University of Ancona

List of Courses

A. COURSE IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

Curriculum in Marine Biology


B. COURSE IN TECHNIQUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL AND CIVIL PROTECTION

Curriculum in Environmental monitoring and bioremediation


First level courses

Course title Main arguments Type Credits Hours/week Year/ Semester
Animal and Environmental Biology (Zoology)Course Leader:Prof. G. Bavestrello Introduction to biodiversity, principles of animal reproduction, species and zoological classification, systematic zoology of invertebrates, biocoenoses, biomes F 8 + 2 6 1/1
EcologyCourse Leader:Dr. A. Pusceddu Aims of ecology, structure and energetic of natural ecosystems, organism-environment relationships, limiting factors, resources, optimal foraging, niche ecology, ecological role of stress and disturbance over natural populations and communities, ecological successions, climax, bases of population ecology, the logistic equation, r and k strategies, interactions between organisms, the role of competition and predation on biodiversity, supply-side ecology, the role of recruitment F 6 + 1 6 2/2
Systematic of algae(Marine Botany)Course Leader:Prof. A. Solazzi Principle of systematic botany, morphology, citology and reproductive systems of procariotic and eucariotic algae, environmental factors affecting algal ecology, ecological significance of macro- and microphytobenthos and of phytoplankton, epiphytic algae, primary production in the marine environment, marine snow and mucilages, marine phanerogames F 7 + 1 6 2/2
Marine BiologyCourse leader:Prof. R. Danovaro Marine systems, marine biogeography, evolution of amrine organism, adaptation to the marine environment, plankton, life cycles, picoplankton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, macrozooplankton, benthos, zonation, benthic assemblages, identification of organisms, primary and secondary production, metabolism, sampling methods and strategies in marine biology, pelagic-benthic coupling, resting stages, viral and microbial loops F 5 + 1 6 3/2


Second level courses

Course title Main arguments Type Credits Hours/week Year/ Semester
Marine EcologyCourse Leader:Prof. R. Danovaro Marine biodiversity, factors controlling biodiversity, analysis of marine ecosystems, estuaries, lagoons, coral reefs, deep sea, seagrass meadows, mangroves, cold seeps, hydrothermal vents, hard vs. soft bottoms, Mediterranean ecosystems F 8 + 2 6 1/1
Lab of Applied Marine EcologyCourse Leader:Prof. R. DanovaroLab practice:Dr. A. Dell'Anno Pollution, impact of contaminants on organism and assemblages at different temporal and spatial scales, biodiversity loss, applied macro-ecology, environmental recovery, bioremediation, ecotechniques, vulnerability of natural ecosystems, biological pollution and alien species, environmental monitoring, data quality procedures F 8 + 2 6 1/2
Biodiversity (integrated)Course Leader:Prof. G. BavestrelloProf. M. Baldoni The concept of biodiversity, Life on earth and in the oceans, principles of systematic zoology of invertebrates, principles of systematic botany, elements of corology, biogeography and phytogeography, elements of phytosociology F 8 6  
Conservation of nature and its resourcesCourse Leader:Dr. G. Bombace The coastal system: resources and legislation, marine coastal systems and plans for its exploiting and management, main aims of conservation ecology, planning and strategies, economy end ecology links, biodiversity conservation, protected areas and marine parks, elements of landscape ecology, renewable and non-renewable resources, elements of aquaculture, resources management F 5 6  
Fundaments of ecological systems analysisCourse Leader:Dr. A. Pusceddu Spatial distribution of organisms dispersion and habitat selection, data analysis techniques, experimental design, descriptive and experimental ecology, null hypothesis test, fundamentals of descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate statistics, ANOVA F 7 6  


M.Sc. Courses

Course title Year Credits Hours Fee
Bioremediation of impacted marine environments 2000 n.a. 400 (150 + 250) Free
Management of fisheries 2002 n.a. 400 (280 +120) n.a.


Selection Procedures

Credits and Accreditation

Language of Delivery

Laboratory Facilities

FACILITIES, EQUIPMENT AND AT INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF ANCONA

Algal physiology Lab

2 O2 electrode systems Hansatech LC1 + light control boxes; 2 Quanthum light meter Hansatech Inc.; 1 Tri fluorescence transient recorder Hansatech Inc; 1 RF3 protein farctionator Rainin (liquid phase isoelectrofucusing); 2 chemostats; 2 growth chambers; 1 spectrophotometer UV-VIS Beckman DU 640; Various systems for horizontal and vertical electrophoresis; 2 Transfer systems for western blots; 1 Turboblotter system for northers and southern transfer; 1 Laminar flow hood; 1 Chemical hood; 1 analytical balance; 1 technical balance; Eppendorf centrifuge; Bench centrifuge (non refrigereated); Refrigerated Centrifuge Beckman J2-MC + various rotors; 3 refrigerating/heating water bath; 1 heating water bath; 1shaker; Various vortex mixers, hot plates, stirrers;2 pH meters

Phytoplankton ecology Lab

Inverted microscope ZEISS Axiovert 135H equipped with phase contrast, 10x, 20x, 40x, 100x objectives, epifluorescence apparatus, telecamera. Inverted microscope ZEISS Axiovert 135H equipped with phase contrast, 10x, 20x, 40x objectives. Inverted microscope ZEISS 25 equipped with phase contrast, 10x, 20x, 40x objectives.
Microscope Zeiss Axioskop equipped with phase contrast, 10x, 20x, 40x, 100x objectives, epifluorescence apparatus. Filtration apparatus with electric pump. HPLC analyser Varian Prostar, 2 pumps, Fluorescence detector, Variable Wavelength UV-VIS Detector. Chemical hood. Freezer -20°C. Refrigerator + 4°C. Access to electronic microscope SEM and TEM (University of Ancona).

Marine Zoology Lab

The Zoology laboratory is equipped with more than 10 dissectory and optical microscopes and owns all expertise and tools (SCUBA diving equipment included) for investigating hard-bottom benthic communities, with a special attention to sponges.

Marine Biology and Ecology Lab

The instrumental facilities of the Marine Biology and Ecology Laboratory include a full-equipped laboratory for handling, preparation and analysis of marine samples: 18 filtration equipments, three centrifuges, a UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, a bench spectrofluorimeter, a field fluorometer, HPLC system with UV-VIS and fluorometric detectors, incubating chambers, thermo-controlled baths. A complete microbiological laboratory equipped with a K100 laminar flow hood and two epifluorescence microscopes is also available.

Oceanography Lab

The facilities and equipment that the Oceanographic Laboratory, in agreement with the Institute for Researches on Marine Fisheries belonging to the Italian National Research Council (IRPEM-CNR, Ancona), can make available an oceanographic vessel, a CTD probe Sea Bird Electronics SBE 911plus (including the following sensors: pressure, redundant temperature an conductivity, dissolved oxygen, fluorometer, backscatter, altimeter, PAR and SPAR) coupled to a water column sampler (SBE 32 or General Oceanics GO 3215) equipped with 12 hydrological bottles (from 1.5 to 30 l capacity, according to sampling needs), an underwater videocamera, 2 Sun Ultra UNIX workstations used for running 3D numerical diagnostic and predictive simulations and related studies.

A series of large and routine scientific equipment is moreover available in other labs of the Faculty

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