Training Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

Training Activity

The PhD course in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences aims to provide an excellent interdisciplinary education.

What distinguishes and enhances this path is the multidisciplinary approach to themes and content, and its uniqueness as it provides the training of PhD students not only with research programmes characterised by practical experiences of high scientific value in the cognitive and behavioral sciences, but also through ad hoc courses useful to obtain solid methodological knowledge and useful tools in academic and extra-academic scientific research.

In particular, the PhD Course provides training in the field of statistics and computer science, research management, specific topics of neuroanatomy and functional neurophysiology, neurological, psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, behavioural changes.

Students are also expected to play a fundamental role in the life of our scientific community by participating in lectures, workshops and seminars organized by the University and San Raffaele Scientific Institute.

I YEAR

II YEAR

III YEAR

I YEAR

Communicating research: Short oral presentation - Embo Solutions

In this workshop, EMBO Press editors work with PhD students on the principles, practicalities and strategies of scientific publication. The workshop is focused on how to effectively present your work in a short oral form in various contexts - e.g. poster presentation, flash talk or elevator pitch. The course includes a balanced combination of theory presentation, group work, and interactive discussions to keep the participants engaged.

IT course - Dr. Lorenzo Cibrario

The course aims to provide PhD students with methodological and technological knowledge on the use of tools related to office automation, networking, cloud and cyber security. The course will cover the following topics: basic and advanced use of Microsoft Excel, advanced use of Microsoft Word, communication protocols and security protocols, basic elements of computer security, data protection and advanced cyber security techniques.

Research Integrity (parte I) - Dr. Roberto Buccione

The Research Integrity – General Principles seminar provides a basic overview of the core principles of research integrity, the definition of research misconduct and questionable research practice, general advice on dealing with the complex issues that can arise while planning, conducting and reporting research, and the functions and scope of the Research Integrity Office.
The primary verification of any scientific finding is its reproducibility, which however can occur only when all important steps can be retraced. They should therefore be documented with sufficient thoroughness that a person familiar with the subject would be able to reconstruct the experiments and considerations involved. The log/workbook a.k.a. the "lab book" (paper-based or digital) is the central repository for the logging of experimental protocols and procedures. The course provides a detailed overview of the current regulations and general advice on the logging of experimentation and data in the lab books.

Gender Equality - Dr. Simone Mattavelli – Dr. Monica Fabbri

Notwithstanding the significant social progresses made in the last decades and the introduction of targeted political interventions, a male-female imbalance persists in modern Western societies. The consequence of this phenomenon, known as gender bias, have been studied at many different levels. For instance, women are underrepresented when it comes to higher leadership positions and numerous studies showed that gender bias in science disciplines and medicine is persistent today. Moreover, gender bias can be expressed in multiple ways, from more blatant to subtle manifestations, such as linguistic expressions adopted in everyday interactions.
Research in social cognition has shown that the roots of gender bias must be searched in the concept stereotype. Stereotypes are nothing else than labels that humans tend to attach to social entities and categories and that drive the way we think and behave. Following a social-cognitive approach, this course aims at providing a better understanding of gender bias by getting to know (i) what gender-stereotypes are; (ii) how they are formed and nourished by our society; (iii) what are their consequences; and (iv) what interventions can help dismantling them.
Finally, the course will include an in-depth analysis dedicated to the "Gender Equality Plan" approved by UniSR.

Diving into the data management plan (DMP) and IRIS - Dr. Silvia Corbetta and Dr. Marco Soriano

This course will discuss two essential research tools. The first part will focus on the DMP, i.e., a structured document which outlines all aspects of the research data lifecycle (e.g., data organisation and curation, adequate provisions for their preservation and sharing). Writing a DMP will address in advance all needs/challenges that are likely to be encountered over the course of a research project, and it is considered best practice, as it makes work more efficient and contributes to the long-term preservation of data. After introducing the typical components of a DMP practical information will be provided on how to address them. Furthermore, though the Q&A session students will have the chance to discuss the challenges their facing and clarify any doubt about their DMP.

The second part of the course will focus on the UniSR IRIS. After introducing the core concepts and principles in Open Access to publications, practical information will be provided on how to use IRIS for depositing, collecting and disseminating the publications.

Problem Solving Logics - Dr. Enrico Dalla Rosa

The focus of this class is human error. Our species did a good job in surviving the evolution lottery, thanks also to a good ability in avoiding - as a whole - fatal mistakes. But the growing complexity of the world makes it more and more important avoiding mistakes that can have dire consequences, particularly in some domains – medicine is one of them.
Although we like to think that, when facing challenging situations, we are basically rational, it's easy to show that most people - even those who have a very high IQ - can make, in an easily predictable way, relevant mistakes. During the cycle of lessons, we will try to vaccinate ourselves against some of the quite predictable biases that push us to do mistakes even we try as carefully as we can to avoid doing so.

PhD inter disciplinary seminars

Today more than ever, scientific research is a complex endeavor that requires wide knowledge outside of the specific context to produce impactful outcomes and help researchers thrive in a highly competitive environment.
This course was created by initiative of the Pro-Rector for scientific research and students together with the Research Policy Office (RPO) to discuss interdisciplinary themes, from the social impact of science to how to handle high-pressure workloads.
The aim is to stimulate critical, out of the box, thinking. The course will feature 3 seminars held by external experts, selected by a committee of PhD students from all 3 courses, coordinated by Monica Fabbri (RPO).

Advanced Statistical Techniques for Complex Data - Prof. Chiara Brombin and Dr. Federica Cugnata

The course aims to illustrate the main multivariate statistical techniques used to analyze data generated in the field of research in cognitive and behavioral sciences, with particular reference to the study of complex relationships between variables, dimensionality reduction, and identification of groups in an almost exclusively exploratory context.
The course integrates lectures with practical workshop activities. Part of the course will be dedicated to the discussion of case studies and real-world applications, as well as the critical reading of scientific articles with reference to statistical methodology.

The motor system and language - Prof. Giovanni Buccino

Recent experimental evidence suggests that the motor system is involved not only in the execution of actions but also in cognitive functions. The course introduces the topic of embodied cognition and focuses on the role of the motor system in understanding language, both concrete and abstract.

Individual differences in language abilities: cerebral constraints and experiential factors - Prof. Nicola Del Maschio

The course aims to examine the relationship between individual differences in local brain morphology and domain-specific cognition. In particular, it will critically discuss data showing how some cognitive and linguistic differences in the general population can be attributed, at least in part, to the natural variability in the sulcal patterns of specific cortical areas. Special attention will be paid to the relationship between morphological variability in three major cortical areas and three functions associated with linguistic processing:
a) Superior temporal gyrus and phonetic abilities;
b) Occipito-temporal cortex and reading abilities;
c) Anterior cingulate cortex and cognitive control (in bilingual subjects).
The course will analyze how variations in the morphology of these cortical areas can impact linguistic processing abilities in individuals, shedding light on the intricate relationship between brain structure and cognitive function, especially in the realm of language processing.

Models of measurement in psychological research - Prof. Andrea Fossati and Dr. Antonella Somma

The course aims to provide tools for autonomously addressing methodological issues related to measurement in psychological research, with particular emphasis on the importance of measurement-related topics for the replicability of results. Specifically, the course will focus on three central themes:

(a) Different paradigms for assessing the reliability of psychological and neuropsychological variables;
(b) Utilization of structural equation models for evaluating relationships between latent variables;
(c) Relationships between measurement models and reliability (the family of omega coefficients).

By covering these topics, the course seeks to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to critically evaluate and address measurement-related challenges in psychological research, thereby enhancing the quality and reproducibility of research findings.

Exploring signal analysis approaches and their applications to brain signals - Dr. Andrea Galbiati and Dr. Jacopo Lamanna

The course delves into fundamental principles and methods of signal analysis. The initial part elucidates core concepts such as signal types, dimensions, and domains, by coverign essential topics like auto- and cross- correlation functions, Fourier transform, analog and digital signal filtering, and model identification methods like ARMA. The second segment concentrates on specific objectives and applications, emphasizing EEG analysis techniques. It addresses creating epochs, downsampling, filtering, and referencing EEG. Furthermore, it explores applications of time-domain EEG analyses and multitaper approaches.
The course ensures a holistic understanding of both basic and advanced signal analysis techniques, providing a solid foundation for participants.

Neuroplasticity, evidence from neuroimaging - Prof. Maria Salsone

The course begins with the premise that experience modulates the development of the nervous system, and although the main effects mediated by experience occur during a time frame called the "critical period," modifications in experience could produce changes at any stage of life. It has been demonstrated that environmental stimuli can alter cortical weight, leading to increased size of nuclei and soma in neurons, dendritic branching, or synaptic sizes.

It explains how experience and environmental enrichment have strong effects on neural connection plasticity and significant cognitive effects in humans. Neuroimaging has provided evidence of such structural, functional, and even molecular changes. Molecular PET studies in the elderly and in neurodegenerative diseases have provided unique evidence of the role of stimulation-induced plasticity.

The course introduces and explains the concept of cognitive reserve and the protective effects it plays in preserving cognitive function and cognitive well-being with age. The protective effects of certain lifestyles and physiological variables in healthy aging, as well as the potential functional and structural basis of brain reserve in Alzheimer's and other brain disorders, along with genetic factors, represent an important theme in neuroscience research. This is crucial for the development of preventive and therapeutic strategies.

Neural oscillations as a tool to understand cognition and manipulate brain functioning - Prof. Luca Ronconi

The course aims to introduce the PhD students to modern methods of studying brain oscillations, which are a primary measure in cognitive and clinical neuroscience for inferring the relationship between brain functionality and sensory, cognitive, and motor processes. These measures are proposed as indices of fundamental importance for characterizing the endogenous dynamics of the resting brain, studying exogenous variations in event-related brain activity, and estimating indices of functional connectivity.

Finally, recent research approaches will be presented that, starting from the characterization of brain rhythmic activity, propose non-invasive neuromodulation approaches specific to frequency bands (e.g., sensory entrainment, alternating current electrical stimulation). These methods offer promising avenues for understanding brain function and potentially for therapeutic interventions.

II YEAR

Communicating research: Writing a paper - The editorial process - Embo Solutions

In this workshop, EMBO Press editors work with PhD students or Postdocs on the principles, practicalities and strategies of scientific publication. Topics covered include understanding the structure and content of a manuscript, assembling figures and writing effective titles and abstracts. The participants will also learn to navigate the editorial process at journals.
The course includes a balanced combination of theory presentation, group work, and interactive discussions to keep the participants engaged.

Research Integrity (parte II) - Dr. Roberto Buccione

The value and impact of scientific discovery would be very limited without the dissemination of findings to peers. Such communication may occur under many forms but most typically, as scholarly publications validated by peer-review. The course will illustrate the editorial process, the evolution of the current publishing paradigm, the emerging publishing models, and the dark side of publishing.

Gender Medicine - Dr. Cinthia Farina and Prof. Alaide Chieffo

Historically, medicine and biology have been developed using an androcentric approach, generalizing results to females and restricting sex differences to reproductive issues only. The course “Gender Medicine” will provide an introduction to the next-generation medicine, explain definitions, highlight normative references and resources, and discuss examples and implications for health research and services.

Writing Successful Fellowship Applications - Dr. Thiago Carvalho and Dr. David del Álamo (Fellowsherpa)

For many early career researchers, writing a fellowship application will be their first experience with the highly competitive scientific funding system. Fellowsherpa’s two-day interactive course exposes participants to some of the most prestigious international fellowships, including the Marie Skłodowska-Curie, EMBO, and Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral programs.

The european research framework: policy, funding programmes and research management - Dr. Federica Prete – Dr. Maya Fedeli

The course aims to understand the journey from call topic, developing a project idea, writing a proposal to submission within the Horizon Europe and to provide knowledge and tools for the development of EU research projects. Moreover, the course will present Horizon Europe main features and the ERC and the Marie Curie Programmes. Finally, the course will introduce Citizen Science and how to integrate the this innovative approach into research projects.

Business Planning - Dr. Giancarlo Monza

Research and development (R&D) of today is the medical practice of tomorrow. Unfortunately, the sustainability of R&D is at risk. Other highly innovative areas (e.g. aerospace industry, IT and also … the Army) have tried to address the issue of sustainability by enhancing their project planning / execution capabilities and their focus on human factors.

During the conversations we will review the basic techniques of project planning and team (=people) performance to minimize / prevent human errors, focusing on the peculiarity of R&D in health care, where ethics and patient-centric approaches are paramount. Practical examples of failed and successfully completed projects in healthcare will be presented.

Fundamentals of AI in medicine - Prof. Carlo Tacchetti

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gaining more and more popularity in healthcare. Technologies enabling automation of time-consuming clinical tasks or clinical decision support systems based on machine learning, a branch of AI, will potentially improve cancer care. Nevertheless, the unconscious use of such algorithms, often developed outside the clinical domain, without involving the healthcare professionals will reduce the clinical impact, creating mistrust in AI. We will introduce to young clinical researchers the foundations of AI including an overview on major ML algorithms and their applications with healthcare data, design of clinical studies involving the development of AI algorithms, and privacy/ethical issues related to the usage of AI algorithms in a hospital.

PhD inter disciplinary seminars

This course was created by initiative of the Pro-Rector for scientific research and students together with the Research Policy Office (RPO) to discuss interdisciplinary themes, from the social impact of science to how to handle high-pressure workloads.

The aim is to stimulate critical, out of the box, thinking. The course will feature 3 seminars held by external experts, selected by a committee of PhD students from all 3 courses, coordinated by Monica Fabbri (RPO).

Follow up data management plan (DMP) - Dr. Silvia Corbetta and Dr. Marco Soriano

This follow-up course aims at providing feedback on the DMPs submitted by the students and discuss common issues identified during the review process. The course also offers the opportunity to clarify any questions or uncertainties regarding the topics addressed in the submitted DMPs and provides clarifications on the features of our institutional repository IRIS.

Alterations in sleep-wake cycle rhythm: Effects on cognitive functions. - Prof. Luigi Ferini- Strambi

The course begins with a general introduction to the physiology of sleep, covering macrostructural aspects such as non-REM and REM sleep, as well as microstructural aspects like arousal and cyclic alternating pattern. It deals with the importance of sleep for memory consolidation, both procedural and declarative. Another aspect considered is the effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on cognitive functions, ranging from attention to memory and executive functions.
Subsequently, specific sleep disorders are examined, such as insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. An important aspect is also the potential impact of pharmacological therapies (such as various hypnotic drugs for insomnia) and non-pharmacological therapies (such as continuous positive airway pressure, CPAP, for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome) on cognitive functions.
Significant attention is given to the REM Sleep Behavior Disorder, which is a REM sleep parasomnia closely linked to neurodegenerative diseases, particularly alpha-synucleinopathies, which may emerge several years after the onset of the sleep disorder.

Psicofisiologia delle emozioni - Prof.ssa Serena Borroni

The course primarily focuses on presenting research techniques in psychophysiology and the current literature regarding various aspects of emotional processing, such as emotional recognition, response, and regulation. Special attention is given to studies involving clinical populations with a psychopathological focus on emotional functioning, such as Borderline Personality Disorder, compared to clinical and non-clinical control groups.

During the course, the results of recent experiments conducted in the field will be presented, with particular attention to the connections between emotional, behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal functioning.

III YEAR

How to review scientific papers - Embo Solutions

In this workshop, EMBO Press editors work with PhD students on the principles and practicalities of peer review. Topics covered include the key elements of good peer review and the role of peer review in publishing reproducible science. We also discuss ethical considerations such as conflicts of interest and give guidelines to young scientists about how to become good reviewers.
The course includes a balanced combination of theory presentation, group work, and interactive discussions to keep the participants engaged.

Research Integrity (parte III) - Dr. Roberto Buccione

Investigators have a general responsibility to contribute to science outreach and popularisation because they accomplish the high purpose of making research findings accessible to a non-expert audience, who might benefit from the information. Such activities also express the spirit of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). The course will show the pivotal importance of science communication in the career of a scientist. It is designed to enhance the communication skills of PhD students, understanding how to convey the complex scientific concepts of research to a wider audience in a clear, engaging, and accessible manner. During the course, students will gain an understanding of science communication strategies, learn to translate technical language into a format understandable by the general public, and hone their skills in the use of different communication platforms and tools.

Open Science in practice: principles and tools for open access to scientific publications and research data - Dr. Silvia Corbetta - Dr. Marco Soriano

The Open Science approach includes all practices that promote accessibility and transparency at all levels of the research project lifecycle. This course will introduce the core concepts and principles in Open Science (e.g., open access, data sharing) and provide guidelines and tools on how to make scientific publications and research data open, to guarantee reproducibility and societal utility of scientific research. Furthermore, practical information will be provided on how to use the institutional repositories for publications (IRIS) and data (ORDR).

Statistical methods in R - Dr. Arianna Sala

The course covers practical topics in coding with R. The aim of the course is to show how R coding can be used to solve common issues encountered by neuroscientists. The course will provide a basic introduction to R, covering data management, statistical modelling and data visualization. Elements of scripting will be introduced.
The course will have a practical and interactive layout, with learning achieved mainly through presentation of real-life problems and solutions via hands-on activities.

Project Assessment - Dr. Gianni Navalesi

And what happens if my scientific/clinical project is not going well? Shall we have some other opportunity, or shall we throw on the basket what we have done? We will focus on evaluating the importance of having at hand techniques of risk based approach, risk planning and risk minimization measures. These tools are aimed at mitigating any unwanted deviations from the scientific target.

In this regard, it will be highlighted the importance to have in mind other potential solutions in the case that the primary target could not be achieved. We will discuss some examples of drugs that have been repurposed from one clinical indication to another (i.e. Sildenafil),as well as the opportunity to switch to other fields such as Medical Devices or Food supplement

Fundamentals of AI in medicine - Prof. Carlo Tacchetti

PhD inter disciplinary seminars

Exploitation of research results and intellectual property - Dr. Maria Salsone - Dr.Daniela Deponti - Dr. Ludovico Arcuri

The main objective of the course is to provide the PhD students with a new vision and an innovative approach applied to scientific research. In recent decades, there has been a growing scientific interest focused on technology transfer processes with the ultimate goal of promoting development and creating value. Technology transfer should be understood not only as a static process of transferring scientific knowledge and skills but also as a dynamic process of continuous transfer of research results to generate new technologies.
Therefore, topics such as the development and experimentation of Medical Devices, decision algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence techniques useful for screening and early diagnosis and/or support for a correct diagnostic framework and therapeutic monitoring will be addressed. Finally, the knowledge of fundamental pathways and steps for obtaining intellectual propertyof is of crucial importance, it is a necessary condition to protect, promote, and valorize the results of scientific research. Technology transfer and intellectual property represent a demand/requirement today that Research Institutes and especially Universities must pay attention to in order to maintain high production and competitiveness.

I YEAR

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PhD in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences

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