Research in the Department of Life Sciences is articulated in three main areas:

Biomedicine

Research activities in the area of Biomedicine are mostly articulated in: biochemistry of metabolism, pharmacology, basic and translational molecular oncology, molecular microbiology, development of biomaterials for tissue engineering, neurodegenerative diseases and other pathologies, pharmacology and toxicology of natural compounds, pharmacogenomics, and molecular immunology. Research in this area spans from basic molecular cell biology, to translational aspects linked to the use of molecular biomarkers for personalized medicine, and development of novel therapies and diagnostic tools.

Environmental biology

Research activities in the area of Environmental Biology are addressed at both basic and applied activities, and are focused on topics fundamental for the analysis and management of natural and anthropic habitats. In particular, research activities are focused on the basic understanding of interactions between living organisms and their environment, and at applying this knowledge to the analysis and modeling of the impact of environmental changes on ecosystems composition, stability and related ecological and economic issues.
Among the main research streams of the Environmental Biology unit, it is worth citing biomonitoring activities both in marine and terrestrial habitats, development and application of plant ecophysiology to the analysis of the impact of global change on forest ecosystems and ecology of urban areas and related mitigation techniques, functional genomics applied to Ecology and Taxonomy comparative immunology applied to management strategies of  invasive species, marine ecology studies spanning from trophic cycles to fisheries management, analysis of biodiversity from molecular to ecosystem levels, and finally biodiversity informatics, addressed at developing digital systems for species  identification mainly devoted to citizen science activities.

Psychology

The research activity in the area of Psychology is focused on the analysis of cognitive processes (perception, thinking, decision making, learning, attention and language), of their (typical and atypical) development, of their neural correlates, and of the inter-personal processes that govern human social behaviors. These lines of research take advantage of mixed tools and methodologies (observations, experiments, and qualitative and quantitative analyses). The research activities of the faculty in the Psychology area, as well as the students working on their Theses, rely on laboratories with facilities for the study of cognitive processes and motor skills, the registration of evoked potentials, and the observation of infant behavior. Research activities, especially those within the psychosocial field, benefit from the collaboration with various local and national organizations and institutions.