University of Macerata PhD School
The PhD corresponds to the third cycle and highest level of education in the Italian academic system. It is a postgraduate university programme at the end of which graduates are awarded the equivalent of the PhD (Philosophiae Doctor) title of Anglo-Saxon countries.
Firstly introduced by the Presidential Decree No. 382 of 11 July 1980, the Italian PhD programme has undergone a substantial regulatory change with the Ministerial Decree No. 45 of 8 February 2013, which introduced the need for accreditation of each PhD course, as requested by ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes). The Italian programme is in line with the guidelines shared by European institutions that carry out specific, original and qualified teaching and research activities that are recognised at an international level.
Since the PhD programme was first established, the University of Macerata has been promoting its courses and has been able to adapt to the legislation requirements as well as to the ever-changing reality.
In 2005 the Scuola di Dottorato di Ateneo (University PhD School) was founded with the purpose of coordinating and managing the procedures for the creation, accreditation, activation and evaluation of PhD courses. Additionally, the PhD School takes care of its students’ careers, it ensures the advertising and promotion of PhD programmes and it manages the relationships with national and international external institutions or companies, in the private and public sector.
One of the key features of the PhD School is its full commitment to developing interdisciplinary, internationally-recognized and inter-sectoral courses, aimed at enabling the PhD graduates to develop a career even outside the academic world.
The PhD School Board, that includes the Director and the Coordinators of all PhD programmes, has outlined the “General architecture of the PhD courses”, to which each programme must conform. The architecture finds its ultimate purpose in the interdisciplinary nature of the training courses by developing research programmes based on central themes where multiple focuses can still converge.
Moreover, the structure of the courses offers PhD candidates the opportunity to participate in cross-disciplinary teaching activities that are organized directly by the PhD School. The above-mentioned activities aim at boosting research skills (BibliOrienta, English for Academic Purposes), but also at promoting participation to European calls for funding (EU projects) or developing strategic cross-disciplinary skills (Laboratory for Creativity and Innovation). All of these are an essential prerequisite to achieving managerial roles within the economic, social and productive system.
The interdisciplinary and employment-focused nature of the PhD courses is monitored throughout the entire training cycle by the Mentor Club scheme, designed for facilitating the job placement of PhD graduates. The PhD School Board has, in addition, established that each PhD programme will have an appointed mentor, who will help the PhD students gain confidence and become more independent regarding their choices for the future.
In order to enhance the relationships between the university and private companies, the PhD School promotes applied research grants, whose projects are strictly connected to the needs of the partner companies for their own development. The PhD candidates, in this case, carry on their research both within the relevant PhD programme and the company, thus obtaining a valuable professional experience besides academic training.
As for the internationalisation of our PhD programmes, the PhD School operates on various fronts:
- encouraging the participation of professors from foreign Universities and institutions to the boards of our PhD programmes and employing them not only for theses supervision but also for our specialized teaching activities;
- designing PhD programmes that are entirely delivered in English (Global Studies, Justice, Rights, Politics and Quantitative Methods for Policy Evaluation);
- encouraging all PhD students to spend at least three months abroad for research and study, promoting international agreements for double PhD degrees, both for our students and for students from our universities.