The programme

Overview

The PhD program in Human Sciences at the University of Verona offers highly qualified training in research on the human experience, explored from different theoretical and methodological perspectives, with a focus on the quality of educational and developmental processes, both personal and organizational, on the relationship between individual and collective actors, and environments, both natural and social, as well as on the dimensions of the human and the non-human with their interconnections.

Research training in the doctoral program in Human Sciences is divided into four curricula:

  • Philosophy
  • Education
  • Psychology
  • Sociology

Studies and research in the doctoral program in Human Sciences, are located within three interdisciplinary research lines:

Doctoral students in Human Sciences in Verona will work within a department with a strong vocation for interdisciplinary and collaborative research, geared toward addressing the complexity of emerging phenomena in the contemporary world through the most advanced methodologies of inquiry, promoting the realization of cultural and social impact.

The Ph.D. in Human Sciences enables researchers-in-training to develop the theoretical and methodological skills necessary to design and carry out highly qualified research activities, both through the rich and diversified training offered by the Course and the Doctoral School and through the guidance of mentors and participation in the life of the Department and its Research Centers and Laboratories.

The plan of educational offerings of the Doctoral Program in Human Sciences makes use of the multidisciplinary expertise of the faculty members of the Doctoral College and numerous national and international collaborations. Researchers with a doctoral degree in Human Sciences have professional outlets in the field of basic and applied research, both in universities and research institutions and in educational and training, clinical-health, social, and organizational contexts.

Thanks to the network of its Italian and international partners, the doctoral program enables research activities involving public and private entities, and includes a mandatory period of residence at foreign universities and research centers.

In addition to participating in the vibrant research community in the Department of Human Sciences and developing specialized skills, Ph.D. and Ph.D. students will be accompanied in engaging with the national and international scientific community through participation in symposia and conferences and public presentations of their research; they will also have the opportunity to acquire solid academic writing skills and undertake projects to publish articles and contributions in Italian and international circles.

Doctoral training will also enable them to experience and strengthen the connection between research and its social impact, through participation in wide-ranging dissemination actions of research results, including to a non-specialized audience, and where applicable to the construction of pathways for the implementation of new working models and practices in the collaboration between universities and local entities.

Training plan and experience abroad

The training plan involves research and study activities, including attendance at lecture series, seminars and laboratories, also taught by foreign lecturers. The teaching is both interdisciplinary and cross-curricular, aimed at developing a high level of English language proficiency and computer and statistical skills, and aimed at the acquisition of knowledge and research methodologies specific to the field of interest. The educational plan also includes a study abroad period of at least 3 months for the Philosophy and Pedagogy curricula, at least 9 months - consecutive or not - for the Psychology curricula (see below), and encourages thesis co-tutoring arrangements.

Related to overseas experience, the Pedagogy curriculum offers an international exchange program in Education and Learning of Adults(area 2) with Aalborg University (DK). The Psychology curriculum offers an international doctoral program in Cognitive Psychology and Linguistics(area 5) in collaboration with Lund University (SE), and international exchange programs in the areas of Developmental and Educational Psychology-Language acquisition (area 3) with Ohio State University (USA) and University of Colorado, Boulder (USA), and Work and Organizational Psychology (area 2) with Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven (BE) and Eindhoven University of Technology (NL).

Additional opportunities for mobility abroad, including at other university sites, are offered by calls for internationalization.

Structure of PhD training

The training is organized in transdisciplinary macro-areas that allow an understanding of the epistemological and methodological plurality that characterizes research in the humanities and support learning to design, conduct and assess a research project.

Within the macro-areas, seminars and lecture series refer to specific topics, addressed with levels of complexity and specialization consistent with the different phases of the doctoral path, from the beginning of the research, to the construction of the researcher’s mindset, the mastery of the tools, skills and practices of inquiry, up to the dissemination and social impact of research processes.

Each training activity includes an indication of the course year (I,II, or III) for which it is recommended and in some cases an indication of the curriculum for which it is considered essential, with the understanding that all activities are open to all curricula.

The PhD training is organized in the following areas: 

  • Research basics (epistemologies, research traditions, research ethics)
  • Research approaches and design in Human Sciences
  • Literature reviews
  • Data collection and analysis
  • Writing (project, abstract, scientific paper, writing for dissemination)
  • Research impact
  • Being a researcher
  • After the PhD