DIPARTIMENTO DI MEDICINA - DIMED

The International PhD program in Arterial Hypertension and Vascular Biology is based in the Department of Medicine – DIMED of the University of Padua.  This is a referral centre for Arterial Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases in Italy and a Centre of Excellence for Hypertension Research of the European Society of Hypertension (ESH).

This programme is the first in Europe devoted to Hypertension research and was established in conjunction with the University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy, and the School for Cardiovascular Diseases in Maastricht (CARIM), The Netherlands.  It requires a rotation across the three Universities and possibly stages at other leading research centres in Europe and the US.

The First Year of Research

The student will do coursework and labwork.

The curriculum will involve:

1. General research methods training. An introductory course is held every year at the Venetian Institute of Medicine (VIMM) by the Faculty members of all PhD Courses of the University of Padua and outside experts in scientific fields. The course is focused on ‘How to do research” and covers applications of chemistry and physics to Medicine, genetics, molecular biology, statistics, ethics and social aspects.
2. Attendance at research workshops and seminars held by the Faculty members and PhD students or outside speakers, mostly focussed on the cardiovascular system.
3. Advanced coursework in the laboratories. The PhD student has the chance to be educated at a variety of techniques and introduced to a wide array of inter-disciplinary and comprehensive cardiovascular disease programs.

At the end of the 1st year the PhD student is expected to have practised skills of organizing, structuring, and presenting research,  Hence, he/she will be assigned to a specific research project in the field of Arterial Hypertension and Vascular biology under the strict supervision of an experienced tutor. Whether 1st year PhD student is upgraded to PhD status at the end of the first year of research will depend on his/her performance in the curriculum.

Second and Third Years of Research

Once upgraded to the 2nd year PhD student status, the student will concentrate on his/her PhD labwork to prepare his/her final dissertation. As research progresses, there will be opportunities to present work in progress at research workshops attended by Faculty members and research students. The PhD student will have also the opportunity to attend Journal Club and the Weekly Meetings given by outside speakers and Faculty members.

At the 2^nd or the 3^rd year the PhD student will spend at least 6 months abroad, at the CARIM or in another lab that could be of interest for the ongoing research.

The normal deadline for submission of the dissertation will be the end of December in the third year of research. Within this time, an original work focussed on the assigned theme should have been completed and discussed in detail with the tutor. The defence will occur about 2 months after, at the presence of the Faculty members, including members from CARIM.

1. Call open to either Italian or foreign students:

For the 33° cycle, the call will be published in the website of University Roma "La Sapienza":

http://www.dipartimentomedicinainterna.it/didattica/master-e-dottorati

Gian Paolo Rossi

Faculty Staff

Carlo Agostini, University of Padua, I

Giovanna Albertin, University of Padua, I 

Stella Blandamura, University of Padua, I

Franco Bui, University of Padua, I

Diego Cecchin, University of Padua, I 

Maurizio Castellano, University of Brescia, I 

Ambrogio Fassina, University of Padua, I 

Franco Grego, University of Padua, I 

Maurizio Iacobone, University of Padua, I 

Claudio Letizia, University of Rome La Sapienza, I 

Mirko Menegolo, University of Padua, I 

Diego Miotto, University of Padua, I 

Raffaella Motta, University of Padua, I 

Maria Lorenza Muiesan, University of Brescia, I 

Fabio Pomerri, University of Padua, I 

Massino Salvetti, University of Brescia, I 

Teresa M. Seccia (Vice-Coordinator), University of Padua, I 

Thomas Unger, CARIM, Maastricht, NL

Administration

Secretariat office: Department of Medicine - DIMED