university of padova phd call 2023

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PhD - Calls and Admissions

The Department of Economics and Management of the University of Padova invites excellent students to apply to its PhD Programme in Economics and Management (four-year, full-time program). Fully funded scholarships are offered to the best applicants.  

The programme  is open to students from all countries , provided they hold a Master's degree or equivalent in economics, business sciences, statistics, mathematics or engineering.

The annual call for applications is typically open in the spring of each academic year, granting access to our program in the following academic year.

  Call for applications 2024-25

We offer  five four-year scholarships,  three for the curriculum in Economics and two for the curriculum in Management.

The call for applications closed on 13 May CLICK HERE

For more information please click here or contact [email protected] .

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PhD in Information Engineering

Call for Admission

Special call for admission 2022 funded by nextgenerationeu.

The Special Call for admission to the PhD Courses 2022 funded by the NextGenerationEU is now closed. Thanks to all who have applied to the Ph.D. Program in Information Engineering. The examination procedure was completed and the results of the candidates qualification evaluation and of the oral examination have been published (to decrypt the documents use the password that was sent to you right after the submission of the application form):

Candidates qualification evaluation results

Oral examinations results

As advertised in the PhD Programmes Call , the official rankings approved by the Rector, built adding the qualification evaluation and the oral examination results, will be made public from December 23rd 2022 through:

• Publication on the University’s official register;
• Publication on the University of Padova website: https://www.unipd.it/dottorato/bandi-graduatorie

Successful candidates must enroll strictly within the deadline reported in the Programme Call. Information on enrollment procedures will be published at the same time as the rankings.

Publication of enrollment deadlines are to be considered as official notification for all intents and purposes. No personal communication will be sent to the candidates. Candidates granted admission to the Courses are responsible for checking enrolment dates and procedures.

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Call for applications (40th cycle a.y. 2024/2025)

Call for the 40th cycle.

The course offers 7 positions:

5 Scholarships funded by the University of Padova - the research projects that fall into one of the following areas have highest preference:

1) Protection of human rights and advocacy from a multilevel governance perspective - with a focus on the role of actors.

2) Environment, human rights and social justice - focusing on the psychosocial psychosocial conditions of young people in relation to environmental crises and social inequalities social inequalities in the 'Anthropocene Era'. This includes understanding how they perceive, experience and respond to these problems.

3) Climate justice, political agroecology and sustainable development - with a focus on to climate finance, the fight against poverty and just transition. For the scholarships from Tangaza University College, the research project must relate to the following area: Sustainable development sustainable development and social innovation (including urban climate justice and community development).

2 Places reserved for candidates with qualification obtained at Tangaza University College (Kenya) :

Topic: Social transformation on security, peace building and sustainable development in Africa, Peacebuilding,and Development in Africa

Application forms must be submitted no later than 1 pm (CEST) on the announcement deadline date (May 13th 2024).

The call for the 40th cycle is published at  https://www.unipd.it/en/phd-courses-2024-2025

Ph.D course ,  selection call  and  Technical guidelines for the submission of the application form for PhD Courses, 40th series  for admission to the PhD Course in Human Rights, Society, And Multi-Level Governance - 40th series a.y. 2024/2025

The oral examination will take place on 10 June 2024, 9:00 (Italian time).

The final ranking of the selected candidates will be published on 25 July 2024.

The programme will start on November 1st, 2024.

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Call for applications for the admission to the ph.d. programmes (39° cycle).

Ph.D. call for applications, Decree of the Rector n°. 347/2023 Decree of the Rector n°. 471/2023  - modification Table n° 4 Ph.D. Programme in Industrial and Information Engineering, Table n° 5 Ph.D. Programme in Molecular Medicine and Table n° 8 Ph.D. Programme in Agricultural and Biotechnological Sciences. Application opening: May 19, 2023 at 02.00 p.m. (Italian time) Deadline: June 22, 2023 at 02.00 p.m. (Italian time) Download full text

 1. List of Ph.D. programmes

• Accounting and Management;
• Law and Innovation in the European Legal Space;
• Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence;
• Industrial and Information Engineering;
• Molecular Medicine;
• Food Science;
• Environmental and Energy Engineering Science;
• Agricultural and Biotechnological Sciences;
• Mathematical and Physical Sciences;
• Clinical and Translational Medical Sciences;
• Art History, Film Studies, Media Studies and Music;
• Linguistics and Literature.

2. Application forms

Research project (use the project form related to your ph.d. programme).

Accounting and Management

Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence

Food Science

Environmental and Energy Engineering Science

Agricultural and Biotechnological Sciences

Mathematical and Physical Sciences

• Clinical and Translational Medical Sciences 

Art History, Film Studies, Media Studies and Music

• Linguistics and Literature 
• Self-certification academic title 
• Generic self-certification 
• Curriculum vitae
• Statement research programme (only for Ph.D. programme in Agricultural Sciences and Biotechnology) 
• Videoconference request form ( to send via ticket )

  3. Time-table

In this space are published, for each Ph.D. Programme, the publication date of titles evaluation results, the date of examination(s), the publication date of admitted applicants’ list to the examination(s), as well as the admitted applicants’ list to the examination(s) and the final ranking lists.

• Selection Committee’s Preliminary meeting June 23, 2023
• List of admitted applicants to the interview
• Interview: July 19, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 558/2023 approving Final ranking list
• List of admitted to the Ph.D. Programme
• Replacement admitted list
• 2nd Replacement admitted list

Law and Innovation in the European Legal Space

• Selection Committee’s Preliminary meeting published within July 3, 2023
• List ofs admitted applicants to the written exam
• written exam: July 17, 2023
• interviw: July 19, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 559/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Selection Committee’s Preliminary meeting June 27, 2023
• Interview: July 10, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 560/2023 approving Final ranking list - - Misprint in Attachment 1, in legend Scholarship 5 and Scholarship 6 have been reversed (Scholarship 5 HERES, Scholarship 6 CRO), Rectoral Decree will follow
• List of admitted to the Ph.D. Programme 
• Correction of admitted table,  Decree of the Rector n. 587/2023,

Industrial and Information Engineering

• Selection Committee’s Preliminary meeting July 5, 2023
• Interview: July 18, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 561/2023 approving Final ranking list

Molecular Medicine

• Interview: July 13, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 562/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Interview: July 20, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 563/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Selection Committee’s Preliminary meeting June 28, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 564/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Decree of the Rector n° 565/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Interview: July 24, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 566/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Repalcement admitted list
• 3rd Replacement admitted list

Clinical and Translational Medical Sciences

• Decree of the Rector n° 567/2023 approving Final ranking list
• Interview: July 17, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 568/2023 approving Final ranking list

Linguistics and Literature

• written exam: July 4, 2023
• interviw: July 6, 2023
• Decree of the Rector n° 569/2023 approving Final ranking list

For further information about the call For further information about Esse3

Undergraduate Admission Lists under Government Sponsorship 2024/2025

The  Office of the Academic Registrar,   Makerere University  has released admission lists for Government sponsored students for the Academic Year 2024/2025. The Office has also released  Cut Off Points for Government Admissions .

Below are lists of candidates admitted to the respective courses tenable at  Makerere University  and  Makerere University Business School :

The list for Government Sponsorship for admission and Cut-Off Points in other public universities 2024/25 i.e. Busitema, Gulu, Kabale, Kyambogo, Mbarara and Soroti University can be accessed by following the links below:

• Government Sponsorship Admission Lists for other Public Universities 2024/25 AY
• Government Sponsorship CUT-OFF points for other Universities

UPDATE 23 rd May 2024

Admission List for Government Sponsorship and Cut-Off Points 2024/25 for Lira and Mountains of the Moon University

• Government Sponsorship Admission Lists (Lira and MMU)
• Government Sponsorship CUT-OFF points (Lira and MMU)

Advert: Admission to PhD in Public Health Programme 2024/2025

In Memory and Honor of Professor John Tuhe Kakitahi’s illustrious legacy | 16-02-1940 to 15-05-2024

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Semester Calendar 2024/2025, 2025/2026 & 2026/2027

The Academic Registrar has released the Proposed Semester Calendar for Academic Years 2024/2025, 2025/2026, and 2026/2027. Please note that all students will be physically present at the University under BLENDED TEACHING AND LEARNING (PHYSICAL AND ONLINE).

Key highlights 2024/2025

• Fresher’s Orientation: Saturday 3 rd August to Friday 9 th August 2024 (7 days)
• Semester One: Saturday 3 rd August to Sunday 8 th December 2024 (17 weeks)
• Semester One Holiday Break: Sunday 8 th December 2024 to Saturday 18 th January 2025
• 75 th Graduation Week: Monday 13 th to Friday 17 th January 2025 (5 days)
• Semester Two: Saturday 18 th January to Sunday 15 th June 2025 (17 weeks)

Key highlights 2025/2026

• Fresher’s Orientation: Saturday 23 rd August to Friday 29 th August 2025 (7 days)
• Semester One: Saturday 23 rd August to Sunday 21 st December 2025 (17 weeks)
• Semester One Holiday Break: Sunday 21 st December 2025 to Saturday 17 th January 2026
• 76 th Graduation Week: Monday 12 th to Friday 16 th January 2026 (5 days)
• Semester Two: Saturday 17 th January to Sunday 17 th May 2026 (17 weeks)

Key highlights 2026/2027

• Fresher’s Orientation: Saturday 1 st August to Friday 7 th August 2026 (7 days)
• Semester One: Saturday 1 st August to Sunday 29 th November 2026 (17 weeks)
• Semester One Holiday Break: Sunday 29 th November 2026 to Saturday 16 th January 2027
• 77 th Graduation Week: Monday 11 th to Friday 15 th January 2027 (5 days)
• Semester Two: Saturday 16 th January to Sunday 16 th May 2027 (17 weeks)

The detailed calendar may be accessed below for ease of reference.

The Academic Registrar, Makerere University invites applications from suitable candidates for admission to a Three Year Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health (By Coursework & Dissertation) with the following Tracks for the 2024/2025 Academic Year tenable in the College of Health Sciences:

• Health Systems,
• Epidemiology and Biostatist ics,
• Community Health and Behavioural Sciences ,
• Disease Control and
• Environmental He alth

In addition to the general admission requirements of Makerere University, Applicants should possess the following qualifications:

A master’s degree from a recognized and chartered university in health sciences e.g. Medicine (Human and Veterinary), Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Public Health, etc;

A masters’ degree in Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, or Laboratory Sciences;

A masters’ degree in Social Sciences i.e. Social Work, Sociology, Economics, Statistics, Demography, Monitoring and Evaluation with at least three consecutive years’ working experience in a health related program.

Candidates whose first language is not English or did not go through an education system with

English as the medium of instruction will be required to prove that they have sufficient command of the English language to cope with post-graduate studies at Makerere University.

Candidates for the Epidemiology and Biostatistics track should have undertaken both MPH 7103 Applied Biostatistics I and MPH 7203 Applied Biostatistics II, and any other course in statisticswith equivalent content, with a pass grade point of at least 3.0.

Candidates for the Health Systems track should have had at least three consecutive years work in a health related program except holders of master’s in health sciences.

Strictly observe the closing date of 31st May, 2024

Contact the offices of the Dean, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences for any further information regarding the programme.

Professor John Tuhe Kakitahi, a luminary in the field of public health nutrition has left an indelible mark on the landscape of healthcare in Uganda and beyond. At the age of 84, Professor Kakitahi was called to heaven this morning at Mulago Hospital. 

Today, we celebrate a man who from his early career years, demonstrated exceptional intellect, clinical acumen, passion and complete dedication to combating hunger, malnutrition and human suffering. Throughout his tenure at Institute of Public Health (IPH), Dr. Kakitahi’s contributions were manifold. He in addition to teaching and mentorship conducted field investigations and community outreaches to improve human nutrition and maternal-child health. Kakitahi’s contribution and influence in nutrition transcended borders, as he represented Uganda with distinction at various international forums. 

As a lecturer and public health nutritionist, Prof. Kakitahi established and headed Mwana mugimu nutrition center in Mulago hospital in the 1990s. Mwanamujimu became pivotal in treating kwashiorkor aided by support from Rotary International. He later established additional nutritional units and sites throughout Uganda.

In 2008, he served as Deputy Principal of the Makerere University College of Health Sciences.

But Who was Kakitahi? 

Prof. John Tuhe Kakitahi was born on February 16, 1940. His university appointment came in March 1973. Now, picture Dr. Kakitahi as a hardworking, intellectual house surgeon with clinical acumen who was a good clinician, pediatrician, researcher, and nutritionist. In the early years of his career at the Department of Preventive Medicine, he collaborated with individuals such as the late Prof. Suleiman Jabir Farsey and Professor Joseph Sekyala Winter Lutwama (RIP), who was the first African to hold the title of Head of the Department of Preventive Medicine. The individuals he collaborated with provided an accurate portrayal of his character.

From 1948 until 1958, Dr. Kakitahi studied primary education at Kigezi High School. He studied Secondary O’Level at Busoga College Mwiri from 1957 to 1961 and ‘A’ level at Kings College Budo from 1962 to 1963. In 1964, he attended Makerere University and earned an MBChB in 1970.

Kakitahi was Senior Casualty Officer in New Mulago Hospital’s Casualty Department for 1.5 years before enrolling in IPH’s Diploma Course in Public Health. He managed department operations and provided emergency patient treatment. The Senior House Officer position at Mulago Hospital was Dr. Kakitahi’s first job after his internship. For 1.5 years, he oversaw casualty department patient care and administration. He also managed the Nurses Health Unit for a similar time, exhibiting his healthcare administration versatility and dedication.

Kakitahi also ran a Nutritional Rehabilitation Clinic at Kasangati Health Centre, providing critical services to the community. He also helped the Pediatrics Department in managing the Old Mulago Hospital’s Nutrition Ward. He intensively treated acutely malnourished children, contributing significantly to their care and recovery.

In 1968-1969, he worked in the Lymphoma treatment center and Solid Tumor Centre during school breaks. He took part in research on chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients as well.

Using his medical background, he joined the Institute of Public Health (IPH) in 1972 and earned a Diploma in Public Health in 1973. 

In 1973, he joined Makerere University Service as an IPH Lecturer. He passionately taught human nutrition to undergraduate and postgraduate students, particularly Diploma in Public Health students, as part of the Maternal Child Health and Nutrition teaching programme. His focus was on MCH field investigations, particularly the Ankole PPP.

On July 1, 1977, Dr. Kakitahi became a senior lecturer. Later, for 45 days, Dr. Kakitahi replaced Dr. Kakande as IPH director on June 22, 1987. He was sitting in for the then director, Professor Namboze, who was on a special assignment for the Health Policy Review Commission. On August 1, 1984, he was appointed as an Associate Professor at the Institute of Public Health. On September 18, 1989, Dr. Kakitahi assumed the position of Head of the Institute of Public Health for a two-year term.

Dr. Kakitahi’s remarkable journey is interwoven with stories of dedication, expertise, and significant impact. As a young medical practitioner, he worked as a Medical Officer at Makerere Students Health Centre for several months in 1973, shortly after being hired as a Lecturer at IPH, where he laid the groundwork for the transformation of the then-Sickbay into the current University Hospital. Dr. Kakitahi pursued excellence by finishing his MSc in Nutrition at Cambridge on a WHO scholarship from 1974 to 1976. His abilities and commitment made him a well-known member of the Uganda Medical Association and the British Nutrition Society, both of which promote health locally and globally.

In 1977, he successfully represented Uganda at the 27th WHO Regional Committee for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo. This was the first of several significant appointments, including leading the Mwanamugimu Nutrition Unit in 1980 and representing Uganda at international gatherings such as the Inter-Country Nutrition Workshop in Gaborone, Botswana, and the WHO Regional Committee for Africa in Accra, Ghana, and Libreville, Gabon.

In May 1985, he accompanied the Minister of Health to the 38 th World Health Assembly, where Uganda demonstrated its commitment to global health and nutrition programmes. In 1991, he organised Kampala’s first public discussion on Urban Health, Environment, and Health, solidifying his reputation as a community and occupational health visionary.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kakitahi provided expert consultancy services to the Food and Agriculture Organization and participated in numerous nutrition review missions aimed at combating hunger and malnutrition. These missions, organized by WHO, UNICEF, and other organizations, took place in countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, Seychelles, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Lesotho as part of the Nutrition and Human Resources for Health Mission.

Dr. Kakitahi and his Role in Establishing the Mwana mugimu nutrition center

Mwana mugimu nutrition center was set up with support from Rotary International. Rotary International recognized it as the best nutritional unit in the East African region, and was related to the Save the Children Fund, which provided administrative and financial support. This support in the 1990s led to the establishment of similar nutritional units and sites throughout the country. Later, Princess Royal Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise visited the programme and recognised it as a successful Save the Children programme.

Mwanamugimu has its roots in a Luganda proverb (Mwanamugimu ava ku ngozi) that means “A healthy child comes from a healthy mother.”

In Uganda in the 1970s and 1980s, Dr. John Kakitahi led nutritional work. After treating children for severe acute malnutrition without success, Dr. Kakitahi, like many Ugandan doctors, became passionate about prevention. Kakitahi, like Prof. Namboze, left pediatrics early to study public health at the Makerere University Institute of Public Health, now known as the School of Public Health. When Amin’s repression and violence against Ugandans escalated in 1973, they recruited Kakitahi as a lecturer, and he took over the MRC Unit after Roger Whitehead and Paget Stanfield left.

Whitehead, the MRC’s senior scientist under Dean Stanfield, was instrumental in Mwanamugimu and its extension to the Luteete Health Center. Whitehead and other MRC Unit researchers were first skeptical of the Mwanamugimu program, but its public health ethic shaped their thinking and approach.

Whitehead and Stanfield, codirectors of the unit, initiated a research program to reframe nutrition as a science and practice of health promotion, influenced by Mwanamugimu’s hybrid public health model.

They renamed the MRC facility the Child Nutrition Unit, omitting “infantile” and “malnutrition,” and announced a longitudinal nutritional health study for rural village children during the unit’s extension opening on July 17, 1969, by the then-Deputy Minister of Health, Mr. S. W. Uringi.

Kakitahi struggled to run the unit without knowing the study program or how to get basic biochemical test reagents. Few medical supplies and the difficulties of fixing equipment and getting replacement parts prevented the MRC from continuing to operate as a research institution. Whitehead and the Dunn Nutrition Unit at Cambridge (which Whitehead then directed) helped Kakitahi travel abroad for nutrition training, escape the rising violence temporarily. After finishing his training in 1976, Kakitahi “plucked some courage and came back” to Uganda and took over the Mwanamugimu Unit.

Kakitahi kept the unit running with his personal vehicle and what he could spare from his increasingly meager salary, and he and Latimer Musoke, who had taken over as Chair of Pediatrics after Stanfield’s departure, launched a program to train public health workers and extend the Mwanamugimu program’s preventive promise to rural areas.

Kakitahi’s return from Cambridge coincided with the huge increase in violence when Israel attacked Uganda’s main airport at Entebbe. A Tel Aviv-Paris flight was hijacked in June 1976 and diverted to Entebbe with Amin’s consent. In a predawn raid a week later, Israeli forces rescued the hostages and killed the hijackers and twenty of Amin’s men.

Mwanamugimu promoted health and welfare in Amin’s Uganda during a medical shortage. The amazing endurance of the Mwanamugimu initiative illustrates what is often lost in simplistic stereotypes depicting Africa as a continent in crisis. Mwanamugimu’s growth throughout Uganda’s darkest hour demonstrates the need of long-term public health programming and biomedical knowledge. Musoke and Kakitahi were graduates of East Africa’s top medical and educational schools and were able to use their skills to do well in their periods of uncertainty. Kakitahi was one of a generation of medical students trained to increase Ugandan physician population. Mwanamugimu’s modest infrastructure, technology, and a flexible framework made it a local program that could survive resource constraints.

Kakitahi and his colleagues, in collaboration with village health workers, also known as “Ssalango,” conducted door-to-door visits in a specific area to provide community members with information, support, and essential medical care. Ssalango, who commenced working at the Luteete Health Centre in 1978, stated that one of their primary responsibilities was to identify children exhibiting stunted growth. Ssalango and other community health experts educated mothers and guardians on malnutrition and how to assess nutritional status using arm circumference. Similar to the significant women who received training at Mwanamugimu, they instructed individuals on how to prepare kitobero in their own homes using ingredients that were readily available and commonly used in their daily meals. In addition to this early intervention, community health workers were in a favourable position to do follow-up visits to prevent slightly malnourished children from progressing towards “kwashiorkor.”

Kakitahi and Latimer Musoke showed what long-term infrastructure and knowledge can do by expanding on prior public health programming and medical services. Kakitahi revitalized Mwanamugimu and expanded the nutrition scout program after Amin. Funding was needed to rebuild facilities, restore the Nutrition Rehabilitation Program, and boost outreach. In 1983, Rotary International awarded Kakitahi a $245,000 “Health, Hunger and Humanity” grant to reinstate all parts of the central Mwanamugimu Unit in Mulago, including medical training, and begin the “second phase.” The second phase revived nutritional initiatives at Kayunga, Luteete, and Kasangati satellites. It was projected they served 650,000 people by 1984.

Kakitahi then established outreach initiatives at health centers in Mbale, Jinja, Bugembe, Kitovu, Ibanda, Kabale, Kisoro, and Gulu, which required an intermediate owing to Northern insecurity. Mwanamugimu Nutrition Services, a national program founded by Kakitahi, was based on these eleven satellites.

Kakitahi envisioned a public health programme to boost the health of a new national population. A Rotary International delegation visited Uganda in 1985 and was so impressed with the program and its local reception that the organization made a rare exception to their one-time financing policy. Kakitahi assumed this was Rotary International’s last grant and stretched this second disbursement over three years. After Rotary International returned in 1987, another exception and grant were provided, bringing the total support to $980,000 from 1983 to 1992.50 Despite political turmoil, Kakitahi restored and expanded Mwanamugimu Nutrition Services.

Kakitahi, who had been trying to expand Mwanamugimu nutrition programs to remote regions, became “frustrated” when he could no longer secure funds in the early 1990s due to the IMF and World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs). After realizing he “didn’t have any money to continue,” WHO colleagues urged Kakitahi to create a health worker training program for newly independent Namibia. Uganda’s nutritional programming changed when Kakitahi left in dissatisfaction over structural adjustment’s lack of resources.

According to several observers, Ugandans regarded their national health system as “the demoralization of health workers” since many left when structural transformation proved difficult. Through Amin and the Bush War, Kakitahi stayed in Uganda.

Jennifer Tappan, a historian of Global Health in Africa and author of The Riddle of Malnutrition: The Long Arc of Biomedical and Public Health, calls John Kakitahi and his colleagues, Latimer Musoke, Ssalango, and Gladys Stokes, “awe-inspiring.”

Because of biomedical knowledge, competence, and infrastructure—the underpinnings of a national health system—Mwanamugimu survived. Thus, Mwanamugimu could become a fully local project, which, along with its clear worth, explains its amazing resilience.

Professor Tappan notes that “Kakitahi, his colleagues, and the influencers who kept Mwanamugimu alive illustrate the return on long-term investments in national systems of medical provision, which can then serve as the foundation for flexible and resilient public health programming, programming that can promote health and wellbeing in ways that increase rather than undermine sovereignty and the right to health that all people deserve.”

​Compiled by Communications Office -MakSPH

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Withdrawal worse when fentanyl paired with animal tranquilizer

The discovery by UNC School of Medicine researchers should not impact life-saving use of naloxone for opioid overdoses.

The rise in fentanyl use and overdose deaths became even more alarming recently when authorities found fentanyl laced with the animal tranquilizer xylazine. Some addiction specialists and public health officials feared the added xylazine would impede the fast-acting effects of the drug naloxone, which can effectively treat patients experiencing respiratory depression — a serious side effect of opioid use that can lead to death.

In a recent research discovery  published in the journal Addiction Neuroscience , scientists at UNC-Chapel Hill found that xylazine activates opioid receptors in the brain in the same way fentanyl does. This finding could hint as to why withdrawal from fentanyl combined with xylazine is so severe.

This research, led by the lab of  Zoe McElligott , associate professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine, provides important insights into the subtle cellular mechanisms underlying opioid use — especially in light of the added anesthetic xylazine to fentanyl — and naloxone, the leading treatment used to prevent death from fentanyl overdose. McElligott is senior author of the paper, with co-first authors graduate student Madigan Bedard and assistant professor Xi-Ping Huang .

“Many people thought xylazine operated exclusively through a different mechanism in the nervous system,” said McElligott, also a member of the UNC Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies. “We may have gleaned insight into why withdrawal from the combination of fentanyl and xylazine is so harsh.”

People often choose to continue using drugs avoid the intense physical and psychological effects of withdrawal, according to McElligott. Her lab’s discovery, accomplished in collaboration with other UNC-Chapel Hill researchers, could have big implications for how clinicians might treat patients in the future.

“A big take-home message is that we want to make sure people are administered naloxone as a life-saving treatment,” McElligott said. “We don’t want people to not administer naloxone because they suspect someone has xylazine in their system.”

The study began in January 2023, when pharmacology graduate student Madigan Bedard poked her head into McElligott’s office and asked if she had heard that people were combining fentanyl with xylazine, an animal sedative.

“I was blown away,” McElligott said. She was interested because she studies the effects of withdrawal, and withdrawal from fentanyl/xylazine is particularly bad. She wanted to find out how the drug combination was affecting the brain.

They set up a strategic dosing experiment to study withdrawal in mice that received saline as a control, or fentanyl, fentanyl/xylazine. To be extra rigorous, Bedard set up an additional control looking at xylazine alone. Surprisingly, the xylazine mice treated with naloxone had major withdrawal symptoms.

To understand the results, the lab sought help from Dr. Bryan L. Roth, the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology who runs the NIH Psychoactive Drug Screening Program from his lab at the UNC School of Medicine. His team ran a rapid screen to see what receptors xylazine might target. A week later, Roth showed them the data. The drug latches on to kappa opioid receptors.

The unapproved use of xylazine in humans not only poses challenges for scientific and clinical understanding of the drug but also for those who work daily to navigate the adverse effects of the unregulated drug supply.

“The research being conducted in the McElligott Lab at UNC is of timely importance to legislators and regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, in their continued efforts to combat America’s opioid epidemic,” said Christin Daniels, executive director of the Triangle Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation . “Until we have more data on the pharmacology, addictive properties and physiological effects, decisions about how to regulate xylazine are pending.”

Read more about the McElligott Lab study.

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| 5.23.2024

Shruthi Kumar ’24, Senior English Address: “The Power of Not Knowing”

Amid divisions and uncertainties, finding “space for empathy, solidarity, and a willingness to listen”.

Return to main article:

As prepared for delivery. For Kumar’s additional remarks, please read the accompanying article .

The Power of Not Knowing

Today, we are celebrated for what we know. In fact, for most of our lives, we’ve learned to feel a sense of accomplishment from the awards, accolades, and honors that lined our childhood homes. How much we knew and how we leveraged it got us far. It got us here. But today, I want to convince you of something counterintuitive that I’ve learned from the Class of 2024: the power of not knowing.

I grew up in the Great Plains of Nebraska alongside cattle ranches and cornfields. As the eldest daughter of South Asian immigrants, I was the first in my family to go to college here in the US. There was a lot I didn’t know. When it came time, I asked my parents how to apply to colleges. They too said, “I don’t know.”

The words “I don’t know” used to make me feel powerless. Like there was no answer, and therefore, no way. As if I was admitting defeat.

From Nebraska to Harvard, I found myself redefining this feeling of not knowing. I discovered a newfound power in how much I didn’t know. I didn’t know a field called the “History of Science” even existed. I now find myself a graduate of the Department. In my freshman year of college, for the first time in my life, I was taught by a professor of color. A Historian of Science who made clear to me that history is just as much about the stories we don’t know as the stories we do.

In the History of Science, we often look for what is missing. What documents are not in the archives and whose voices are not captured in history? I’ve learned silence is rarely empty, often loud. What we don’t know can sometimes tell the most powerful story.

I learned this not only in the classroom, but also from the Class of 2024. In reflecting on our collective journey at Harvard, I’ve learned it's often the moments of uncertainty from which something greater than we could have ever imagined grows. Our class has experienced more than our fair share of the unknown.

Our first year, during COVID, we didn’t have Annenberg to meet 100 people in an hour and walk out remembering 5 names. We didn’t know what starting Harvard in the middle of a global pandemic would be like. So what did we do?Jefe’s became the new Annenberg, and we learned, in the midst of uncertainty, to connect differently, building quality over quantity in our friendships. In our sophomore year, Roe v. Wade was overturned and there was and still is, in many parts of the country, an omnipresent uncertainty in accessing reproductive healthcare. In our junior year, Harvard faced the Supreme Court and the decision to reverse affirmative action. Whether we realize it or not, we have been swimming in uncharted waters.

Which brings me to our senior year, a year on campus that has been marked by enormous uncertainty. In the fall, my name and identity alongside other black and brown students at Harvard was publically targeted. For many of us, students of color, doxxing left our jobs uncertain, our safety uncertain, our well-being uncertain.

Now, we are in a moment of intense division and disagreement in our community over the events in Gaza. I see pain, uncertainty, and unrest across campus. It’s now, in a moment like this, that the power of “not knowing” becomes critical.

Maybe we don’t know what it’s like to be ethnically targeted. Maybe we don’t know what it's like to come face to face with violence and death. But, we don’t have to know.

Solidarity is not dependent on what we know, because “not knowing” is an ethical stance. It creates space for empathy, solidarity, and a willingness to listen.

I don’t know – so I ask. I listen. I believe an important type of learning takes place, especially in moments of uncertainty, when we lean into conversations without assuming we have all the answers. Can we see humanity in people we don’t know? Can we feel the pain of people with whom we disagree?

As we graduate, what we know , our material knowledge, may not matter so much anymore. The truth is, it’s what we don’t know and how we navigate it that will set us apart moving forward.

Uncertainty is uncomfortable. But I encourage you to dive into the deep end of discomfort, and as you do, bring with you a Beginner’s mind, an ethic of not knowing.

As Emily Dickinson had said, “Not knowing when the Dawn will come, I open every Door.”

Thank you, and Congratulations Class of 2024!

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Data science

Class: LM Data -

Call for Applications (international students) - A.Y. 2024/25

• 1st Call: 2 November 2023 - 2 February 2024 
• 2nd Call: 2 March - 2 May 2024  -  APPLICATION PLATFORM
• 3rd Call ( ONLY   EU and equated students ): 2 June - 2 August 2024

The master's degree course in Data Science guarantees students a solid multidisciplinary preparation in various fields that use and operate big data while guaranteeing in-depth knowledge of the numerous tools used for their collection, management and analysis. Held in English, graduates may pursue careers within industries, consultancy firms, and public institutions, in the design and implementation of big data analysis as in other sectors. Curricula BDMA; Data Science; TMDS

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Characteristics and objectives The Master's degree intends to build data scientists whose solid technical background is complemented by a multidisciplinary preparation on various fields in which big data emerge. Highly required by industries, consulting companies and public institutions, data scientists design and implement the analysis of big data and provide managers and stakeholders with a clear account of their results. Occupational opportunities Graduates master tools for collecting, managing and analysing big data, and to translate their work into highly valuable information. Graduates work as professionals in research centres, internet companies, consulting companies, startups and high tech industries and public administrations. Curricula BDMA; Data Science; TMDS

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