If you are eager to learn more, love to study, and have a curious mind, a PhD course could be your next step for further growth and training, allowing you to fully realize your potential.
5 reasons to start a PhD course
- Postponing work
- Continuing to study and learn
- Travelling
- Spending time with colleagues/friends
- Expressing your scientific creativity
5 more reasons to start a PhD course
- Technological Innovation Leadership: You can develop new technologies, improve existing processes, and significantly contribute to the advancement of your discipline. This not only leads to scientific breakthroughs but can also result in patents and commercially viable technologies.
- Academic Career and Industrial Research: Career opportunities lie in university teaching and academic research, where engineers can lead research projects and train the next generations of engineers. Simultaneously, many PhDs in Engineering hold key roles in company R&D (Research and Development) departments, where advanced expertise is highly sought after to drive innovation and solve complex technical problems.
- Development of Specialized and Multidisciplinary Skills: You will be able to acquire highly specialized skills, often in interdisciplinary fields, combining engineering background with other sectors such as computer science, physics, or chemistry. This experience is particularly valuable in an increasingly competitive job market, where high-level technical abilities and the capacity to innovate are crucial.
- Improvement of Professional and Economic Profiles: A doctoral degree can significantly enhance an engineer's professional profile, leading to better career opportunities and potential salary increases. The advanced skills and specialization acquired can make the engineer more attractive to high-profile employers and leadership positions.
- Personal growth: In addition to these direct benefits, a doctorate can also lead to personal enrichment, by developing problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and complex project management, which are transversal skills useful in every professional field.
PhD scholarship amount
The net scholarship amount is about €1,200 per month.
The scholarship is increased by 50% for periods spent abroad (lasting more than 14 days).
It is possible to undertake additional paid activities, but the associated work effort must be limited.
The PhD program is a full-time commitment.
Services
Access to department and university facilities (including libraries and laboratories).
Accesso to department and university services (courses, IT systems).
For all other services and opportunities offered to the student and PhD community, please consult the brochure.
Future call for applications
As per the Regulations, admission takes place based on a public selection process (open competition) or according to the procedure for supernumerary admission (admission in excess of the established number).
The admission exams, evaluated by an Examination Board, structure the assessment of each candidate into two/three successive phases:
- Curriculum Evaluation (max 40 points, min 24 points to proceed to the next phase): the educational path is assessed in terms of consistency and quality, research experience, and, if required by the call for applications, includes the evaluation of the research project;
- Written Exam (max 30 points, min 18 points to proceed to the next phase): completion of an essay, in Italian or English at the candidate's discretion, in a joint session typically lasting four hours, on specific topics of the different PhD curricula (each applicant can choose one of the topics prepared by the Examination Board) or by describing a possible research project. Depending on the specific call for applications, the written exam may be excluded from the admission tests, for example for selections dedicated to graduates from foreign universities and for selections on specific research topics/projects;
- Interview (max 30 points, min 18 points to pass the test): verification of the knowledge declared in the curriculum and emerged from the written essay, as well as the qualities of aptitude for research, scientific depth, and openness to conducting the research program in an international context.
The different calls for selection usually open in May and close in August, with admission exams held between July and September, in order to allow the start of the PhD activities from November 1st of each year. To participate in the calls, it is not necessary to have already obtained a Master's degree (Laurea Magistrale) or an equivalent foreign qualification; however, possession of this requirement is necessary by October 31st of the selection year.
The call for selection is centrally managed by the University: please refer to the relevant web page to view the available calls, registration procedures, rankings and relative scrolling, and enrollment procedures.
No call for applications is currently open. You can, however, consult the University's page for general information (LINK).