International PhD in
Food Engineering and Biotechnology
The purpose of this International PhD programme is to train a new generation of globally renowned researchers to apply approaches of engineering and biotechnology to food processing by giving them the opportunities to transfer and exchange knowledge with national and international research centers and industries.
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Course Description
The three-year program mainly focuses on research concerning primary food production, set-up, and management, as well as the validation of food processes, and the application of omics techniques to condition and characterize food processing and food products, with a particular emphasis on fermented foods. The main features of the PhD are an interdisciplinary scientific approach and the participation of internationally renowned scientists on the Scientific Committee.
If you have excelled in higher education, this PhD will enable you to continue your career in academia in a stimulating, multilingual environment with fellow researchers from a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. During the course, you will gain the competences required to carry out innovative and methodologically rigorous and advanced research projects. For this purpose, you will be required to design an original research project under the supervision of an Italian and/or foreign lecturer, to spend at least six months at a renowned foreign research center and, concurrently, to develop the ability to work both independently and in a team.
This International PhD opens up several career opportunities. Once you obtain your doctorate, you will be able to continue your research activities in academia, in public or private research centers, in leading food industries, or as a business consultant within the specific research areas of the program.
At a glance
Duration of the programme: 3 years
Courses will be taught in English
Places available: 5 with scholarship
Scholarships awarded per year 28,000 €
Campus: Bozen-Bolzano
Programme Structure
The PhD covers the research areas of Food Processing as one of the focuses of the faculty. Engineering and Biotechnology are the high throughput approaches to food processing science. Upon acceptance into the program after a public selection procedure, you will be required to design a research project and write a prospectus with your supervisor, including the purpose of your project and the steps necessary to implement it. Occasionally, you will be required to update the steps in consideration of the progression of your work and the latest developments in your research field. Your stay for at least three months at a foreign research center is mandatory and you will be required to publish or submit for publication at least three articles in international peer-reviewed journals. During the three-year program, you will also be required to regularly attend classes and seminars specifically designed for PhD students.
The stages of the PhD
The PhD programme consists of five stages, which end after 2, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively.
- During STAGE 1, you will define your research plan, also preparing a draft of the prospectus.
- During STAGE 2, you will define your research project in more detail based on the pertinent literature.
- During STAGE 3, you will start your work in the lab applying the approach defined for your project.
- During STAGE 4, you will continue your research, you will plan your stay abroad, and you will be expected to begin preparing manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
- During the final stage - STAGE 5 - you will complete your research project, the publication of your manuscripts, and your dissertation.
Research Activities Abroad
During the three years of the PhD programme, you will be required to commit to your research project full-time. Your stay at a renowned foreign research center for at least 3 months is compulsory. This will be an opportunity to diversify your study experience, by conducting research in highly stimulating and competitive contexts, exchanging ideas with other researchers, and, thereby, networking with international colleagues.
People
PhD Programme Coordinator: Prof. Stefano Cesco
Student Representative in the Lecturer's Committee: Parham Joolaei Ahranjani
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Application and Admission
You can find key information to apply and gain admission to this PhD Programme. Detailed information are available below in the general and specific calls (PDF).
In order to gain admission to the PhD programme, you will have to demonstrate competence in the languages of the PhD programme with a recognised language certificate and be successful in a public competition.
2nd Call
Publication of the call: 07/05/2025
Application deadline: by 11/06/2025 (by noon local time)
Admission interviews (online): 26-27/06/2025 (online, via MS Teams)
Publication of ranking lists: by 11/07/2025
Confirmation of the PhD position - 2nd Call
Applicants with scholarship: by 24/07/2025 (by noon local time)
Applicants without scholarship: by 07/08/2025 (by noon local time)
Enrolment: Starting from 25/07/2025 until 31/10/2025
Admission Interviews Calendar: EN - IT - DE (PDF) (coming soon)
Total Positions: 5
1st Call
Positions with scholarships: 5
In the academic year 2025/26, the PhD program Food Engineering and Biotechnology offers 11 possible research topics.
2nd Call
At the following link you can find a list of potential research projects and their corresponding proposed supervisors. Please read carefully the document, consider that you must indicate on the portal a max. of 3 research topics chosen from the list of titles indicated. The choice is not binding.
In order to apply to this programme you need one of the following qualifications:
- 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).
If you have not yet achieved one of the above mentioned titles within the enrolment deadline, you will be admitted conditionally to the selection procedure and you must produce the degree certificate within the enrolment’s deadline. If not, your application is considered null and void.
Prerequisites for admission to the doctoral programmes are an appropriate educational and/or cultural background and/or experience in the research. Qualifications in the field of interest of the PhD programme are preferred.
The Commission reserves the right to decide and to assess whether or not previous qualifications are suitable for admission purposes.
English Language certification at level B2 (or higher levels).
Knowledge of the English language of at least level B2 is required, to be proven in the application portal by uploading the relevant language certificate (section ‘upload language certificates’ after filling in the pre-enrolment form in the ‘create/manage applications’ section).If language skills are proven by a high school diploma/graduate or master's degree, the latter must be uploaded a second time in the section above.
If the certificates or diplomas were issued by Italian public bodies, the relevant substitutive declarations must be completed in the portal.
If the certificates or diplomas were issued by foreign bodies, the certificates or diplomas must be uploaded to the portal.
English Language certification at level B2 (or higher levels).
Linguistic competence can be proven by:
- If the main language of instruction in the final year of the diploma is English, it counts as C1.
- A bachelor's or master's degree in English certifies the C1 level. unibz graduates must upload the language certificates they have obtained or declare that they have passed the language examinations at the unibz Language Centre (B2, B2+ or C1).
- A recognised language certificate (see the list of recognised certificates from the Language Centre). Please note: the certificate must not have been obtained more than 5 years before the application for recognition.
The proficiency in English will also be assessed during the interviews. At the end of the three-year programme each PhD student must have achieved the C1 level.
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 (50 €). 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 50 € (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, applicants must include the documentation listed below. Incomplete applications will be excluded from the competition.
- 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.
For admission, the (exams) average grade of master's degree (or equivalent) must be greater than or equal to 24/30.
- Motivation letter in English language (maximum 1 page), stating your preference for research projects (maximum 3) and/or for the position tied to a subject-related scholarship, briefly justifying your choice
- Updated curriculum vitae in English pursuant to the European format, downloadable at the following link
- English Language certification at level B2 (or higher levels). If the language skills are demonstrated by a high school diploma/graduate or master's degree, the latter must also be uploaded a second time in the above section.
Other (optional) documents to be included in the application if available:
- up to a maximum of 2 letters of reference, written in Italian, German or English by a university lecturer or researcher from a research institute, in which the work carried out or the quality of the same is described; instead of letters, the names and institutional contacts of up to 2 professional references may be provided;
- a list of publications (published, in print or submitted) with link, if available (max 3). It will be evaluated up to 3 peer-reviewed manuscripts published in indexed-journals.
The selection committee carries out a comparative assessment of the applicants.
The admission procedure is as follows:
Applications will be examined ex officio for completeness and fulfilment of the formal requirements.
Applications that meet the basic eligibility requirements will be assessed by the Evaluation Committee, which will award the following points:
- Up to 10 points for motivation letter, CV, titles;
- Up to 10 points for coherence of the applicant's profile with the scientific fields relevant to the PhD
- The Evaluation Committee will then draw up a list of candidates who have reached the minimum score (10/20) to be invited to the interview.
The following elements will be assessed during the interview: aptitude for research; possession of a language level appropriate to the language of the programme; argumentative capacity in relation to the theoretical and methodological hypotheses of the research project presented. The interview is considered passed if at least 10/20 points are obtained.
The final score is made up of the sum of the scores obtained in the assessment of the documentation and interview. Applicants and candidates who have obtained at least 20/40 points will be eligible. Separate rankings will be drawn up for each position tied to a subject-related scholarship.
The final ranking list will be published here.
To create an application in the portal you need to pay the following fees:
- Administrative fees: € 50
To confirm your study place, you need to log in to the application portal and pay the following fees using one of the payment methods indicated on the portal by the specified deadline.
- One-off registration fee: € 200, including a € 16 revenue stamp
If you fail to meet this deadline, you will automatically lose your place. Once you have confirmed your place by paying the instalment, there is no refund of tuition fees unless you are a non-EU applicant living abroad and you have not received the necessary documents from the Italian authorities in your country.
There are no other fees to be paid.
2nd Call
CALL GENERAL PART (PDF): EN – IT – DE
CALL SPECIFIC PART (PDF): EN – IT – DE
For further questions contact us by phone at +39 0471 012800 or send us an e-mail: phd@unibz.it
