Natural Sciences

Educational objectives

The UN global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development proposes 17 Development Goals (SDGs), including; zero hunger (SDG2), good health and well-being (SDG3), which is linked to Goal 13 on climate change and SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and 14 and 15, which concern life below water and life on land respectively, and the important Goal “Quality Education” (SDG4).
From this simple, incomplete list, it emerges that the SDGs are interconnected and all fundamental to achieving sustainable development, each one broken down into specific Targets and related to the problems that we intend to improve by 2030 at a global level.
These Objectives concern the biodiversity and geodiversity of our Planet in relation to the activities that man carries out and exert within the different environmental systems (natural ecosystems, agroecosystems, urban ecosystems), including therefore the socio-economic relations and productive activities integrated with the ecosystem processes that are the basis of human well-being.
In this context, the Faculty of Sciences M.F.N. will develop some of the most recent and innovative research themes that contribute, in various fields of study, to the sustainable development of society.

Educational objectives

Educational goals: The course will offer to the students the basic principles for gem identification.
Moreover, the course will be devoted to the study of minerals of industrial and environmental
interest, and to the study of the spectroscopic techniques for their characterization.

Learning ouctomes: The student will learn the basic skills to work as a gemologist. Students will
also learn the major minerals of industrial and environmental interest, as well as the spectroscopic
techniques for their characterization.

Educational objectives

Educational goals: The course will offer to the students the basic principles for gem identification.
Moreover, the course will be devoted to the study of minerals of industrial and environmental
interest, and to the study of the spectroscopic techniques for their characterization.

Learning ouctomes: The student will learn the basic skills to work as a gemologist. Students will
also learn the major minerals of industrial and environmental interest, as well as the spectroscopic
techniques for their characterization.

Educational objectives

Educational goals: The course will offer to the students the basic principles for gem identification.
Moreover, the course will be devoted to the study of minerals of industrial and environmental
interest, and to the study of the spectroscopic techniques for their characterization.

Learning ouctomes: The student will learn the basic skills to work as a gemologist. Students will
also learn the major minerals of industrial and environmental interest, as well as the spectroscopic
techniques for their characterization.

Educational objectives

General skills
The goal of this course is to provide students with knowledge concerning: i) animal behaviour, including the specie-specific natural history and the role played by genes and environment, and their interaction, in shaping the behavioural repertoire; ii) scientific standardized methods to study behaviour both in natural and laboratory contexts. Students attending the course should have basic knowledge of genetics, developmental biology, zoology, comparative anatomy and ecology. The course consists in lectures, including focused seminars on specific topics, and field training with excursions to both urban and natural parks.

Specific skills
A) Knowledge and understanding: Students will achieve a good understanding of the ethological approach, developing the ability to interpret the animal behaviour from a functional, causal, ontogenic and phylogenetic point of view.

B) Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will achieve the ability to apply an observational scientific method to the analysis of animal behaviour.

C) Making judgements: Students will develop critical capacity and autonomy of judgement with respect to the description and interpretation of the behavioural observations.

D) Communication skills: Students should be able to communicate what they have been learned during the oral exam.

E) Learning skills: Students will learn how to use the ethological approach as a tool to study animal behaviour both in natural and captivity contexts.

Educational objectives

· • Acquire basic skills about potential geochemical applications in natural environments;
· • Learn the principles underlying geochemical modeling;
· • Acquire skills relating to the main aspects of a geochemical analysis laboratory.

Educational objectives

Knowledge about the use of different fossil types to study the evolution of the biosphere in the geological past. Comprehension about how climate and environmental changes have influenced ecosystems. Acquisition of methods for the paleoecological study of marine successions finalized to the reconstruction of environmental evolution in space and time.

Educational objectives

Understanding of the basic aspects of the climate system and the role played by ocean and
atmosphere in its regulation.
Knowledge of the main processes of interaction between the different components of the climate
system (atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, biosphere).
Knowledge of global change, emission and climate scenarios; IPCC reports.
Ability to interpret historical climate data and future projections of the state of the climate.

Educational objectives

General objectives: Introduce the student to the fundamental results of probability and statistics and the most significant applications, also through the discussion of concrete cases and statistical software.

Specific objectives:

Knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course the student will have acquired the basic notions and results regarding data analysis, point and interval estimation problems and hypothesis testing problems, as well as the main methods with which these are addressed .

Apply knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course the student will be able to evaluate the degree of accuracy with which, in simple statistical problems, parameters can be estimated or hypotheses validated, implementing these answers in appropriate software.

Critical and judgment skills: the student will be able to appreciate the probabilistic tools useful for tackling statistical problems and the various approaches to solving them.

Communication skills: ability to explain problem solving and what can reasonably be inferred from data analysis.

Learning ability: the knowledge acquired will allow the student to become familiar with the language of descriptive and inferential statistics and to address in-depth studies.

Educational objectives

Course Objective
The objectives are to providing basic knowledge of botany in order to understand: the relationship between climate and plant distribution, the importance of the structure-function relationship for shaping the plant adaptative strategy to ecological factors, the plant resource use capacity by the identification of the adaptative strategies, the relationship among functional plant traits, growth process and biomass allocation in response to abiotic ecological factors, the relationship among functional plant traits, community structure, and ecosystem functioning, also considering the climate change effects. The course aims also at providing the practical knowledge on the working of the instrumentations used for analysing plant functional traits.

Applying knowledge and understanding
Knowing how to use specific terminology.
Knowing how to identify the measurement methodologies according to the specific objectives to be achieved in the field of plant ecology.
Knowing how to recognize the structural characteristics of plants and ecosystems, and the leaf morphological, anatomical and physiological traits.
Making judgements
Acquire critical judgment on the functioning of plant species and their adaptive capability through the study of the key structural and functional traits and the phenotypic plasticity.
Acquire analytical skills for the deepening and applicability of the knowledge learned.
Communication skills
Knowing how to communicate what they have learned during the oral examination.
Learning skills
Learn the specific terminology.
Logically connect the acquired knowledge.
Identify the most relevant topics of the subjects covered.

Educational objectives

The main objective is to provide students with a solid theoretical and practical foundation for plant conservation and sustainable management of plant resources.
Learning about plant diversity, from algae to mosses to vascular plants.
Knowledge of the use of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes to investigate changes in water availability, fertilizer use, or differentiation between cultivated and wild plants.
Application of knowledge of plant biodiversity also in interdisciplinary contexts such as climatology, sustainable agriculture, and environmental conservation.

Educational objectives

Acquisition of additional knowledge through laboratory experiments and field;
understanding of the importance of the interdisciplinary approach in the scientific method ;
development of skills in the field of practical applications , including in relation to the possibility of entering the world of work.

Educational objectives

Acquisition of additional knowledge through laboratory experiments and field;
understanding of the importance of the interdisciplinary approach in the scientific method ;
development of skills in the field of practical applications , including in relation to the possibility of entering the world of work.