Educational goals

EC2U's international Master's degree in LIFELONG WELL-BEING AND HEALTHY AGEING (LIFELINE) is an educational pathway created by seven European universities (Coimbra, Iasi, Jena, Pavia, Poitiers, Salamanca, Turku) with the aim of fostering highly qualified and interdisciplinary education in which mobility is the fundamental element. The Course sets out to provide students with knowledge and competences in the areas of research and applied professional practice, working independently and responsibly and adopting an integrated multidisciplinary approach to lifelong well-being and to active and healthy ageing. The Course requires students to obtain 120 CFUs/ECTS, divided into 30 CFUs/ECTS per semester, over four semesters. Each semester includes course subjects in core disciplines and related subject areas, with a varying number of CFUs/ECTS, up to a total of 30. Thematic areas may comprise several course subjects. The Course can follow two pathways, one more oriented towards biomedical and biostatistical research (HEALTH pathway) and the other towards well-being safety management (WELFARE pathway), sharing common elements during the first semester (compulsory subjects in the area of social psychology and demography, and elective subjects in the areas of sociology, psychophysiology and social psychology), which provide the student with knowledge of the bio-psychosocial model applied to ageing. This model integrates biological (age, gender, genetics, psychological responses and health of the individual), sociological (interpersonal relationships, social support and socio-economic aspects) and psychological aspects (mental health, emotional state, beliefs and expectations. In the first semester the seat for all students enrolled on the Course will be the University of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, in Iasi. In the second semester, students will be located at the Universities of Salamanca, Turku or Iasi, and in the third semester, at the Universities of Coimbra, Jena, Pavia or Poitiers. In the fourth semester, students will be able to choose which university to attend, providing he/she has not already spent two semesters at the same seat. In the fourth semester the student will conduct research, undertake an internship and draft a jointly supervised experimental thesis. The main goal of the educational project is to provide students with the appropriate tools in the social and healthcare sector to identify, perform and manage a range of tasks designed to preserve people's 'health', using specialist methods and working from an integrated, multicultural perspective. The main reason for establishing another course in the LM-9 class is linked to the specific nature of the educational project, requiring multidimensional training at a European level that can produce expert biotechnologists not only for biomedical aspects, but also with regard to the social and behavioural determinants specifically associated with ageing. The application of multidisciplinary training to lifelong well-being, with a specific focus on old age, makes it possible to (a) conduct epidemiological, laboratory and applied research to gain a deeper understanding of the biomedical phenomenon of ageing; (b) promote and support the lifelong maintenance of well-being in keeping with organic, psychic and mental factors, as well as socio-cultural and environmental factors; c) deal with ethical issues in health and welfare contexts, respecting measures to safeguard health and well-being and promoting multi-specialist organisational methods; d) involve target groups and various professional profiles in support and care pathways within national and European public institutions and in the framework of private companies. All these features make the Course unique, and provide value added to the student's professional and personal development, which no other Master's degree course at the University of Pavia can offer. The educational objective is relevant to the chosen degree class as it binds highly innovative elements of integrated knowledge with core competences to allow for a possible "super-specialist" evolution of the biotechnologist. There will be a more detailed exploration of the most advanced biotechnological applications in the areas of basic and applied biomedical research, including molecular diagnosis systems, cell and gene therapy, regenerative medicine, nanobiotechnologies and technologies for the identification of new therapeutic molecular targets and the development and production of new drugs and bioactive molecules relevant to fundamental issues, such as carcinogenesis, neurodegeneration and the development of chronic and multimorbidity cardiovascular, osteoarticular, muscular pathologies, etc. The educational path requires the acquisition of biostatistical competences through the learning of digital, technological and IT skills in order to handle 'big data' for the purposes of socio-demographic and biological research, the management and organisation of sustainable healthcare systems and policies, without neglecting ethical aspects pertaining to the sustainability of lifelong care. The biotechnologist's education will be boosted by in-depth studies on prevention and self-care within the framework of so-called 'geroscience' which looks at lifestyles from physical, emotional and cognitive points of view, and on environmental organisation models that can foster active longevity. A series of specialist course subjects will examine gender-specific and transgenerational medicine, with a focus on the foundations laid at the prenatal stage, during the first thousand days of life, in young adulthood, and then on future generations. Elements of prosthetic motor, organ and sensory surgery will complete the educational offer of this Course. Theoretical and methodological knowledge relating to biomedical, biostatistical and managerial aspects will be supplemented by hands-on activity in laboratories and facilities available in or connected to the seven universities involved. Finally, related and supplementary courses will explore in depth psychosocial aspects. The Master's degree course LIFELONG WELL-BEING AND HEALTHY AGEING (LIFELINE) seeks to build cultural bridges between seemingly distant determinants of well-being and successful ageing; this will foster the student's creative process in a so-called 'lego-curriculum'.

Career opportunities

Biotechnologist specialising in bio-psychosocial aspects of ageing. The career opportunities for the biotechnologist in LIFELONG WELL-BEING AND HEALTHY AGEING (LIFELINE) are: - Employee/manager/executive in national and international biotechnological and pharmaceutical companies - Laboratory technician/manager in public and private health facility laboratories -Executive/researcher/manager undertaking regulatory tasks in organisations involved in preclinical and clinical trial and production programmes - Manager/Executive in organisations charged with overseeing biotechnological processes with ethical, social and behavioural implications - Scientific researcher in national and international research institutions

Admission requirements

For admission to the Master’s programme, students must hold a bachelor’s degree (which may be a bachelor’s degree obtained according to the regulations in force prior to Ministerial Decree 509/1999 as amended) or a three-year university degree, or another academic qualification obtained abroad, issued by a higher education institution belonging to a member state of the European Higher Education Area providing access to Master's degree courses in a given partner country. Graduates from educational systems outside the European Higher Education Area may also be admitted if they possess an equivalent university degree. The curricular requirements for direct enrolment are a bachelor's degree awarded in Italy in one of the following classes under Ministerial Decree 270/2004: - L-2 Biotechnology, - L-13 Biological sciences, - LM-13 Pharmacy and Industrial Pharmacy (including single-cycle degree in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology), - LM-41 Medicine and Surgery and corresponding classes pursuant to Ministerial Decree 509/1999 Graduates holding a foreign degree will be assessed for equivalence with the above-mentioned classes. If the prospective student is not a graduate of one of the above-mentioned classes, the curricular requirements are nevertheless deemed to have been met if the student has acquired a minimum number of CFUs in the following scientific-disciplinary sectors listed below: - a minimum of 10 CFUs in the subjects of mathematics, physics, computer science and statistics, corresponding to the following scientific-disciplinary sectors: from FIS/01 to FIS/08, from MAT/01 to MAT/09, INF/01, MED/01, SECS-S/01, SECS-S/02; - a minimum of 10 CFUs in chemistry and biology subjects corresponding to the following scientific-disciplinary sectors: CHIM/01, CHIM/02, CHIM/03, CHIM/06, BIO/01, BIO/10, BIO/11, BIO/13, BIO/17, BIO/18, BIO/19; - minimum of 20 CFUs in biotechnology-related subjects corresponding to the following scientific-disciplinary sectors: from BIO/01 to BIO/07, from BIO/12 to BIO/19, from CHIM/01 to CHIM/05, from CHIM/08 to CHIM/11, MED/03, MED/04, MED/05, MED/07, MED/09, MED/13, MED/15, MED/42. The readiness of students will be verified in a selection process, the contents and methods of which will be described in the specific Call for Applications, in accordance with the provisions of the Course's Academic Regulations and with Supplement no. 4 of the EC2U Consortium Agreement. The Evaluation Panel may refer candidates with serious knowledge gaps to ad hoc tutor support. The Course will be given entirely in English, therefore a language proficiency of at least level B2 of the Common European Framework is required.