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Written exam for admission to the PhD course in Neuroscience
(Neurobiology curriculum) or Structural and Functional Genomics.
All candidates must answer 3 (and not more than 3) questions. Answers can be written in
English or Italian, each answer must be on a separate sheet of paper with a clear
indication of the question number and the list to which it belongs.
Do NOT write your name on any paper, otherwise you will be disqualified from the
exam.
Candidates who have applied to Neuroscience only, can choose questions from the list for
Neuroscience and/or from the list of common questions (Neuroscience and Structural and
Functional Genomics).
Candidates who have applied to Structural and Functional Genomics only, can choose
questions from the list for Structural and Functional Genomics and/or from the list of
common questions (Neuroscience and Structural and Functional Genomics).
Candidates who applied to both PhD courses and wish to be considered for both of them
MUST answer one question from the Neuroscience list, one from the Structural and
Functional Genomics list, and one from the list of common questions.
The exam writing time is 3 hours maximum.
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List of question for Neuroscience (Neurobiology curriculum)
1. Discuss molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and provide two
examples of your choice.
2. Discuss the mechanisms of apoptosis in neurons.
3. Discuss the structure and function of GABA receptors.
4. Discuss the complexity of ionotropic glutamate receptors and their potential
physiological roles.
5. Calcium ions play many important roles in the nervous system: discuss one example.
6. Describe the generation of action potentials and its underlying mechanisms.
7. Discuss the cellular and molecular events that mediate sensory transduction at the level
of sensory receptors (e.g., photoreceptors, olfactory receptors, cochlear hair cells, etc.).
8. By using an appropriate example, describe how sensory information is represented
through the hierarchy of subcortical and cortical areas of a given pathway.
9. Discuss the process of RNA editing in the nervous system.
10. How is the specific neuronal identity in the developing central nervous system
obtained?
List of question for Structural and Functional Genomics
1. The new players in town: provide examples of structure and function of small RNAs.
2. Tiling arrays and deep sequencing in the new genomic era.
3. Discuss the structure and function of antisense transcription.
4. How are miRNAs synthesized and what is their function?
5. Discuss the process of viral gene delivery and its applications.
6. Discuss how conditional mutagenesis is produced in the mouse and its use.
7. Discuss key factors governing the free energy of binding of protein/DNA complexes.
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8. Discuss the first principle versus homology modeling structural predictions.
Which is the most powerful approach in your opinion?
9. Ab initio and effective-potential based molecular dynamics simulations: outline a few
examples where you would use one of these techniques to study biological processes.
10. Discuss the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance of biomolecules.
List of question for Neuroscience (Neurobiology curriculum) and for Structural and
Functional Genomics
1. Discuss the molecular machineries modulating neuron generation rates.
2. Discuss the gene mechanisms generating neuronal diversity.
3. Discuss the fluorescence of biomolecules: principles and applications.
4. Discuss the principles of molecular docking.
5. Discuss different types of neuronal cultures and how they can help research in the field
of Neuroscience.
6. Provide a definition of a noncoding RNA and explain its function.
7. Discuss the impact of the sequence of the human genome project in neuroscience.
8. Discuss methods to study gene expression in the nervous system.