This teaching aims to provide students with general concepts relating to the chemical aspects of catalysis and its applications in the biological and biotechnological fields. Starting from the fundamental aspects of chemical kinetics, a path will be developed which will ultimately enable the student to discuss the reaction mechanism of some processes of biotechnological interest, identifying their possible catalytic nature and critically discussing the various phases and possible industrial applications.

Knowledge and understanding: acquisition by the student of specific contents relating to: i) general principles of chemical kinetics and catalysis; ii) identification of catalytic processes of biotechnological interest, with detailed description of the various phases; iii) placement of the systems studied in the more general context of catalysis and industrial biocatalysis. 2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: the student's ability to analyze, in the light of the knowledge acquired, the possible interest, even on a large scale, of a catalytic process, both natural and summary, critically examining the various phases and any application objectives. 3) Making judgments; the teaching will provide the student with the ability to work independently in judgment, also through critical consultation and comparison of teaching materials of various types. In any case, the ability of the individual to interact critically with the other components of a homogeneous class will be developed, stimulating in particular the interaction between the components of the same. 4) Communication skills: the student who attends the course will be continuously asked to illustrate, also through audiovisual techniques, the progress made in the study of the discipline and in the learning of the presented concepts. The teacher will also stimulate the discussion also through an exchange of opinions between the attending students, who will thus become an active part in the process of communication and elaboration of the individual. 5) Ability to learn (learning skills): it will be constantly stimulated also through the administration of tests and exercises to be performed autonomously, with the aim of restoring the results and comparing them with those obtained by students attending the same class. Class exercises and simulations of the final test will also be carried out.

The module aims to provide students with the theoretical and applicative bases of biocatalytic systems applied to various industrial sectors. A broad overview of biocatalyst-assisted processes with real commercial relevance is provided
At the end of the course, the student will also acquire the following:
1) knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course and following the individual study commitment, the student will acquire a comprehensive overview of the impact of biocatalysis in the industrial sector concerning the production of consumer goods and fine chemicals
2) Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: at the end of the course and following the individual study commitment, the student reaches an adequate preparation which, together with the other more specific knowledge that he will acquire in the sequel, will allow him to apply the acquired knowledge to the possible implementation of biocatalytically-assisted phases in industrial processes. In particular, guidelines will be provided for selecting the catalyst, the possible immobilization method and the reactor configuration most suitable for the target application. Furthermore, he will have elements that allow him to make a targeted choice between possible alternative commercial formulations of a given enzyme based on the information provided by the manufacturer and scientific literature.
3) Making judgements: attendance of the course, together with individual study efforts, will enable the student to work with independent judgment also through critical consultation and comparison of teaching materials of various types and to analyze data related to production processes critically
4) Communication skills: at the end of the course attendance associated with an individual study commitment, the student will be able to communicate the acquired knowledge using appropriate terminology and will be able to interact positively and exchange information with peers.
5) Learning skills: the information acquired by attending the course will allow the student to promote his self-updating by finding functional elements through the targeted consultation of information channels derived from scientific literature and accredited websites.