1. Energy metabolism, white and brown adipocytes, and obesity.
2. Bioactive ingredients in pathology prevention.
3. Hormones, cytokines and physical exercise in the control of energy metabolism.
4. Bioactive compounds and biochemistry of membranes.
5. Health claims made on food.
6. Early biomarkers of metabolic robustness.
7. Nutrients and epigenetics.
8. Perinatal nutrition and risk of obesity and its co-morbidities.
9. Breast milk components and prevention of metabolic diseases.
10. Nutrigenomic biomarkers of childhood obesity.
11. Diet and obesity.
12. Functional ingredients and cardiovascular risk.
13. Functional ingredients and obesity.
14. Functional ingredients and insulin function.
15. Metabolism and secretory activity of adipocytes.
16. Nutritional status evaluation.
17. Perinatal programming and health.
18. Nutrigenomics and metabolic syndrome.
19. Interaction of phytochemicals with metabolism.

The PhD programme in Nutrigenomics and Personalised Nutrition offers specialised learning aimed at training professionals to undertake research in the most cutting-edge and innovative aspects in the field of Nutrition. In particular, aspects related to Molecular Nutrition, with special emphasis on new technologies such as transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics and the concept of systems biology-all of which are fundamental for new professionals in the field of nutrition, who also require knowledge in concepts related to gene-nutrient interaction, food safety, functional food, etc. The doctoral programme addresses the latest aspects in the field of Nutrition required by food enterprises in their R&D&i projects. In recent years, the European Commission has highlighted the importance of the most leading-edge topics in research by creating the 'Networks of Excellence'. NuGO (The European Nutrigenomics Organisation, www.nugo.org) is one of the pioneer excellence networks and the most outstanding exponent in Europe and a global benchmark in Nutrigenomics; various members of the PhD programme's research teams participated in the foundation of NuGO.

This doctoral programme has an interuniversity nature, coordinated by the UIB but with participation from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the Rovira i Virgili University (URV). Another important aspect is the global reach of the programme, both in terms of promoting the participation of doctoral students in European research projects and in its capacity to attract talented international students to Spanish academe. The main aim of the programme's interuniversity collaboration is to foment excellence in education and research, and collaboration in joint work and research projects, bringing together the efforts of research groups that already have wide experience in collaboration.

Core Skills

• CB11 - Systematic comprehension of a field of study and mastery of research skills and methods related to this field
• CB12 - The ability to devise, design or create, implement and adopt a substantial research or invention process
• CB13 - The ability to contribute to widening the frontiers of knowledge through original research
• CB14 - The ability to perform a critical analysis, assessment and synthesis of new and complex ideas
• CB15 - The ability to communicate with the academic and scientific community, as well as with society as a whole, about areas of knowledge, in the methods and languages commonly used within the international scientific community
• CB16 - The ability to promote scientific, technological, social, artistic or cultural advancement in academic and professional settings as part of the knowledge-based society.

Personal Skills and Abilities

• CA01 - Work in contexts where there is little specific information
• CA02 - Uncover key questions that need to be answered in order to resolve a complex problem
• CA03 - Design, create, develop and undertake new and innovative projects in specific areas of knowledge
• CA04 - Work in a team and independently in an international or multidisciplinary setting
• CA05 - Incorporate knowledge, handle complexity and provide opinions with limited information
• CA06 - Intellectual criticism and defence of solutions.

The Doctoral Programme targets postgraduate students interested in the research in the field of Nutrigenomics and Personalised Nutrition. The candidate students must have a solid base in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Nutrition and Physiology. The possible sources of students are different graduate/bachelor studies (European and overseas) in fields related with sciences and health sciences (such as Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Nutrition, Biology, Genomic Sciences, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Nursery and other related studies). The students must have finished a Master degree of at least 60 ECTS credits (or equivalent depending on the academic system of origin), according to the present legislation for the access to PhD studies. The titles of Master or previous postgraduate studies can be diverse and related with health sciences.

To access the PhD programme, different criteria will be taken into account, as explained below (with the percentage of value of each item to be evaluated):

• Academic marks of the previous studies, including the weighted average of the graduate/bachelor and postgraduate studies (50%).
• Valuation of the abilities and capabilities of the student to move with ease in a research environment (50%). Within this valuation different points will be considered:
  • Curriculum vitae (CV): the mark obtained (in the previous studies) in the Final Master’s Work will be considered, or the authorship of technical reports. Other achievements will be also taken into account such as congress communications, published papers in research journals and patents. 15% of total.
  • Personal interview: the capacity for autonomous and independent work and for team work will be considered, together with the capacity for critical analysis of bibliography and research data and to understand new theoretical and practical information, as well as the personal motivation for the doctorate. 25% of total.
  • Grants, prizes and other achievements. Grants and prizes obtained during the university studies will be considered, such as collaborating grants (of MEC for Spanish students), or grants of the university/institution of origin to collaborate in research tasks, Erasmus grants, and other grants or prizes of similar category. The attendance to congresses, seminars or workshops related with topics related with the doctorate will also be considered. Also, it will be taken into consideration the skills in other languages, to have more than one graduate/bachelor degree, other non-official postgraduate studies, practical training stays, practical training in other labs, and stays in foreign institutions not related with research. 10% of total.

The Academic Commission of the PhD Programme in Nutrigenomics and Personalised Nutrition uses the following procedures to assign thesis tutors and supervisors:

1. The Commission will designate one or more thesis tutor/s from the lecturers/researchers linked to the programme for each research area every academic year
2. Once the student is accepted on the programme, the Commission will assign the corresponding tutor depending on the area of research selected on the admission application form
3. The tutor will propose a thesis supervisor to the Commission selected from the lecturers/researchers participating in the PhD Programme, taking into account the research area and the student's full- or part-time status
4. The Commission shall formally assign the supervisor to the doctorand within six months from enrolment on the programme.

The PhD Programme also includes ongoing monitoring of PhD student progress via:

• Regular and direct supervision by the thesis tutor of the doctorand's progress and the Doctorand Activities Document
• Regular and direct supervision by the thesis supervisor of the progress made by the doctorand in training and experiments. The thesis supervisor shall act as instructor and guide, and promote the dissemination of research results
• The thesis tutor and supervisor being the same person, whenever possible, to ensure greater effectiveness in the supervision process
• The PhD programme director shall supervise the thesis tutors and supervisors and keep regularly updated on experiment and learning results. The 'Research Seminars' activity may be used by the programme director as a forum for information and debate
• Where the thesis is related to research areas mainly associated with different team members, co-supervision shall be encouraged with representatives of the teams involved (maximum of two)
• The thesis writing process shall include, where possible, overseas stays that enable students to obtain the International Doctor mention, although this remains optional for students.

Supervision and monitoring of doctorand training activities and their PhD theses shall be in line with the UIB procedures for PhDs (RD 99/2011), the UIB Doctoral Degree Regulations (https://seu.uib.cat/fou/acord/13084/) and the verified degree report that you may consult on the "Results" webpage. The administrative and academic procedures that students must perform during their PhD may be viewed on the "Procedures" section of the UIB Doctoral School website:

• Thesis Charter and Code of Best Practice
• Research Plan and Record of activities
• Initial review and annual reviews
• PhD Training Activities
• Thesis Deposit and Viva
• Distinctions for PhD degrees

Services and Infrastructure

• Academic, professional and student mobility support and guidance
• Infrastructure available for PhD programme activities