Application & Deadlines

Application deadline:  June 30, 2022, 23:59 (Italian time)

Call for applications 

Admitted candidates

START-GAME 2 CRYO Summer School, a second edition of the START-GAME Summer School held in 2018. Following the success of the previous edition, in terms of the number of enrollment requests received from Italy and from numerous European and non-European countries, aims to provide theoretical and practical skills on assisted reproduction technologies and to expand them with a particular focus on the most recent technologies for cryopreservation of gametes and embryos. Starting from the assumption of encouraging those interested to start their own professional training path using cell systems of appropriate animal models and recognized translational relevance for human reproductive medicine and starting from the presentation of the physiological basis of human reproduction and domestic animal models, including cattle , sheep, and horses, the set of technologies of the entire path of assisted fertilization will be presented, i.e. from the maturation of the oocyte, the selection and capacitation of spermatozoa, fertilization, to the culture of the pre-implantation embryo and to the methods quality assessment and cryopreservation of gametes and embryos. The course will be held by lecturers from the University of Bari, lecturers from other European universities and professionals in the sector, all with proven expertise in the topics in question. The course will provide students with the unique opportunity to carry out practical activities with animal cell systems under the guidance of specialized personnel. The skills acquired will be spent in Italy and abroad in public and private health facilities, assisted procreation, both human and veterinary, and in institutions that deal with assisted reproduction research. Furthermore, since the in vitro methods and animal models presented have been partly already validated and partly being validated at the European Body for the Validation of Alternative Methods to Animal Experimentation (ECVAM), the skills acquired will also be usable in laboratories. of reproductive toxicology controls present in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, hygiene products and other commonly used products