This program aims to provide students a strong foundation in fundamental cell biology, a solid base for further studies in life sciences, clinical biology, biotechnology, medicine. The program seeks to promote cultural exchange and collaboration within the CIVIS alliance, allowing students to interact and work together to acquire knowledge and develop as future scientists.

The Teaching Unit follows a blended learning approach, consisting of two modules. The first module is an active theoretical module, with virtual courses held from February to May 2025, including synchronous teaching sessions, face-to-face interaction with students, small international group work, asynchronous online sessions to develop international collaborative work and prepare oral presentations. The second module is a physical mobility module, with students spending a week in the host laboratory in July 2025, focused on introducing students to design and interpretation of experiments.

The face-to-face part will take place at  from 30th June to 4th July 2025.

The physical mobility consists in a week of practical lab work in which students carry out a small project. Students will explore relevant technics in the field in an integrative manner, closer to real science than the usual procedural practical teaching. For practical and didactic reasons, the physical mobility will take place from June 30th to July 4th 2025 at Aix-Marseille Université.

The activities and timetable proposed for the training are as follows but may be modified according to the project program and timetable:

Preliminary program 

Week 1

11 February

• Introduction to the topic
• Introduction to Basic Cell Biology

13 February

• Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells (Asynchronous practical activities)
• Cytoplasm & Cytosol (Asynchronous practical activities)

Week 2

25 February

• Plasma Membrane
• Extracellular Matrix

27 February

• Membrane & Matrix
• Cytoskeleton 1

Week 3

4 March

• Cytoskeleton 2

6 March

• Mitochondria

Week 4

11 March

• Chloroplasts
• Mitochondria vs chloroplasts

13 March

• Introduction to membranous systems (Asynchronous practical activities & theory)

Week 5

18 March

• Endoplasmic reticulum 1 & 2

20 March

• Endoplasmic reticulum 3 & 4

21 March

• Golgi Apparatus (Asynchronous theory)
• Endocytosis (Asynchronous practical activities)

Week 6

25 March

• Golgi apparatus 
• Endocytosis

27 March

• Membranes & Vesicles Traffic – Integration

28 March

• Interphasic nucleus & chromosomes 1 & 2 (Asynchronous theory and practical activities)

Week 7

1 April

• Cell Cycle phases

3 April

• Mitosis/Meiosis 1 & 2

Week 8

15 April

• Mitosis/Meiosis 3 & 4

17 April 

• Cell cycle signals & control 1
• Aging and cell death 1

Week 9

22 April

• Cell cycle signals & control 2 & 3

24 April

• Aging and cell death 2 & 3