Courses are provided during the first three years and include basic (1st year), advanced (2nd year), and science management (3rd year) courses. Course work is particularly intense during the first year as it consists in a 12-week course term, spanning from March to May, and gradually diminishes during the following years as students become more and more involved with their doctoral research project (4-week course term, 2nd year; 1-week course term, 3rd year).

Each course, generally lasting a week, consists of both theory and practical activities (Journal Clubs, Lab sessions) and is taught by a small group of faculty members, among TIGEM’s research staff or belonging to other collaborating establishments, who work closely in team to develop and present a cohesive and organic course.

UNINA and SUN students are also expected to follow an additional annual programme of courses provided by the universities of enrollment (refer to the universities web sites: www1.na.infn.it/PhDBioinformatica/index-en.htm for UNINA and www.unina2.it for SUN).

The full list of courses offered to TIGEM graduate students is indicated below, divided by year. The courses provisioned may change from year to year depending on instructors availability and other factors.

1st YEAR
- Scientific Methodology
- Bioinformatics
- Functional Genomics
- Proteomics and Structural Biology
- Animal Models
- Mammalian Physiopathology

2nd YEAR
- Molecular Basis of Genetics, Diseases and Diagnostics
- Gene and Cell Therapy
- Cell Biology
- Animal Models of Genetic Diseases

3rd YEAR
- Science Management

In the context of training activities, TIGEM promotes a high-tier programme of scientific seminars that are held at the Institute on a weekly basis, spanning from September to June. Each year, graduate students attend the annual seminar series, which includes internal seminars, given by the graduate students themselves or by the research staff within the CNR Research Complex, and seminars given by invited speakers, who are internationally renowned in the field of human genetics, developmental biology, functional genomics, inherited eye diseases, metabolism and systems biology, among others.

Click here for a full list of the TIGEM annual seminar programme.

The data club programme is also organized every year and like the seminar series is scheduled once a week, from September to June. The intent of the data clubs is to improve the student’s language and presentation skills and make the student actively participate in collective debates on scientific data, favouring internal communication within his/her research group as well as stimulating exchange among research groups.
Students are expected to participate to the data clubs and present their data at a data club once a year, which is also attended by the Thesis Committee members from whom the student should obtain feedback following the public oral presentation (for more details see section Reviewing - Supervision and Mentoring).

Graduate students also participate in the TIGEM retreat, which is organized roughly every 18 months in an informal setting to encourage scientific exchange, and communication and bonding among members of the research staff. The retreat lasts two-three days and includes scientific presentations, poster sessions and special activities. As an example, the last TIGEM retreat, which was held at Città di Castello, a medieval and sweet little town in central Italy, was highlighted, other than for the excellent presentations and poster sessions, by the creation of the “TIGEM anthem” and, as special activity, by the “TIGEM Olimpic Games” where staff members and students competed against each other trying their strength and skills in various disciplines (e.g. Potato race, Tug-of-War, Piggy-back race, etc).

More details on TIGEM's retreats are given in section Events.