PhD in
This PhD programme aims at providing talented and motivated students with in-depth research skills that will allow them to tackle relevant agricultural and environmental problems in mountain areas. Students will have the chance to join a range of training opportunities, seminars and conferences and to work under the guidance of supervisors within international research teams.
The three-year programme is highly interdisciplinary; competences span from ecology to hydrology, from crop production to animal science, from forestry to agricultural engineering, from plant protection to marketing. The PhD projects tackle, among others, the efficient use of natural resources, the sustainable production methods in agriculture and forestry, the effect of climate change on natural and managed mountain ecosystems.
The Scientific Committee includes internationally renowned scientists from Italian and foreign Universities as well as from Research Centres, like Eurac Research and Laimburg Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry.
The international research training and the skills developed during the doctoral programme will help you meeting your career aspirations, both inside and outside research institutions.
Duration of the programme: 3 years
Courses will be taught in English (occasionally, some courses will be taught in Italian and German).
Places available: 7 with scholarship
Campus: Bozen-Bolzano
Tuition fees: € 180 per year
During the first year, you attend courses, prepare and submit your research plan under the guidance of the main supervisor, and you also present a seminar on the state-of-the-art in your area of interest. You are encouraged to develop an excellent command on methodological techniques and to start preliminary research activity.
In the second year, you are expected to carry out research activities according to the research plan and schedule, and to spend a training period in a foreign university or research centre. In the third year, you are mainly required to concentrate yourself on data elaboration and on writing your thesis.
Along the three-year period, you are also required to acquire credit points by attending seminars, summer/winter schools, by presenting contributions to international conferences and by writing scientific papers for high-ranked international journals. The dissertation is expected to be a collection of scientific papers with a comprehensive introduction, discussion and conclusion.
Your research training will be embedded within several research projects of international relevance and will foresee a cooperation with foreign partners.
The PhD Steering Committee benefits from the presence of internationally reputed professors from foreign universities. The presence of at least one co-supervisor of your PhD project from a foreign research institution is highly recommended. A high percentage of your PhD students’ peers come from abroad.
Your international training will be additionally strengthened by your stay (for a duration of 3 to12 months) in a foreign research institution, chosen to suit your area of interest. This opportunity will broaden your experience. By doing research in highly stimulating and competitive contexts, you will exchange ideas with other scholars and establish a network that will be useful in your future career
PhD Programme Coordinator: Prof. Massimo Tagliavini (photo)
Lecturer's Committee secretariat: Prof. Camilla Wellstein
Student Representative in the Lecturer's Committee: Cameron Brodrick Cullinan
Living in South Tyrol, Housing, Scholarships and more
Application procedure, Visa, Residence permit and more
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) and have some relevant academic experience in the field of the programme. You will also have to demonstrate competence in the English language with a recognized language certificate and be successful in a public competition (see call of below).
Application deadline: by 15 June 2023, 12:00 midday (CEST)
Admission interviews: 3-5 July, 2023, at unibz for those living in Italy or online via Microsoft Teams
Communication of interview details: by 28 June 2023
Publication of ranking lists: by 14 July 2023
Applicants with grant: starting from 14 July 2023 until 27 July 2023;
Applicants without grant: starting from 27 July 2023 until 04 August 2023.
Enrolment: Starting from 27 July 2023 until 31 October 2023, 12:00 midday (CEST)
In mid-June, another call for additional positions with scholarships in cooperation with companies (DM 117) will be published.
Total positions: 7
Positions with university grants: 3
Positions with other types of grants: 4
All citizen, regardless of sex, age and nationality may apply to be admitted to a PhD:
Candidates are expected to have acquired an appropriate educational, and/or cultural and/or professional background in the field of agricultural, environmental, biological, animal or geosciences.
English Language certification at level B2 (or higher levels).
Linguistic competence can be proven by:
The proficiency in English will also be assessed during the interviews.
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:
Completing the application online is the only way to submit the application. Applications will not be considered if:
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.
The application must be completed no later than 15 June 2023 at 12:00 midday (GTM +2:00). After this 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.
Other documents to be included in the application if available:
When submitting their application, applicants must indicate on the portal a maximum of 3 research topics chosen from the list of titles indicated. The choice is not binding.
Admission to the programme is based on the evaluation of a) the academic qualification as it appears from the CV and other documents, b) of the motivational and reference letters, and c) on the outcome of the interview.
For those applicants who fulfil the admission requirements, the Evaluation Committee will first evaluate the application and draw up a short list of applicants admitted to the interview. The Committee will select the best applicants on the basis of a comparative assessment.
The following points will be awarded:
The final score is the sum of the previous scores. The maximum score is 50. The lowest score to be admitted to the ranking list is 25/50. The final score is used for ranking the applicants and to establish A) the list of the admitted candidates and B) the list of candidates entitled to receive the fellowships. Separate rankings will be drawn up for the two externally funded projects. If two or more applicants have the same score, the younger candidate will be given priority.
Fees amount to € 180
In order to confirm your study place, you need to log on to the application portal and pay the tuition fees (€ 180) which includes the provincial tax for the right to study of € 164 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.
Application deadline: by 15 June 2023, 12:00 midday (CEST)
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