Curriculum Vitae Highlights
Find the extended version of my CV at this link.
Last updated: Jan 05, 2026
Outlook
Employment
Research Associate
Subject: Evolution of vision in early metazoans.
Supervisor: prof. Roberto Feuda
University of Leicester, Leicester (UK). Nov 2024 - ongoing
Education
Ph.D in "Innovative technologies and sustainable use of Mediterranean Sea fishery and biological resources" (FishMed-PhD)
Thesis: Integrative perspectives on bivalve sex determination: A comparative and evolutionary analysis across phylogeny
Supervisor: prof. Andrea Luchetti
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). Nov 2021 - Oct 2024
M.Sc in "Biodiversity and evolution"
Thesis: Identification of Hox and ParaHox genes in tadpole shrimp genomes (Pancrustacea, Branchiopoda, Notostraca)
Supervisor: prof. Andrea Luchetti
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). Sep 2019 - Jul 2021
B.Sc in "Biological Sciences"
Thesis: Species delimitation and phylogenetic analysis of the Australian genus Candovia (Insecta, Phasmida)
Supervisor: prof. Barbara Mantovani
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). Sep 2016 - Oct 2019
Outreach activity
For a more detailed description of my outreach activity, have a look at the Outreach section in this website.
- Editor and web writer
BioPills. Jul 2017 – ongoing - BiGeA Day 2023
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). May 27, 2023 - University of Bologna opening days
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). Nov 18, 2022
Teaching experience
- Practical class "CAFE: estimating gene family turnover across a phylogenetic tree"
Master degree in Bioinformatics
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). Apr 23, 2024 - Practical invertebrate zoology class
Bachelor degree in Biological Sciences
University of Bologna, Bologna (IT). Sep 2022 – Jan 2023
Professional skills
Bioinformatics
- Programming and markup languages
More
(beginner ▯▯▯▯▯ advanced)bash
▮▮▮▮▯R
▮▮▮▯▯python
▮▮▯▯▯- LaTeX
▮▮▯▯▯ html
▮▯▯▯▯
- Phylogenetics
- Comparative genomics
More
- Orthology inference (
OrthoFinder,Possvm,TOGA) - Gene annotation (
BLAST,DIAMOND,HMMER,InterProScan,tRNAscan-SE) - Genome quality assessment (
BUSCO) - Molecular evolution (
PAML,HyPhy,BASE,RRTree) - Gene family evolution (
CAFE5,GeneRax) - Gene macro-synteny (
MCScanX/JCVI) - Detection of sex-related loci (
SEX-DETector,SDpop) - Other (
AGAT,GffRead)
- Orthology inference (
- Mitogenomics
More
- Mitogenome assembly and annotation (
MitoHiFi,MitoFinder,mitoRNA)
- Mitogenome assembly and annotation (
- Read manipulation
More
- Raw reads quality check (
FastQC,MultiQC) - Read trimming (
trimmomatic) - Read mapping and filtering (
Bowtie2,STAR,TEtranscripts,stringtie,samtools)
- Raw reads quality check (
- Transcriptomics
Wet-lab
- Metaphase-plate chromosome preparation
More
- Experience with bivalves and ants
- Total DNA extraction
More
- Experience with insects
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
More
- Experience with insect mitochondrial and nuclear markers
- Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) embryology
More
- Spawning induction by thermal shock
- Gamete collection and concentration
- Sperm mitochondria staining with MitoTracker
- In-vitro fertilization of eggs
- Embryo rearing in flasks or multi-well plates
- Estimation of survival rates
- mRNA in-situ Hybridization Chain Reaction (mRNA in-situ HCR)
More
- Experience with whole-mount embryos of the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis)
- Probe design
- Multiplex experiments (up to four target genes), paired with DAPI and MitoTracker stainings
- Confocal imaging (main experience with Leica DMi8 paired with Stellaris 5 systems)
Others
- Field scientific sampling
More
- Experience with termites, ants, and freshwater crustaceans
- Experience with mussels and oysters
- Field sample storing for subsequent DNA extraction (pure methanol) or mRNA extraction (RNAlater or Trizol)
- Scientific illustration
See the Resources section of this website
Courses and workshops
- Establishing state-of-the-art mollusc genomics
EMBO Workshop. Awarded with a travel grant.
Namur, Belgium. May 28 – 31, 2024. - Art (Science) Attack
Physalia Courses.
Online. May 20 – 23, 2024. - Introduction to Python for biologists
Physalia Courses.
Online. Sep 25 – 28, 2023 - ITA*PHY phylogenetics workshop
Trento (IT). Jun 6 – 9, 2023 - Sex chromosome evolution
Physalia Courses.
Online. Jan 23 – 27, 2023 - Identification of butterflies from the Eastern Alps
Dolimiti National Park.
Online. Mar 12 – Apr 2, 2022 - Science communication
Feltrinelli Education.
Online. May 12 – Jun 3, 2021 - Nature illustration
Associazione ARDEA.
Online. Feb 6 – Mar 20, 2021 - Advanced Open Water Diver (PADI Education)
Scientific Diving School (SDS).
Bologna (IT). Oct 18, 2020
Publications
Forni G, Fusco G, Nicolini F, Bruce H, Luchetti A (2025). Loss, persistence and reversal of phenotypic traits. Under revision.
Iannello M, Piccinini G, Salatiello F, Forni G, Nicolini F, Valdrè U, Martini M, Martelossi J, Ghiselli F, D’Aniello E, & Milani L. (2025). New insights into mitochondrial segregation from the Doubly Uniparental Inheritance system in bivalves. BMC biology, 23(1), 371. doi: 10.1186/s12915-025-02459-6</p>
Forni G*, Nicolini F*, Martelossi J, Savojardo C, Corneti S, Marrone F, Luchetti A. (2025). The elusive genomic signature of tadpole shrimps’ ancient morphology. Under revision.
Nicolini F, Nuzhdin SV, Ghiselli F, Luchetti A, & Milani L (2025). Comparative genomics of sex‐determination‐related genes reveals shared evolutionary patterns between bivalves and mammals, but not fruit flies. Molecular Ecology, 34(20), e70103. doi: 10.1111/mec.70103
Righetti N*, Nicolini F*, Forni G, & Luchetti A. (2025). Towards a time-tree solution for Branchiopoda diversification: a jackknife assessment of fossil age priors. Palaeoentomology, 8(3), 316-328. doi: 10.11646/palaeoentomology.8.3.8
Nicolini F, Ghiselli F, Luchetti A, & Milani L. (2023). Bivalves as emerging model systems to study the mechanisms and evolution of sex determination: a genomic point of view. Genome Biology and Evolution, 15(10), evad181. doi: 10.1093/gbe/evad181
Martelossi J, Nicolini F, Subacchi S, Pasquale D, Ghiselli F, & Luchetti A. (2023). Multiple and diversified transposon lineages contribute to early and recent bivalve genome evolution. BMC Biology, 21(1), 1-23. doi: 10.1186/s12915-023-01632-z
Nicolini F, Martelossi J, Forni G, Savojardo C, Mantovani B, & Luchetti A. (2023). Comparative genomics of Hox and ParaHox genes among major lineages of Branchiopoda with emphasis on tadpole shrimps. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11, 23. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1046960
Forni G, Cussigh A, Brock PD, Jones BR, Nicolini F, Martelossi J, ... & Mantovani B. (2023). Taxonomic revision of the Australian stick insect genus Candovia (Phasmida: Necrosciinae): insight from molecular systematics and species-delimitation approaches. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 197(1), 189-210. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac074
* equal contribution
↑ Go up ↑Oral presentations at congresses
For a report of poster presentations, have a look at the Resources section of this website.
- Nicolini F, Iannello M, Piccinini G, Ghiselli F, Luchetti A, Milani L. (2024). Advancing the study of bivalve sex determination in the light of comparative genomics. Establishing state-of-the-art mollusc genomics (EMBO workshop). Namur (BE). May 27 – 30, 2024.
- Nicolini F, Ghiselli F, Milani L, Luchetti A. (2023). Contrasting patterns of amino acid evolution and shared ancestry between putative sex-determining genes in bivalve molluscs. EVOLMAR 2023. Online. Nov 14 – 17, 2023.
- Nicolini F, Ghiselli F, Milani L, Luchetti A. (2023). Sex-determination related genes in bivalves: novel acquisitions and high rates of sequence evolution. Evolution 2023 (Ernst Mayr Award symposium). Online. Jun 2 – 3, 2023.
Invited talks
- Nicolini F. (2024). From comparative genomics to fluorescence imaging: a multi-disciplinary approach to study bivalve sex determination. Department of Biology seminar series. University of Fribourg. Fribourg, Switzerland. Jul 26, 2024.
- Nicolini F, Chignoli D. (2021). Communicators are not improvised – BioPills in a nutshell. In the event: How to simplify science without inaccuracies. Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) Barcelona. Online. Jun 15, 2021.
- Licari G, Chignoli D, Bencardino D, Nicolini F (2021). In the event: Scienze e Social: tra informazione e pericolo.. Vivere Ateneo, Univeristy of Palermo. Online. Apr 20, 2021.
Awards and scholarships
- Travel grant to attend the Congress 2024 of the Italian Society for Evolutionary Biology (ISEB/SIBE) in Naples (Italy).
Issued by Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. Amount: € 250.00.
May 28 – 31, 2024 - Travel grant to attend the EMBO workshop "Establishing state-of-the-art mollusc genomics" in Namur (Belgium).
Issued by EMBO. Amount: € 500.00.
May 28 – 31, 2024 - Marco Polo scholarship to promote the scientific training of young researchers and offer the opportunity to carry out research in an international context.
Issued by the University of Bologna. Amount: € 4,050.00.
Apr 13, 2023 - Laura Bassi scholarship for editorial assistance to postgraduates and junior academics.
Issued by Editing Press. Amount: $ 500.00.
Apr 13, 2023 (Spring edition)
Visiting scholar
- Nuzhdin's Lab
University of Southern California, Los Angeles (CA, USA). Aug 2023 – Feb 2024 - Pasantes' Lab
University of Vigo, Vigo (ES). Jan 12 – 22, 2023