The Degree Course in Biomolecular Chemistry was founded at the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences in the academic year 2004-2005 in order to give an answer to the rising need of professional people with chemistry skills able to work in very new and interdisciplinary fields, operating between Chemistry and Biology.
As in other European and extra European models, students that graduate also in other related disciplines from Italian or foreign Universities are eligible for the Degree Course as well as people that have equivalent titles for which different credits will be attributed.
The graduated in Biomolecular Chemistry will acquire a thorough knowledge of the most recent chemistry and instrumental methodologies applied to the biological systems. A wide biological background will be also added to these chemistry-instrumental competences. In this field the graduate will be provided with all the necessary instruments, both theoretical and practical, in order to be able to develop and plan personal approaches to the fundamental and/or applied research. The experimental aspects will be of fundamental importance in the graduate interdisciplinary training. The graduate will be able to use and investigate the information of the new post-genomic disciplines, particularly proteomics and metallomics. In order to do this, the graduate will acquire new skills that will allow him/her to use the mathematical and informatics tools. Periods of training will be held at research and analysis laboratories of private companies and government institutions as well as in the medical, pharmaceutical, environmental, agroindustrial sectors and in all the other ones where an inter- and multidisciplinary approach between chemistry and biology is requested.
The degree program will guide the students to follow the right courses to build up the appropriate competences that will be considered necessary by the definition of deficits and personalized curricula. This is a flexible answer to the need of students that have graduated in disciplines different from the first level Chemistry. Students will be able to follow individual educational routes that will allow them: to develop a good expertise in the analytical application to the biological systems using instrumentation with high complexity and sophistication; to have a specific knowledge about the molecular aspects related to biomolecules, cells, tissues and organisms in normal and altered conditions, as well as their reciprocal interactions, environmental and biotic effects on living creatures.
DIDACTIC ORGANIZATION

The Degree Course is based on characterizing activities, useful for the final thesis and for the introduction in the job market. During the two years, training activities are inserted in the program, up to 120 credits (CFU). The didactic activity of one year is divided into two periods, ending up with exam sessions. Personalized, Optional and Integrative Courses for the fulfilment of the deficits are also scheduled.

Teaching hours consists of modules and the didactics will be carried out in the following fashion:
1. Lessons, also supported with multimedial and audiovisual aids;
2. Exercises in normal or computerized rooms;
3. Experimental work in labs;
4. Periods of training in external structures for individuals and groups.

Due to the strong experimental content and to the poor availability of appropriate books, attendance to all the didactic activities is compulsory. The verification methods will be defined every year. In order to have the validation of the attendance, students have to reach at least 70% of the total teaching time. Exception to this limit will be evaluated by the President.

Chairman of the Degree Course (CCLM)
Prof. Enrico Rizzarelli
Chemistry Department
Viale Andrea Doria 6- 95125 Catania
Phone: 095 7385070- Fax: 095 337678
Office Hours: individual meetings can be arranged by appointment
E-mail: erizzarelli@unict.it

DEGREE COURSE ORGANIZATION
The following commissions are established for the Master
(Magistral) Degree Course:
? Didactic Commission
? Organizing Commission
? Selfvalidation Commission
Furthermore a Managing Committee is due to coordinate the relationship between the University and the external world, according to the University regulation.
MASTER DEGREE COURSE ADMISSIONS
The Degree Course in Biomolecular Chemistry will issue a sustainable number of places for the courses. This number is decided every year in collaboration with the Managing Committee and it depends on the infrastructure and teaching resources.
The credits obtained from the first level “Chemistry” degree will be entirely accepted, while those obtained from other degree courses will be differently evaluated. In order to properly evaluate the obtained credits and to have a personalized course program, an on line pre-enrollment is demanded by going to the Degree Course Web site. This has to be done by the date reported in the Studies Manifest, with which students have to indicate the totally or partially fulfilled program of the three-year degree course. The fulfillment of the deficits can be carried out by the attendance to specific courses appositely run by the Degree
Course, or by the attendance to other activated courses run by the University of Catania. Subsequently, by the date indicated in the Studies Manifest, the evaluation test of the candidates merit will be carried out. Candidates can be formally registered to the course after the ranking determination.
Candidates can also participate in the competition to access the “Scuola Superiore” (see on the backside) .
At the request of the concerned students and according to the contingent needs, the Council of the Degree Course will deliberate the kinds of integrative didactic support that will be considered necessary in order to guarantee the possibility of attendance by disabled or working students.
Registration to the second year of the Degree Course is accorded to all the students that have obtained at least 60% of the 60 credits available in the first year.
Students that, at the end of the first year, have not reached the number of credits required can be registered (only once) as repeating ones and be exempted from attendance to the courses for which has already obtained the attendance certificate.
The transfer to the 2nd year of the Degree Course by students of different educational provenience will be evaluated by the Didactic Commission. Students that have obtained both all the appropriate attendance certificates of the individual studies plan and all the credits required can be registered (only once) to the Degree Course as an “off-course” student.

Web site: www.unict.it/chimbiomol
The SCUOLA SUPERIORE DI CATANIA (SSC) is a residential centre for high-level university education, which originated in 1998 following an Official Agreement (Accordo di Programma) with the Italian Minister of Education, University and Research to guarantee talented young people an excellent standard of education as well as an early contact with scientific research and with the world of employment.
The promotion and management of the SSC’s activities are entrusted to a Consortium called Istituto Superiore di Catania per la Formazione di Eccellenza of which universities, territorial boards, scientific institutions, professional orders and private companies are founder and ordinary members. After its first five years of academic activity the SSC has been inspected by the Quality Ministerial Assessment Agency and in 2004 was formally instituded as an integral part of the University of Catania.
The SSC is part of the National Network of Advanced Italian Schools together with the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Scuola Sant’Anna di Pisa.
The SSC integrates the undergraduates and post-graduates programs of the University of Catania offering interdisciplinary courses: Ordinary Courses in a pre-degree phase and University Masters and Advanced Educational Courses in a post-degree phase.
In order to be admitted to the School, students have to pass written and oral examination: 20% of the available places are reserved for non-EU students coming from countries in the Mediterranean area. The School promotes the free development of the diverse cultural identities within the College facilities and sets up Arabian Language and Culture together with European Languages and Cultures courses.
All students attending Ordinary Courses in both the Area of Literary, Economic, Legal and Social Sciences and in the Area of Experimental Sciences are awarded scholarships as far as they maintain an high standard of university performance taking part to didactic and scientific activities both in School and University labs and in private and public partner institutions. The School is also involved in post-graduate and lifelong learning programmes and has carried out several post-graduate masters courses on different subjects related to the above listed areas.
Web site: www.unict.it/ssc