PhD Scholarships – Call For Applications

The University of Trento is now inviting applications from qualified candidates for 15 PhD Scholarships in its three PhD programmes:

PhD programme in Sociology and Social Research (5 Scholarships)

The programme provides state-of-the-art research training and teaches advanced professional skills in sociology and social research. Besides providing a solid foundation in the disciplines, including a broad range of quantitative and qualitative methods, the Programme places strong emphasis on theoretically driven empirical sociology. The PhD Programme in Sociology and Social Research is open to proposals on all kinds of topics related to Sociological research. Particular attention will be paid to proposals fitting in the following research areas highlighted in the description of the PhD programme, among them:

• Social and demographic change; 
• Comparative sociology; welfare and social policies; 
• Social inequality studies and stratification research (class, education, cohort, gender); 
• Economic sociology, labour market and organizational studies; 
• Migration studies; 
• Political sociology (political participation, social movements, public opinion research); 
• Digital sociology, computational social sciences
• Communication and cultural sociology
• Cognitive sociology

PhD programme in Economics and Finance – jointly with the Free University of Bozen (4 Scholarships)

The programme aims to train researchers with solid quantitative and theoretical skills capable of analyzing economic and financial phenomena. The theses must be oriented to the maximum scientific rigor and present innovative characters that make them publishable in prestigious international journals subject to peer-review. The programme is designed to contribute to the international scientific debate on the issues of economics and finance. In this perspective, candidates will be encouraged to use methodologies that reflect the state of the art and to adopt a multidisciplinary approach. Particular emphasis will be given to research proposals on the following subjects:

• Economic development and institutions
• Monetary and fiscal policies 
• Economic choices and energy transition 
• Financial risk management 
• International companies and markets 
• Investment and optimization tools 
• Evaluation of public policies
• Financial markets
• Big Data
• ESG and sustainable finance 

PhD programme in Economics and Finance: Project-specific scholarships - 39th cycle (2 Scholarships) 

https://www.unitn.it/drss/ecofin/1127/project-specific-scholarships-39th-cycle

• How can the small business-based economy of regions like South Tyrol and Trentino achieve structural change towards sustainable and carbon-neutral development while maintaining their competitiveness? - sponsored by Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano

Progressive climate change requires economic actors to react ever more quickly. This means that there will be an acceleration of structural change, which will not only affect the economy, but society as a whole. To investigate these socio-economic impact chains and processes, the doctoral student uses empirical data and analyses them with innovative statistical methods.

• ESG Modelling: Challenges and Opportunities - sponsored by Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob)

The scholarship will focus on the following objectives:

• Data analysis and definition of a control algorithm that allows the verification of ESG parameters in financial instruments/products.
• Definition of metrics for greenwashing.
• Creation of an alert model based on deep learning models.

PhD programme in Sustainability: Economics, Environment, Management and Society - SUSTEEMS (6 Scholarships) 

The programme is a rigorous training and research program which will provide PhD students with the know-how to investigate, develop and implement models and methods in the multidisciplinary nexus of economic, environmental and social sustainability. Such methodologies include: sustainable economic models and tools for managing natural resources, sustainable business and management models and tools for companies, institutions, for-profit and non-profit organizations. Particular emphasis will be given to research proposals on the following subjects:

• Sustainability measurement, risk assessment and impact evaluation of climate change, green technologies, social innovation, etc.
• Non-market valuation for sustainability.
• The impact of regulations and norms on sustainable development.
• Business models in a world of technological and organizational change, and social innovation.
• Sustainable management of businesses, organizations and territories with particular attention to tourism and cultural activities.
• Economic inequality, female employment, and sustainability
• Economic development, sustainable trade, sustainability of regions and cities

For more information about the scholarship offered by the Istituto di Ricerca sullo Sviluppo Economico sostenibile IRCRES - CNR: “Science, technology and innovation for sustainable development” see the following webpage: https://www.unitn.it/drss/susteems/1116/project-specific-scholarship-39th-cycle 

Application Deadline: June 20, 2023 - 4 p.m. (Italian time)

All programmes are full time and will be taught in English by members of the university’s multi-national faculty. No tuition fees are charged and the scholarships are adequate to cover living expenses in Trento.

For the online application, click the 'Apply' button.

For further details, please visit our website http://web.unitn.it/en/drss , or write to:

Doctoral School of Social Sciences, University of Trento, via Verdi 26, I-38122 Trento, Italy, Email: school.socialsciences@unitn.it