Proponent: Ilaria Canobbio, Andrea Gazzola

Professor involved: Ilaria Canobbio, Andrea Gazzola, Chiara Milanese, Giorgio Baiocco, Stefano Protti, Giacomo Livan, Andrea Fontana, Chiara Zanchi, Ilaria Fiorentini, Matteo Alvaro, Thomas Abeli, Alessandro Balestrieri

Course learning outcomes/abstract: This course will consist in a series of seminars on the concept of “informed ignorance” that propels scientific progress. It will feature case studies demonstrating the constructive role of ignorance in advancing science. Each speaker will delve into their research area, exploring the unanswered questions at the basis of their own research, and outlining their endeavours to tackle them.

Goals: This course is aimed to provide PhD students of different disciplines with an overview of how ignorance propels knowledge in various scientific fields (biology, physics, …), giving an insight into the research methodologies employed in each. The course will span various branches of science, with the primary goal of providing students with a fresh perspective on how novel knowledge is perceived and pursued. The course will also provide students with logical tools and diverse approaches to address scientific questions, and will also stimulate connections among disciplines. At the end of the course, the students will have a clearer understanding of how questions are formulated in different scientific fields and will be able to apply this knowledge to their own research project.

Number of hours and planning: 20-32 ore

Period: March- June 2025

Calendar: depliant

Registration: https://forms.gle/sJu9aotAexZmECqGA

Delivery mode and location: in presence

Language: english/italian

Evaluation criterial: 75% of attendance and a final course evaluation questionnaire. The questionnaire will contribute to the improvement of the course

Credits (CFU): The number of credits will range from 5 to 6, depending on the final number of seminars

Depliant (The flyer currently available refers to last year’s course. However, the topics and speakers are expected to remain largely the same this year. This flyer is meant to provide a general idea of the course content and structure. The updated flyer for 2025 will be published as soon as possible)