PhD in
Experimental Research through Design, Art and Technologies
The PhD programme aims to train a new generation of researchers capable of embracing the opportunities offered by the convergence of design, art, social sciences, humanities and technology, integrating complex knowledge to address multiple global challenges from a post-disciplinary perspective
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Programme description
The three-year programme brings together professors from different faculties of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Design and Art, Engineering, Education and Economics and Management) and nationally and internationally renowned professors to propose a research model based on dialogue and collaboration across disciplines.
The programme provides a space for speculative, critical and pragmatic reflection on problems, potential solutions and new conceptual perspectives inspired by design culture and artistic production. It integrates complex design, scientific and social knowledge and requires the establishment of collaborative relationships with human, non-human and more than human actors through intercultural methods, learning from others, embracing cultural relativism and experimenting with new research tools and practices.
The PhD addresses multiple global challenges by inviting PhD candidates to investigate environmental, social, political and cultural issues through inter/transdisciplinary research and the development of alternative, experimental, critical and exploratory models to generate new knowledge, promote eco-social transformation, social and environmental justice, sustainability, diversity, question the potentials and limitations of technological developments and implementations through the intercultural approach of design and art.
Design and art practices can respond to the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing, data-driven technologies, and human-computer interaction through a shared reflection on social models and cultural practices in the light of ethical, inclusive, culturally sensitive and sustainable principles.
At a glance
Duration of the programme: 3 years
Courses will be taught in English
Places available: 7 with scholarship + 2 without scholarship
Campus: Bozen-Bolzano
Tuition fees: € 189 per year
Programme structure
PhD candidates are required to:
- Develop and implement an individual research plan over the three-year period under the supervision of a supervisor and co-supervisor.
- Present the results of their research at one or more international conferences as an oral or poster presentation. These results must be published as conference proceedings, an article or an essay.
- Carry out research activities abroad for at least three months.
- Attend compulsory courses, seminars and/or summer/winter/spring schools and practice-based transdisciplinary workshops that broaden their knowledge and improve their skills on topics related to the doctoral thesis.
The stages of the PhD
In the first year, in addition to acquiring knowledge of human-centred, design- and art-driven research methods, students will be involved in seminar activities to understand academic research, including ethical, gender and privacy issues, as well as bibliometric and non-bibliometric evaluation systems. An essential aspect of the training activity will be the acquisition of technical-operational skills through laboratory and field research, in a practical and hands-on learning approach, in addition to basic theoretical knowledge.
From the second year, students will spend a period abroad (minimum 3 months up to a maximum of 12 months) at another university and/or research laboratory, company, cultural institution, and will participate/co-organise transdisciplinary research workshops.
The third year is dedicated to finalising the research project, design and artistic activities, prototypes in the case of practical and technological projects, or the theoretical-critical framework in the case of more speculative projects, as well as writing the thesis and completing dissemination activities.
At the end of each year, the students must present their activities, projects and results to the Scientific Committee, which examines and evaluates the individual work, makes recommendations and approves progression to the following year.
Research centers, Labs and Workshops
PhD students have access to the university’s infrastructure and facilities to develop their experimental research projects, including:
- Platform for Cultural Heritage and Cultural Production
- unibz BITZ Fablab
- Design Friction Lab
- Collaborative Design and Ideation Lab
- Physical Computing Lab
- User Research Lab
- Engineering CO-SPACE
- Deep Map Lab
- Photography workshop
- Video workshop
- Print workshop
- Computer lab
- Materials laboratory/bookshop
- Metal workshop
- Paper workshop (cutting and binding)
- Carpentry workshop
- Digital modelling workshop
- Centre for Academic Writing
- Language Centre
People
PhD Programme Coordinator: Prof. Antonella de Angeli (photo)
Student Representative in the Lecturer's Committee: ---
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Application and Admission
You can find key information to apply and gain admission to this PhD Programme. For detailed information browse the general and specific calls below.
In order to gain admission to the PhD programme, you will need to have obtained 300 ECTS credit points (master degree). You will also have to demonstrate competence in the English language (see call below).
Subject to accreditation of the Ministry.
1st Call
Application deadline: by 11/07/2024 (by noon local time)
Admission interviews: 24-25/07/2024 (via MS Teams)
Publication of ranking lists: by 05/08/2024
Confirmation of the PhD position - 1st Call
Applicants with scholarship: by 20/08/2024
Applicants without scholarship: starting from 21/08/2024 until 30/08/2024
Enrolment: from 21/08/2024 until 31/10/2024 (by noon local time)
Total Positions: 9
1st Call
Positions with university scholarships: 4
Positions with other types of scholarships: 1
Positions co-funded by DM 630/2024 under PNRR: 2
Positions without scholarships: 2
At this link you can find a list of potential research projects and their corresponding proposed supervisors. Other topics related to the research activities of the members of the Scientific Committee may be proposed and discussed by the candidates in accordance with the programme.
At this link you can find the list of research projects and their corresponding proposed supervisors of the MD630/2024 PNRR positions
There is also 1 scholarship with tied research topic funded by the Bruno Kessler Foundation and a 6 months stay in the Foundation:
Research Topic: Numerical simulation to explore distinctive SiC features for the development of cutting-edge devices. Requirements: basic knowledge of material physics and/or electronics; programming experience.
All citizen may apply to be admitted to a PhD programme:
- Applicants holding a postgraduate degree as per Italian Ministerial Decree no. 509/1999, a postgraduate degree as per Italian Ministerial Decree no. 270/2004, a degree of the former Italian university system, or an equivalent degree obtained abroad (university level education of at least five years);
- Applicants achieving one of the above mentioned titles within the enrolment deadline. In this case applicants will be admitted conditionally to the selection procedure and they must produce the degree certificate within the enrolment’s deadline. If not, their application is considered null and void.
- The prerequisites for admission to PhD programmes are related to having achieved an appropriate educational, and/or cultural background, and/or have worked in the PhD course areas of research.
As the program is offered in English, candidates must possess adequate English skills (corresponding at least to the upper intermediate level, B2), which will be assessed during the interview.
Applications to the selection procedure can be submitted from the date of the announcement of the public competition.
Each application is subject to a payment for administrative expenses (30 €). This registration fee cannot be reimbursed under any circumstances.
In order to apply, you need to follow these steps:
- Create an account at Application Portal and upload in electronic format a passport-size colour photo and a valid ID (passport or identity card, front/back);
- In the application portal, select the PhD programme and pay the registration fee of 30 € (see instructions in the portal);
- Fill in the online form in the same portal and upload the additional required documents (see the specific attachments to the call for each PhD programme).
Completing the application online is the only way to submit the application. Applications will not be considered if:
- incomplete or without compulsory entry qualifications/requirements;
- sent by e-mail.
It is necessary to upload the required documentation for each PhD programme chosen in the portal. A traffic light system indicates complete/incomplete documentation (missing documents will be marked in red).
Only documents uploaded by the deadline will be evaluated. It is advisable to apply online well in advance and to check the portal regularly to take note of any notes concerning missing and/or incorrect documents.
After the deadline, it will no longer be possible to complete/correct incomplete applications.
The University is not liable if the portal is overcharged, due to the net or to the software itself.
To apply to the PhD programme, candidates must include the documentation listed below. Incomplete applications will be excluded from the competition.
Attention: text exceeding the maximum allowed length (if clearly indicated for a document) will not be taken into account! Please respect the format/length indicated.
Diploma supplement or the Master degree diploma together with the transcript of records of all passed exams (=certificate with exams list of Master degree):
- if graduated in Italy: diploma supplement or self-declaration (following the Italian D.P.R. no. 445/2000) of the degree awarded with the exams passed (if graduated) or just with the exams passed (if not graduated yet);
- if graduated abroad: diploma supplement or final degree certificate with exams passed (if graduated) or transcript of records (if not graduated yet) in Italian, German or English related to a second level university qualification.
- The above must contain the following information: final grade, exams passed with grade and date of passing, credit points, scientific fields (the latter only for Italian titles), university where the degree was or will be awarded and date of graduation.
- For qualifications obtained abroad, also: scale of grades awarded by the home university (with a minimum final grade to obtain the qualification and a maximum final grade achievable). unibz reserves the right to request a description of the contents of the single courses and/or teaching hours where necessary.
If the certificates or diplomas were awarded by Italian public bodies, the relevant self-certification forms must be completed in the portal.
If the certificates or diplomas were awarded by foreign bodies, the certificates or diplomas must be uploaded to the portal.
- Curriculum vitae (CV) in English (possibly following the EU format that can be downloaded here). In the CV you should highlight for each reported activity, dates, and individual contribution. The CV should include, if available, a portfolio of up to 3 projects from the last 5 years and/or up to 3 essays or papers published in the last 5 years.
- A research project proposal (in English) containing:
a) a letter of motivation for participating in this doctoral programme (max. 1 page);
b) a report illustrating the research project proposal (max. 5 pages);
c) if available, letters of reference (max. 2).
The project preferences indicated by the candidate are not binding for the purposes of the assignment of the position. It will be the competence of the Selection Committee to orient the successful candidate to the project considered most suitable.
The admission procedure is as follows:
- Applications that meet the basic eligibility requirements will be evaluated by the Evaluation Committee, which will take into account: the CV, the project proposal and the match between the applicant’s profile/interests and the research areas of the PhD programme. The Evaluation Committee will then draw up a list of candidates to be invited to the interview.
- Selected candidates will be invited to discuss their project proposal, motivation and prove their ability to communicate in English. The interview will be conducted by video-conference. The evaluation committee will rank the candidates on the basis of a comparative evaluation.
Externally Funded Scholarships
In the case of externally funded scholarships, the applicant must explicitly mention the project and, if interested, the application in the letter of motivation.
The final ranking list will be published here.
Fees amount to € 189
In order to confirm your study place, you need to log on to the application portal and pay the tuition fees (€ 189) which includes the provincial tax for the right to study of € 173 and a revenue stamp of € 16. by one of the methods indicated on the portal by the deadline indicated above.
If you do not respect this deadline, you will automatically lose your study place. If, by paying the instalment you have confirmed the study place, there will be no refund of the tuition fees unless you are a non-EU applicant resident abroad and you do not receive the necessary documents from the Italian authorities in your country.
1st Call
Publication of the call: from 10/06/2024
Application deadline: by 11/07/2024 (by noon local time)
CALL GENERAL PART (PDF): EN – IT – DE
CALL SPECIFIC PART (PDF): EN – IT – DE
Contact us by phone at +39 0471 012800 or send us an e-mail: phd@unibz.it.