each lesson
1. Introduction to lotic systems: morphology (Walter Bertoldi)
2. Introduction to lotic systems: physio-chemistry, biology (Maria Cristina Bruno)
3. Introduction to lentic systems:  physio-chemistry (Monica Tolotti)
4. Introduction to lentic systems: biology and ecology (Monica Tolotti)
5. Introduction to lotic systems: ecology, functional organization (Maria Cristina Bruno)
6. Introduction to lotic systems: basic concepts in hydraulics and hydrology (Guido Zolezzi)
7. Lotic systems: Geomorphic units and evolutionary trajectories (Walter Bertoldi)
8. Lotic systems: The ecohydraulic paradigm (Guido Zolezzi)
9. Flow regime alteration: assessment tools and mitigation strategies (Guido Zolezzi)
10. River restoration and the role of riparian vegetation (Walter Bertoldi)
11. Lotic systems: ecological effects of hydro-morphological alterations (Maria Cristina Bruno)
12. Climate change and headwaters ()Monica Tolotti)

Learned Evaluation procedure: Oral presentation of a scientific paper chosen by the PhD student
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st year
Schedule: 13-17 February 2023, DICAM, Room 1H - See courses Calendar for details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Ilaria Pertot, Michele Perazzolli, Gerardo Puopolo, Emanuela Bozzini  
N hours: 16
ECTS: 2

Summary: The course will give an overview about regulation aspects and innovative procedures for the control of plant pathogens and insects on major crops.

Module 1 (8 hours): Regulatory provisions on pesticides and biopesticides. This module will provide details on novel regulatory provisions on plant protection products and sustainable use of pesticides with a focus on the European Union.

Skills acquired: knowledge of policy principles and provisions informing EU regulation on plant protection products.

Module 2 (8 hours): Innovative approaches for pathogen control. This module will provide details on innovative approaches to control plant pathogens.

Skills acquired: knowledge of the pioneering low impact techniques for the integrated management of phytopathogens; to learn the main types of existing biopesticides, their mode of action, their application strategies, the advantages and disadvantages deriving from their application, nowledge of new generation tools for biological control of pathogens, such as resistance inducers, volatile compounds and microbiota-based strategies

Learned Evaluation procedure: Final written test
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st year
Schedule: 7-23 February 2023 - location FEM - see calendar for timetable details 

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it 

Lecturer(s): Sihem Dabbou
N hours: 12
ECTS: 1.5

Summary: The aim of the course is to provide an overview on insects and the increasing interest basic knowledge on the use of insects in animal feed.

Description: The course is organised in 3 lessons:

1. Introduction on Insects and legislation (2 hours).

2. Insect rearing (case study: Black Soldier Fly) (3 hours).

3. Potential of insect meal in monogastric animal farm nutrition (3 hours). 

Practical activities: 

1. A journal club where students present and discuss a paper chosen from the literature on this topic (2 hours).

2. Oral presentation where students choose and present the interesting topics on Insect as feed (2 hours).

Skills acquired: Tools for studying the importance of insects as animal feed; skills in presenting and discussing scientific articles on this topic

Learned Evaluation procedure: Oral presentation
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st Year Students(no prerequisites required)
Schedule: for the AY 2022/23 this course is not active 

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Fabrizio Costa, Nicola Busatto, Michele Perazzolli
N hours: 20 (16 class hours + exam)
ECTS: 2,5

Summary: The course will provide the basics of plant physiology, focusing on phenology and fruit ripening. A special attention will be also given to the genetic mechanisms undertaking important physiological pathways and innovative plant physiology for precision agriculture.
Module 1 (4 hours, lecturer: Perazzolli): Smart plant physiology. This module will provide specific knowledge of plant physiology with particular attention to new tools for precision agriculture
Skills acquired: knowledge of plant physiology and precision agriculture aspects. 

Module 2 (6 hours, lecturer: Costa) Fruit ripening physiology. This module will provide a general description of the type of fruits and their mode of ripening. The interplay between different hormones in regulating the fruit ripening will be discussed, introducing, moreover, the genetic analysis addressed to the detection of the main loci controlling fruit ripening related pathways. 
Skills acquired: knowledge of ripening physiology and the interplay among several hormones

Module 3 (6 hours, lecturer: Busatto): Genetic regulation of fruit ripening. This module will present the road map of the functional analysis carried out to date to disclose the main regulating mechanisms of fruit ripening. The state of the art of the molecular and biotech techniques used to date to investigate the fruit ripening processes will be also discussed, from recombinant DNA to OMIC approaches. 
Skills acquired: investigation of the molecular mechanisms regulating fruit ripening using the most advanced biotechnology approaches.

Learned Evaluation procedure: presentation
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st Year Students
Schedule: 14 February - 28 March 2023 - location FEM - see Calendar for timetable details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it 

Lecturer(s): Gianfranco Anfora, Valerio Mazzoni, Rachele Nieri, Marco Valerio Rossi Stacconi
N hours: 12
ECTS: 1,5

Summary: The course will give an overview about innovative and consolidated techniques of behavioral manipulation for the control of crop insects.
Module 1 (3 hours): Principles of insects’ behaviour and communication. The aim of this module is to provide the students with a clear understanding of the main concepts of behavioral ecology that will be used in the subsequent modules. The main topics are theory of animal communication, terminology and methodologies to investigate insect perception and communication modalities. 

Module 2 (6 hours): Techniques of behavioral manipulation.  The aim of this module is to provide expertise on the principles of plant protection strategies alternative to the use of synthetic chemicals. Techniques based on the use of semiochemicals, semiophysicals and sterile insect technique will be treated.

Module 3 (3 hours): Techniques of biological control. The module aims to provide critical understanding of the different biocontrol approaches that can be adopted for insect pest management. The module will address the day-to-day concerns of biocontrol practitioners, including how to rear and release a control organism, suppress the target organism, and minimize harm to non-target organisms.

Skills acquired: knowledge of the pioneering low impact techniques for the integrated and organic management of insect pests (i.e. semiochemicals, natural enemies, biotremology,); their mode of action, their application strategies, the advantages and disadvantages deriving from their application.

Learned Evaluation procedure: Final written test
Notes and Pre-requisites: 1st year
Schedule: 27 February - 2 March 2023 - location FEM - see Calendar for timetable details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it 

Lecturer(s): Ilaria Pertot
N hours: 20
ECTS: 2,5

Basic knowledge on how to prepare a research project proposal. The EU funding scheme and the evaluation process. Opportunities for project proposal application (4 hours lesson and 16 hours project preparation)
Overview of the funding opportunities in the new Horizon EU.

Learned Evaluation procedure: project proposal
Notes and Pre-requisites: 2nd or 3rd year PhD Students
Schedule: 21 and 28 March 2023 - Location FEM - see Calendar for timetable details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Michele Faralli
N hours: 12
ECTS: 1,5

Summary: The aim of the course is to provide in-depth concepts on crop physiological responses to the complex interplay between climate change variables. Specific efforts will be placed in understanding physiological mechanisms underlying stress tolerance and potential management approaches for protecting grapevine from the naturally occurring multifactorial stress combination.  

Description: The course is organised in 3 lessons:
1. Introduction to climate change: time to reschedule the agricultural agenda (2 hours).
2. Effects of multifactorial stress combination in grapevine: pro e cons of the changing climate (3 hours).
3. Advances in physiological analysis and crop phenotyping (2 hours). 

Practical activities: 
1. A journal club where students present and discuss a paper chosen from the literature on climate change and crop performance (2 hours).
2. Oral presentation where students should be able to present a putative project on fruit crop and climate change: defining overlooked questions, construct your own hypothesis, build the route to solve agricultural-related problems (3 hours).

Skills acquired: Knowledge on the effect of climate change on fruit crop physiology, how to quantitatively detect stress in economically valuable fruit crops

Learned Evaluation procedure: oral presentation
Notes and Pre-requisites: NA
Schedule: 6-10 March 2023 - Location FEM, see Calendar for timetable details

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Lecturer(s): Roberto Larcher, Tiziana Nardin, Raffaele Guzzon, Tomas Roman
N hours: 16
ECTS: 2

Summary: The course aims to provide, through a series of monographic seminars, notions about current issues or innovative trends in the transformation of raw food, with particular reference to traditional fermented foods. Ample space will also be given to analytical techniques for the characterization of food.
Module 1: Oenological treatments and technological fermentation management.
Module 2: Evolution of microbiota through wine oenological fermentations, influence of technological and environmental variables and impact on wine quality; Wine spoilage microorganisms, risk for wine quality and human health, and innovative approaches at the winery and wine hygiene.
Module 3: Chemical characterisation of fermentative compounds; Identification and quantification of metabolites; Chromatographic separation and analytical detection: profiles of minerals, sugars, amines, amino acids, organic acids, vitamins and volatile compounds; Targeted and untargeted profiles; Models of origin and botanical traceability;
Skills acquired: familiarity and ability to interpret and describe fermentative processes and define quality controls.

Learned Evaluation procedure: written exam
Notes and Pre-requisites: 2nd year
Schedule: 8-11 May 2023 - location FEM (see classes calendar for details)

Registration procedure: in order to register in the course, please write an e-mail request to phd.aes@unitn.it

Field sampling and Spatial Ecological Modelling 

22-26 May 2023 - Summary

The second edition of the GEOframe Summer Schools will be held in June 2023 at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering of University of Trento. The main topics will embrace the water flow (and heat transport) in porous media, the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, and inverse problems. The aim of the course is to enable participants to run their own simulations with the GEOframe tools to simulate the critical zone. The GEOframe Summer Schools deals mainly with the 1D tools and introduces the 2D ones called WHETGEO (Water. HEat and Transport in GEOframe, 1D and 2D), and GEO-SPACE (GEOframe Soil Plants Atmosphere Continuum Estimator).
The course is devoted to Ph.D. Students, Post-docs, Young researchers and aims to make the participants run their simulations of the hydrological cycle on their own catchments and estimate the hydrological budget components. To have an idea of the topics, the interested researchers should give a look at the material of the previous school (http://abouthydrology.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-geoframe-schools-index.html).
Besides the lectures and the hands-on sessions, the Summer School is the occasion for discussion and experience exchange among senior scholars and young researchers. Three days. around a month before the school, will be dedicated (via Zoom) to installations of the software, explanations of the main concepts deployed with OMS3/CSIP (Object Modelling System v3/Cloud Service Integration Platform) and GEOframe as an open platform to do hydrology by computer and the pursue the Digital Twin Earth Hydrology metaphor. Lectures will be dedicated also to teach elementary concepts about using Jupyter Notebooks for inputs and outputs treatment and representation. 
The material of the school will be made available on the GEOframe blog (https://geoframe.blogspot.com). Three ECTS credits are issued on the infrastructure topics. 5 credits on the hydrological topics.

Learned Evaluation procedure: The students will be asked to run their own examples in 1D and 2D
Notes and Pre-requisites: NA
Schedule: June 2023 - see dedicated section of the GEOFRAME blog

Registration procedure: the registration procedure will be made available on the dedicated section of the GEOFRAME blog. For any doubts, you can  contact the scientific committee of the GeoFrame School. 

Referent: MIlena Bigatto milena.bigatto@trentinoinnovation.eu
N hours: 25
ECTS: 3 

The course aims to provide PhD students with the fundamental concepts for helping PhD create impact from their research.
In particular Students will be driven to think about the value of their research work in the market.
They will explore mega-trends and markets and how to leverage the potential of innovation inside the research. They will investigate with experts the concepts of value proposition and customer, legacies and opportunities related to the IP strategies and protection.  Public and private financing strategies and opportunities will be presented.
Main Learning Outcomes
At the end of the classes participants will be able to:
- Understanding differences when planning and developing a new entre/intra-preneurial project in different contexts
- Ability to understand, create, capture value of the research project in a market
- Ability to integrate the strategic role of IP and other intangible assets into the research project and future professional scenarios."
Teaching and Learning Methods
Teaching and learning methods are primarily based on applied lectures, testimonials and real case studies from researchers, entrepreneurs, local and/or international business managers. They combine lectures, testimonials from professionals, discussions, individual and group work, hands-on activities and games. Participants will be evaluated with group exercise, and individual reports.  Participants will be asked to reflect on their entrepreneurial skills (working in an interdisciplinary team and communicate effectively) and choose one entrepreneurial competence among the ENTRECOMP European framework to improve during the course (self-direct learning).  

Topics and skills of  R2B 2023 edition 
●    Fundamental of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
●    From research to innovation
●    Put your research idea in  business context
●    Building a product value proposition
●    Building a technology proposition and Basics of technology disclosure and patenting
●    Research integrity introduction
●    Introduction to the market and business models
●    How to make profit from technologies with companies
●    How to make profit from technologies START UP
●    How to find a Product-Market fit
●    How to push forward your research results: opportunities and tips from public funding
●    Private financing for innovation ventures
●    Sessions with testimonials
●    Working in a team
●    Communicate effectively
●    Taking the initiative
●    Spotting opportunities
●    Entrepreneurial competences

For any further query you can contact directly milena.bigatto@trentinoinnovation.eu