TwInn4MicroUp Enters the Classroom: Project Featured in Italian National PhD Programme on Catalysis and Energy
On Friday 3 July 2026, TwInn4MicroUp reached a new audience: the doctoral students of the Italian National PhD Programme (Dottorato di Interesse Nazionale, DIN) in Catalysis and Energy. Nicola Di Fidio (RTD-B, University of Bari Aldo Moro), who teaches the doctoral course “Advanced Enzymatic and Whole-Cell Biocatalytic Approaches for Modern Biorefineries” within the DIN, dedicated one full hour of his session to presenting and discussing the TwInn4MicroUp project. The course – 3 CFU, 18 hours, delivered online – explores advanced strategies in enzymatic and whole-cell biocatalysis for converting renewable substrates into high-value chemicals, fuels and materials, making TwInn4MicroUp’s focus on microbial engineering and plastic bio-upcycling a highly relevant case study for the participants. The session was attended by 6 PhD students (at years 1, 2 and 3) from 6 different Italian universities, offering a cross-institutional audience of early-career researchers in catalysis and related fields. The presentation was developed by Nicola Di Fidio using materials prepared together with Gennaro Agrimi (UNIBA, TwInn4MicroUp), ensuring the content was fully aligned with the project’s scientific objectives and latest results.
Embedding TwInn4MicroUp content within a formal national doctoral curriculum is a meaningful step for the project’s training and dissemination strategy: it places the project’s vision directly in the path of the researchers who will shape the future of sustainable biotechnology in Italy and beyond.
Extra media: Course page – https://dincatalysis.chm.unipg.it/2025/12/15/advanced-enzymatic-and-whole-cell-biocatalytic-approaches-for-modern-biorefineries/
DIN in Catalysis and Energy – https://dincatalysis.chm.unipg.it/
