Sign languages, urban security, new material technologies, artificial intelligence and cognitive neuroscience. These are the focus areas of the six new bachelor’s and master’s degree courses that will expand the University of Milan-Bicocca’s educational programme for the coming academic year.
The number of bachelor’s, master’s and single-cycle master’s degree courses at the university has risen to 77, forming a multidisciplinary programme that trains professionals in various fields: economics and statistics, law, sciences, medicine and surgery, sociology, psychology and educational sciences.
“Interpreting and Translation in Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Tactile Italian Sign Language (LIST)” is an inter-university bachelor’s degree course run by Milan-Bicocca and Milan University. This is how Milan’s two public universities intend to respond to the growing need for professional interpreters. It is the first course in Northern Italy – and the second nationwide – entirely dedicated to training interpreters and translators in LIS and LIST.
Dedicated training in translation from written Italian to LIS will also promote the inclusion of deaf students. The training will be complemented by knowledge of LIS culture, partly through the study of the expressive forms of theatre, cinema and poetry.
Training experts in urban and organisational security and analysis of deviance phenomena is the goal of the master’s degree course in “Security, Safety, Deviance and Risk Management (SIDeGeR)”.
Trained in topics such as anti-corruption, risk management, cybercrime, privacy protection and social exclusion phenomena, graduates will be able to identify prevention tools for urban security management and organisational risk control in companies, associations and public bodies.
The inter-university (Milan-Bicocca, Milan University and University of Pavia), English-language master’s degree in “Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence” focuses on applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for use in organisations and services for individuals, groups and communities. The degree is divided into three curricula with different career paths: “Hybrid AI”, “neural AI”, and “Law and AI”.
The master’s degree course in “Neuropsychology and Cognitive Neuroscience”, the only one of its kind in Lombardy, involves the study of the relationship between the mind and brain from a perspective that integrates theory, research and clinical practice. The training course will address recent discoveries and methodologies in cognitive and affective neuroscience, enabling their application for the prevention, assessment, diagnosis and rehabilitation of cognitive disorders that may arise throughout life, from development to ageing.
The bachelor’s degree course in “Materials Science and Nanotechnology” trains people with knowledge in the field of chemistry and physics of materials and nanomaterials in close cooperation with the manufacturing sector.
To complete the course, Milan-Bicocca offers the international master’s degree course in English “Materials Science and Nanotechnology”. The course provides skills in the field of advanced materials for high-tech and nanotechnology applications, training professionals to face the new challenges of research and innovation, where materials science is the main source of new sustainable solutions. A double degree course on sustainable materials is also planned together with the Belgian University of Leuven.
The Milan-Bicocca educational programme has also been updated thanks to the renewal of two study courses and the new qualifying degrees.
The bachelor’s degree course in Economics, Data Analysis and Management trains graduates with transversal economic and managerial skills. It teaches an understanding of the functioning of companies and their markets and economic systems, while enabling students to master the tools needed to manage, process and analyse data (including big data), thereby developing a skill that is increasingly in demand on the labour market.
The Master’s degree course in Clinical Psychology trains professionals who are capable of working independently in the psychological and clinical fields of public and private health care institutions, organisations and personal care institutions. In order to make the qualification obtained qualifying for the profession of psychologist, 20 training credits of professional activities were introduced, including an external internship in accredited public or private healthcare facilities.
The master’s degrees in Applied Experimental Psychological Sciences, Developmental Psychology and Educational Processes and Social, Economic and Decision-Making Psychology and the single-cycle master’s degree in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics also become qualifying degrees. The study courses include a practical traineeship, which is a prerequisite for admission to the degree examination, by which the academic title and the licence to practise the profession are awarded. All enabling degrees will allow faster access to the labour market.
“The renewal of Milan-Bicocca’s educational programme,” explains Rector Giovanna Iannantuoni, “looks at the needs of the labour market and the productive fabric, as well as the sustainable development goals identified by the UN for 2030. High-quality, inclusive education is the basis for building a fairer and more equitable future. The university can and must play a decisive role in this process, partly through the launching of collaborations with other universities that contribute to making the educational programme increasingly multidisciplinary and international.”