The PhD

Coordinator: Dario CATALANO
Duration: 3 years

Course Overview and Educational Aims

The primary objective of the PhD Programme is to train young researchers in both fundamental and applied Computer Science, as well as to develop highly qualified professionals capable of pursuing careers in academic research and in industry.

The programme aims to foster the acquisition of the following competencies:

the ability to conduct independent research leading to internationally recognized scientific results with potential for technological transfer;

• the ability to collaborate with experts on research and development projects addressing both core mathematical and computer science topics and multidisciplinary themes;
• the ability to coordinate small research and development teams in both academic and industrial contexts;
• the ability to communicate projects and research outcomes at an international level;
• the ability to critically assess research results and the scientific literature within at least one area of specialization.

The educational programme is structured across three main components:

1. Coursework, primarily during the first two years, including both foundational courses and advanced courses related to the PhD research areas;

2. Research activities, aimed at progressively strengthening the doctoral candidates’ research skills;

3. Preparation of the PhD dissertation, carried out under the supervision of faculty members specializing in the research areas chosen by the doctoral candidates (mainly during the third year).

Doctoral students are required to participate in specialized seminars and may undertake study and research periods at partner universities and research centres (including international institutions). They may also complete internships in companies, public institutions, or research centres.

Job Opportunities

All active PhD cycles have, over the years, secured a substantial number of external grants. These have been obtained both through individual agreements with external institutions and companies and through participation in national funding programmes, such as the National Operational Programme for Industrial PhDs, which have enabled the activation of numerous industrial and research-oriented training pathways. These initiatives are developed in partnership between the research groups of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science and academic and industrial stakeholders at both national and international level.

A common career path across all research tracks is academic research. Doctoral candidates are introduced to this environment through the advanced research activities they conduct, often in collaboration with distinguished international scholars with whom members of the PhD Board maintain established scientific partnerships.

Thanks to an extensive network of collaborations with industry and applied research institutions, doctoral candidates have the opportunity to undertake internships in companies and research centres. These experiences are also aimed at facilitating their entry into the labour market, particularly in sectors requiring highly specialized expertise. By way of example, our doctoral candidates have carried out study and research periods, in several cases leading to postdoctoral employment, at institutions and companies such as STMicroelectronics, Telecom JolWave, Enel Green Power, iCTLab, ParkSmart, and Next Vision.

Particularly noteworthy is the programme’s strong activity in the field of computer science applied to clinical and epidemiological problems.

Through this well-established network of collaborations, doctoral candidates are prepared for careers both in academic research and in industry, especially in the areas of computational modelling and applied computer science. The natural career outcomes of the PhD include university research and high-technology industries. For those who choose to pursue an academic career, the typical progression after the PhD consists of a postdoctoral research fellowship in Italy or a period of postdoctoral studies at a foreign university.

Many of the disciplines covered by the programme provide training that makes our doctoral graduates particularly well suited to the corporate sector. The PhD in Computer Science develops specialists in areas such as Computer Vision, Digital Forensics, Security and Cryptography, Virtual Reality, and Distributed Computing Systems. In both academic and industrial contexts, the high-level training provided by the programme facilitates the almost immediate integration of our PhD graduates into the professional world.