Italiano
EnglishMAIN OBJECTIVE AND TRAINING PATHS
The Master’s Degree Course in 'Land and Agricultural Sciences' provides professionals in sustainable and inclusive management of agricultural systems. Its main topics are ‘Crop Production and Protection’, ‘Social Agriculture’ and 'Genomics, Biotechnology and Biodiversity'. These deal with the current drivers of change regarding agricultural institutions, environmental awareness, innovation processes aimed towards an inclusive society and intelligent and sustainable growth (these goals are consistent with the European Research Programme Agenda 2030).
The Master’s Degree Course runs over 2 years: the first year includes some common lectures and different training areas, which are then developed through the second year. The common lectures focus on the following topics: landscape agronomy, herbaceous and tree cropping systems, nursery production and biotechnology, agricultural economics and policy, plant breeding, management and conservation of biodiversity and landscape, and pesticide chemistry and biochemistry. Starting from this common knowledge, the students are then able to deepen specific subjects and enhance different specific training areas in the second year of the Master’s.
For the Crop Production and Protection curriculum, further topics concern qualitative and quantitative improvement of agricultural production, through innovative technologies, such as in viticulture, olive tree cultivation, plant protection, biological control and integrated pest management, will be studied in relation to environmental issues (climate, soil) and human health (food quality and safety). This sustainable and agroecological perspective is useful for training graduates able to manage plant production in an innovative way, guaranteeing the best compromise between qualitative and quantitative aspects, in order to guarantee the farmer's income while respecting the agroecosystem and consumer health.
For the Social Agriculture curriculum, the Master’s course provides interdisciplinary training activities that are aimed at acquiring competence in horticulture and animal production together with knowledge of wellbeing and development, psychosocial impairment and prospects for social inclusion. This multifunctional perspective is useful for training an innovative professional figure able to manage sustainable agricultural and livestock systems and to interact with interlocutors with different skills, in multifunctional companies that offer socio-working, socio-educational and socio-health services to vulnerable individuals.
For the Genomics, Biotechnology and Biodiversity curriculum further topics concern qualitative and quantitative improvement of agricultural production, through innovative technologies, such as bio-molecular techniques, agricultural genetic resources and evolution of domesticated species, genomics applied to plant breeding, bioinformatics tools and molecular diagnostics will be studied.
This biotechnology development and conservation of biodiversity perspective is useful for training an innovative professional figure able to use all the techniques of biotechnology, both conventional and advanced, in order to collaborate in the development of research and technological application projects in agricultural and environmental sectors.
The graduate of the Master’s Degree Course will be a professional figure prepared for the use of advanced technologies and methods of sustainable and inclusive management of agricultural systems, capable of creating innovative sustainable and efficient production solutions, taking into account the protection of biodiversity, of the landscape, of territorial cohesion and of the well-being of the community.
Possible functions
- manager of public bodies and private companies in the agricultural sector;
- professional adviser, as private professional/ consultant, with reference to different technical and economic aspects of the agricultural sector;
- management of bodies involved in quality control of agricultural products;
- manager or collaborator in organizations that deal with natural heritage (national parks and natural reserves);
- manager of public services for territory and natural resources (Region, Mountain Community);
- Inspector of the National Phytosanitary Service, which verifies the application of phytosanitary norms, carries out phytosanitary and surveillance checks, and develops systematic surveys;
- provider of consultancy services in national or international bodies for aid programmes in developing countries;
- researchers in public institutions (e.g., universities, CRA, CNR, ENEA) and private companies;
- official in credit and/or insurance institutions, dealing with banking and insurance activities for the agricultural sector;
- school teacher (after obtaining a teaching qualification);
- agronomist and forest doctor (after professional qualification).
Skills related to the function
Graduates in the Master’s in “Land and Agricultural Sciences” will be able to perform professional roles thanks to their skills in the following topics:
- agriculture production processes consistent with environmental measures and sustainable agricultural systems;
- design and construction of parks and gardens;
- energy production and recovery systems;
- experts in the management of protected areas, biodiversity and landscape protection and management;
- experts with specific skills in agricultural plant production and on their defence in the field and postharvest;
- experts in phytosanitary control of nursery and seed production.
The Master's in “Land and Agricultural Sciences” offers the possibility of accessing the following job opportunities as a consultant/ freelancer or as a company employee:
- Public bodies (Ministries, Regional and Provincial Councils, Professional Category Associations, Regional Plant Health Services);
- Private companies operating in the sectors of agricultural machinery construction, agrochemical industry and bioenergy;
- Producers Associations;
- Laboratories performing physical, chemical and biological analysis services;
- National and international governmental and non-governmental organizations that operate in the agricultural sector for aid programmes to countries in transition and under development (e.g., FAO; World Bank)
