Study

• Teaching agenda
• Academic calendar
• Lecture timetable

DEPARTMENT TEACHING BREAKS

• From 22 December 2025 to 6 January 2026 inclusive: teaching activities suspended for the Christmas holidays;
• From 3 to 7 April 2026 inclusive: teaching activities suspended for the Easter holidays.

Valutami

COMPUTER SKILLS

Chair: Monica Agnolucci; Members: Chiara Sanmartin, Andrea Serra

 

AGRICULTURAL ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Chair: Antonella Castagna; Members: Marco Santin, Costanza Ceccanti, Lucia Guidi, Marco Landi, Roberto Cardelli.

 

ALGAE FOR BIOREMEDIATION, BIOFUELS AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Chair: Lorenzo Guglielminetti; Members: Thais Huarancca Reyes (subject expert), Laura Pistelli.

 

ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF FOOD AND MEDICINAL PLANTS (previous regulations)

Chair: Alberto Pardossi; Members: Alice Trivellini, Luca Incrocci.

 

BIOETHICS (guided work)

Chair: Alessandra Di Lauro; Members: Luca Leone, Giuliana Strambi, Silvia Rolandi, Eloisa Cristiani, Mariagrazia Alabrese.

 

PLANT BIOFACTORIES (previous regulations)

Chair: Laura Pistelli; Members: Lorenzo Guglielminetti, Ilaria Marchioni (subject expert)

 

PLANT BIOFACTORIES

Chair: Laura Pistelli; Members: Lorenzo Guglielminetti, Ilaria Marchioni (subject expert)

 

BIOINFORMATICS

Chair: Flavia Mascagni; Members: Andrea Cavallini, Gabriele Usai

 

BIOPESTICIDES

Chair: Sabrina Sarrocco; Members: Elisa Pellegrini, Lorenzo Cotrozzi

 

PLANT PATHOLOGY BIOTECHNOLOGIES

Chair: Susanna Pecchia; Members: Claudia Pisuttu, Elisa Pellegrini.

 

GENETIC BIOTECHNOLOGIES

Chair: Flavia Mascagni; Members: Alberto Vangelisti, Claudio Pugliesi.

 

MICROBIAL BIOTECHNOLOGIES

Chair: Monica Agnolucci; Members: Alessandra Turrini, Luciano Avio, Federico Rossi.

 

BIOTECHNOLOGIES FOR PROTECTION AGAINST ANIMAL PESTS

Chair: Giovanni Benelli; Members: Angelo Canale, Andrea Lucchi.

 

BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND METABOLOMICS (previous regulations)

Chair: Antonella Castagna; Members: Marco Santin (subject expert), Costanza Ceccanti, Lucia Guidi, Marco Landi.

 

CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT AGRICULTURE

Chair: Alberto Pardossi; Members: Alice Trivellini, Luca Incrocci.

 

PLANT BIOACTIVE METABOLITES

Chair: Antonella Castagna; Members: Marco Santin (subject expert), Costanza Ceccanti, Lucia Guidi, Marco Landi.

 

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND PROTEOMICS (previous regulations)

Chair: Lorenzo Guglielminetti; Members: Thais Huarancca Reyes (subject expert), Laura Pistelli.

 

PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND PROTEOMICS

Chair: Lorenzo Guglielminetti; Members: Thais Huarancca Reyes (subject expert), Laura Pistelli.

 

GENOMICS, TRANSCRIPTOMICS AND EPIGENOMICS

Chair: Gabriele Usai; Members: Alberto Vangelisti, Flavia Mascagni.

 

BIOTECHNOLOGY LAW

Chair: Alessandra Di Lauro; Members: Luca Leone, Giuliana Strambi, Silvia Rolandi, Eloisa Cristiani, Mariagrazia Alabrese.

 

PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL MYCOLOGY

Chair: Sabrina Sarrocco; Members: Cristina Nali, Lorenzo Cotrozzi, Giovanni Vannacci (subject expert)

 

PLANT AND SOIL MICROBIOTA AND METAGENOMIC APPROACHES

Chair: Alessandra Turrini; Members: Monica Agnolucci, Luciano Avio, Federico Rossi.

 

NEW BREEDING TECHNOLOGIES

Chair: Tommaso Giordani; Members: Claudio Pugliesi, Andrea Cavallini.

 

PRINCIPLES OF GENETICS

Chair: Andrea Cavallini; Members: Lucia Natali, Flavia Mascagni.

 

CROP PRODUCTION AND BIOTECHNOLOGY (previous regulations)

Chair: Lisa Caturegli; Members: Alberto Pardossi, Giacomo Palai.

 

CROP PRODUCTION AND BIOTECHNOLOGY

Chair: Lisa Caturegli; Members: Alberto Pardossi, Giacomo Palai.

 

STATISTICS (guided work)

Chair: Giuseppe Conte; Members: Andrea Serra, Alberto Mantino.

 

INTERNSHIP

Chair: Tommaso Giordani; Members: Roberta Nuvoloni.

 

Procedure for carrying out the internship and obtaining the corresponding ECTS credits

The total number of internship credits each student must obtain is defined by the regulations under which the student is enrolled. For students enrolled before the 2017-18 academic year, the curricular internship in Plant and Microbial Biotechnology consists of 150 hours of activity, for a total of 6 ECTS. For students enrolled from the 2018-19 academic year onwards, the curricular internship consists of 225 hours of activity, for a total of 9 ECTS.

Before starting the internship, students of the Master’s Degree in Plant and Microbial Biotechnology and in Biosafety and Food Quality must ask a lecturer of the DiSAAA or the DSV to act as their Academic Tutor.

 

For the internship application to be accepted, at least the documentation certifying basic safety training must be submitted to the Committee.

As regards training on specific risks (e.g. chemical, biological), it is the responsibility of the Academic Tutor or of the RAR (person in charge of research activities) of the host facility to define the training required on the basis of the activities proposed to the intern. Internship applications lacking the required safety documentation cannot be approved. Students and Tutors are therefore advised to start the procedure well in advance of the period in which the internship is to take place.

– INTERNSHIP AT A FACILITY WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF PISA

To carry out an internship at a facility within the University of Pisa, the student, in agreement with their Academic Tutor (previously chosen among the disciplines related to the subject of the internship) and with the RAR of the host facility, fills in the training project template in Word format (training project example) with all the required information, providing as e-mail address the institutional one issued by the University of Pisa (xxx@studenti.unipi.it). The project must be sent by e-mail to the Chair of the Internship Committee, Prof. Tommaso Giordani, tommaso.giordani@unipi.it, to be assessed by the Committee.

A separate Training Project must be submitted for each internship period the student intends to carry out at different facilities.

The training project must be signed by the intern, the Academic Tutor and the RAR of the host facility.

In addition to the training project in Word format, the certificate (or certificates) of attendance of the safety course (or courses) must be sent to the Chair of the Internship Committee.

Once the internship has been approved by the Committee, the Chair of the Internship Committee, Prof. Tommaso Giordani, will forward all documents to the teaching office. The training project will be entered into the internship portal, which will generate a new training project in PDF format. This will be sent by e-mail to the intern, the Academic Tutor and the RAR of the host facility, who will sign it (with an electronic signature for the Academic Tutor and the RAR of the host facility) and send it to tirocinio@agr.unipi.it for final registration.

The internship may start no earlier than 5 days after approval by the Committee and, in any case, only after official notification is sent by e-mail from tirocinio@agr.unipi.it to the intern, the Academic Tutor and the RAR of the host facility.

– INTERNSHIP AT A FACILITY OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY OF PISA

The student, together with their Academic Tutor, identifies a company/institution etc. in Italy where the internship will take place and makes arrangements with the facility.

1. a) If the chosen facility is available and is among those already holding an agreement and listed in the University internship portal, the student may proceed with the preparation of the training project agreed with the tutor of the host facility (Company Tutor or RAR of the host facility) and the Academic Tutor. The training project must be prepared as described below.
2. b) If the chosen facility is available and already holds an agreement, but is not yet listed in the University internship portal, the student must inform the Academic Tutor, who will ask the Department teaching office (tirocinio@agr.unipi.it) to have it added.
3. c) If the chosen facility is available but does not yet hold an agreement, a new agreement can be set up. In this case the Academic Tutor must ask the host facility to submit a proposal using the draft agreement available on the University Internship Portal, following the procedures set out there. The proposed agreement must then be approved by the DiSAAA Department Council. Only after approval will the host facility be given the credentials to upload the Training Project to the system.

FILLING IN THE TRAINING PROJECT

The student, in agreement with their Academic Tutor (previously chosen among the disciplines related to the subject of the internship) and with the RAR of the host facility, fills in the training project together with the staff of the host facility directly on the internship portal, using the credentials held by the host company, and providing as e-mail address the institutional one issued by the University of Pisa (xxx@studenti.unipi.it). The training project must be completed in every part; at the end of the procedure the project must be saved as NOT FINALISED, downloaded as a PDF and sent to the Chair of the Internship Committee, Prof. Tommaso Giordani (tommaso.giordani@unipi.it), for approval. In addition to the training project, the certificate (or certificates) of attendance of the safety course (or courses) must be sent.

A separate Training Project must be submitted for each internship period the student intends to carry out at different facilities.

 

Once the internship has been approved by the Committee (the student is notified by e-mail), the Chair of the Internship Committee, Prof. Tommaso Giordani, will authorise the host institution to FINALISE the training project. The final PDF of the project must be stamped and signed (an electronic signature is also accepted) by the RAR of the host facility, the Academic Tutor and the intern, and sent to the Chair of the Internship Committee, Prof. Tommaso Giordani, who will forward the project and all other documents to the teaching office (tirocinio@agr.unipi.it) for final registration.

The internship may start no earlier than 5 days after approval by the Committee and, in any case, only after official notification is sent by e-mail from tirocinio@agr.unipi.it to the intern, the Academic Tutor and the RAR of the host facility.

 

RECOGNITION OF INTERNSHIP CREDITS

At the end of the internship, for the credits to be recognised and registered, the student must submit to the Chair of the Internship Committee (Prof. Tommaso Giordani):

1. a) the internship evaluation forms (Annex A), choosing between: insufficient, sufficient, good and excellent. One of these forms must be filled in by the Company Tutor.
2. b) a short report on the activities carried out during the internship (two or three pages) signed by the Academic Tutor.
3. c) the certificate confirming that the internship was actually carried out (Annex B).

The student must also check on the Alice portal the internship code or codes included in their study plan and send them by e-mail to Prof. Giordani, who will arrange for the credits to be recognised.

NOTES:

Without prejudice to the rules set out above, please note that:

• the internship can be carried out at Departments of the University of Pisa, including the Departments to which the Degree Programme belongs (DiSAAA and DSV), and at public research centres such as CNR, ENEA, etc.;
• the internship can last longer than required to obtain the mandatory curricular credits set out in the student’s study plan. When PREPARING THE DRAFT TRAINING PROJECT, the internship duration field must state the total number of hours the student intends to complete. The total number of hours may in no case exceed 450 (corresponding to 18 ECTS; 1 ECTS = 25 hours). Hours exceeding the mandatory curricular ones must be authorised in advance by the Teaching Committee of the Joint Council of the Master’s Degrees in BVM and BQA, by filling in the following form. Supernumerary credits will be recognised by the Committee for the Recognition of Teaching Activities (CRAD) upon request by the student, made by filling in the following form; credits exceeding the mandatory curricular ones will be registered as supernumerary.
• the internship can be carried out in the same laboratory where the Master’s thesis is carried out, but in a different period and on a different topic;
• the internship can also be carried out at facilities abroad. To do the internship through Erasmus, the student must follow the procedure set out by the CAI (International Relations Area Coordinator, Prof. Sabrina Sarrocco) by contacting the CAI office (erasmus@agr.unipi.it). For internships in non-European countries, contact the International Relations Area Coordinator (erasmus@agr.unipi.it). For internships within the Erasmus mobility programme, the student must follow the instructions in the call for applications.

Students must obtain “Computer skills 2” (2 ECTS) by passing one of the following modules of the SAI@UNIPI project:

• Introduction to databases (2 ECTS) – Esse3 code 004SA
• Introduction to digital communication (2 ECTS) – Esse3 code 005SA

Students holding a full ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) or ICDL (International Computer Driving Licence) certificate may request its recognition as Computer skills 2 (2 ECTS). To obtain recognition, students must fill in this form.

NB: for the validity of the certificate, please refer to the excerpt from the AICA regulations of 3/7/2020 reported below.

2.5. DURATION AND RENEWAL OF THE ICDL FULL STANDARD CERTIFICATION

Consistently with the duration of the certification process, with the average period over which the reference skills change and, consequently, with the average update period of the Syllabi, the duration of the ICDL Full Standard Certification has been set at 5 years.

Since 2 March 2020 an update exam, called ICDL Full Standard Update, has been available. Its contents (covering all seven exams) include the topics considered most relevant by AICA and the topics changed by any new version of the Syllabus. This update exam, which can be taken after signing the ICDL Full Standard Renewal Application – SC 04-R, includes:

• Number of questions: 70.
• Score awarded for each correct answer: 10 points.
• Total score available: 700 points.
• Pass mark: 70%, equal to 490 points.
• Exam duration (maximum time allowed to complete the exam): 120 minutes.
• Reference syllabus: the latest available version of the ICDL Full Standard, for the questions of each reference exam.

To renew the ICDL Full Standard Certification, this exam must be taken no later than the end of the 5-year validity of the certificate. It also allows renewal of ECDL Full Standard certificates (which are valid for 3 years) up to 2 years after their expiry. In both cases the exam must therefore be taken no later than 5 years from the date of issue of the certificate, resulting in a new ICDL Full Standard certificate with a new date of issue, a new expiry date and an added renewal date.
After 5 years from the date of issue it will no longer be possible to renew the Certificate: by passing all seven exams required for first certification (see par. 2.2) it will only be possible to obtain a new ICDL Full Standard Certificate, which will have no renewal date and will lose the history of the previously obtained Certificate.

To obtain the language qualification, students may find themselves in one of the following situations:

• The student obtained level B1 in an EU language for their Bachelor’s degree: in this case the student must obtain the B2 level qualification in the same language;
• The student obtained level B2 in an EU language for their Bachelor’s degree: in this case the student must obtain either the B1 level qualification in a different EU language, or the C1 level qualification in the same language.

The qualification is obtained at the Interdepartmental Language Centre (CLI) by visiting http://www.cli.unipi.it/ and following the instructions in the “certificazioni” (certifications) section.

The qualification can be taken in any language of the European Union.

Students who obtained the language qualification at the Interdepartmental Language Centre (CLI) at least 20 days earlier must, to have the result recorded in their transcript, send an e-mail to Ms Patrizia Lenzi (patrizia.lenzi@unipi.it) of the Student Registry Office, stating their personal details and the date on which the qualification was obtained. Nothing will be written in the paper transcript; the result will only appear in the electronic transcript available on the “Alice” portal (https://www.studenti.unipi.it).

Students holding a certificate issued by a body recognised by the CLI (https://www.cli.unipi.it/certificazioni-internazionali) attesting the language level required for the degree may request recognition of the language qualification. To obtain recognition, students must fill in this form.

 

With resolution no. 3 of 26 September 2022, the Degree Programme Council established that, following the end of the COVID-19 state of emergency, from 13 October 2022 the EF certification is no longer accepted among those giving entitlement to the recognition of Language credits.

DEFINITIONS

The total number of Free-Choice Activity (FCA) credits each student must obtain is defined by the regulations under which the student is enrolled.

6 of the total FCA credits must be obtained by passing an exam included in the course offering of the University of Pisa. The grade obtained will be included in the base grade, calculated as the credit-weighted average of the grades obtained in the Master’s degree exams and converted to a scale of 110.

The remaining FCA credits can be obtained through one of the following activities:

1. passing an exam included in the course offering of the University of Pisa. In this case, for the calculation of the base degree grade, the exam with the highest grade will be considered;
2. Extension of laboratory activities. This activity must be completed before the start of thesis work and may only be carried out in laboratories of the University of Pisa; the student will obtain 1 ECTS every 25 hours;
3. Any other activity that the Joint Teaching Committee of the Joint Council of the Degree Programmes in BVM and BQA considers useful for improving the student’s education.

 

AUTHORISATION OF FREE-CHOICE ACTIVITIES

With the exception of the free-choice exams included in the BVM and BQA study plans, all Free-Choice Activities must be authorised in advance by the Teaching Committee of the Joint Council of the Master’s Degrees in BVM and BQA by filling in this form. The Committee will also determine the number of credits for activities for which this cannot be defined in advance.

 

REGISTRATION OF FREE-CHOICE ACTIVITY CREDITS

Credits for the activities listed under points 2 and 3 of the first paragraph are registered by the Teaching Committee of the Joint Council of the Master’s Degrees in BVM and BQA after this form has been filled in.

To register credits for point 2 of the first paragraph, a statement of the activity carried out, signed by the supervising lecturer, must also be submitted using this form.

 

Submitting the thesis application

• The student contacts a lecturer and agrees on a thesis topic, timeline and working arrangements;
• the supervisor identifies a co-supervisor belonging to a different disciplinary sector from their own, and possibly also a second supervisor;
• The student fills in the request to start thesis work with the information listed in the points above.
• The Chair submits the appointment of the co-supervisor for review by the Committee for the Recognition of Teaching Activities (CRAD) of the Joint Council of the BVM and BQA degree programmes, which meets once a week;
• The Chair informs those concerned (supervisor, co-supervisor and student) of the outcome of the review and either sends the request to start thesis work to the Department Director’s office for signature, or asks the supervisor to change the name of the co-supervisor.
• Once signed by the Director, the form is registered and sent by e-mail to the student, the supervisor(s) and the Chair of the Degree Programme.

Carrying out the thesis

• NO LATER THAN 45 DAYS BEFORE THE START DATE OF THE GRADUATION SESSION, the Candidate must hold an interview with the Co-supervisor. During the interview the Candidate must present the research question, aim and experimental approach of their thesis work and discuss the main results, and will be asked to demonstrate their knowledge of the basic aspects of the topic.
• At the end of the interview the co-supervisor states whether the thesis is acceptable and suggests any changes to the experimental plan or to the processing/interpretation of the results. The Co-supervisor assesses the candidate using the evaluation criteria set out in the attached form.
• At the end of the interview the assessment is sent to the Supervisor and to the Chair of the Degree Programme. Upon receiving the assessment form, the Chair of the Degree Programme authorises the student to sit the final degree examination.

Steps required to graduate

Activities at external facilities: requirements

If the thesis work involves attending any kind of facility, public or private (farms, professional firms, etc.), outside the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (DiSAAA-a), the student must, together with the request to start thesis work:

• Fill in the request for authorisation to attend an external facility

For information, students may contact the tutor, Chiara Sanmartin (chiara.sanmartin@unipi.it), phone 050 2216626

See: https://www.agr.unipi.it/adempimenti-amministrativi-relativi-agli-elaborati-finali-dei-cds

Activity organised by the University: a series of interactive, hands-on workshops designed to develop entrepreneurial skills and improve employability.

Full information on the page: Career Labs

 

Support for students with disabilities and/or learning disorders

• Welcome tutoring for students with SEN/SLD (BES/DSA)
• Office for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities (USID)
• UniPi Specific Learning Disorders (DSA) Help Desk

• International Relations Office (IRO)
• DiSAAA-a Library
• Polo 5 – Departmental IT System
• Placement Office
• Orientation Desk
• DiSAAA-a Tutoring
  • • Welcome