The 1st cycle degree course in Natural Sciences aims at training graduates with interdisciplinary and systemic groundings in the field of Natural sciences. They must be able to deal with the study of the environment and of the relevant processes and issues, using a holistic approach. The objective is to provide sound basic groundings for a systemic approach to nature, with respect to its biotic and abiotic components and their relations.
The course will therefore train professionals capable of a further deepening of knowledge and acquisition of skills through access to the 2nd cycle degree courses.
Graduates in Natural Sciences acquire the scientific and methodological foundations enabling them to carry out professional activities, at an intermediate level of responsibility in the various fields of natural sciences as well as to operate in the field of environmental education and education at large.
In order to achieve the objectives, the course has been structured so as to allow a good understanding of the fundamentals of mathematics, computer science, physics and chemistry, also through the acquisition of the basic languages of the individual disciplines.
This knowledge base will help to address, through the application of the scientific method, the knowledge of the forms, phenomena and processes of plant and animal organisms, at the evolutionary level too; the knowledge of the Earth system, through the study of the endogenous and exogenous processes; understanding of the interdisciplinary aspects of the studies on nature and the environment.
The course will develop in students through exercises, workshops and training activities, the ability to collect, analyze and process the data obtained in the field and in the laboratory, to learn the protocols and experimental procedures to apply them and draw up reports on the subject; to apply adequate prevention and safety measures in the laboratory and in the field.
The educational programme includes a number of credits reserved to core activities (38 to 59 credits), higher than the threshold set by the DM 270, just to provide the student with the sound scientific groundings upon which to set the specific study.
Class specific activities (54 to 90 credits), show a substantial balance between the disciplines of biological, ecological and earth sciences, which represent the cultural contexts within which the figure of a degree in Natural Sciences, and other disciplines that complement the basic training.
The wide range of related and integrative, provides a sufficiently articulated spectrum for integration with the acquired class specific skills, also emphasizing disciplines already included among class specific ones, for the specificity of the educational proposal and the territorial context in which places, as further motivated.
Ample space is then devoted to other educational activities (31 credits), giving due weight to internships, apprenticeships and other activities directed to the entrance in the labour market, as well as stays at other Italian and European universities, also in the framework of international agreements.
The graduate will be able to use effectively in written and oral form, at least one European Union language, other than Italian, in the specific field of expertise.