1st Call

Publication of the call: 27/03/2025
Application deadline: by 29/04/2025 (by noon local time)
Admission interviews (online): by 30/05/2025 (via MS Teams)
Publication of ranking lists: by 16/06/2025

Confirmation of the PhD position - 1st Call

Applicants with scholarship: by 01/07/2025 
Applicants without scholarship: from 02/07/2025 to 17/07/2025
Enrolment: Starting from 02/07/2025 until 31/10/2025 (by noon local time)

Total Positions: 5

1st Call

Positions with scholarships: 4
Positions without scholarships: 1

The thematic and research lines of the programme converge on Design and Art, Information Engineering, Social Sciences and Education and are oriented towards, but not limited to, the following areas: interaction design, trans-media and multimodal communication with intelligent technologies, intelligent technologies, society and education, education to art and cultural heritage through digital technologies, life-centered design for cultural, digital, landscape and intangible heritage, phygital design and interaction, smart material design and smart fabrication, interaction design and smart materials. 

PhD candidates are encouraged to explore these research topics and the profiles of the Board of professors when submitting project proposals. 

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.

As the program is offered in English, candidates must possess adequate English skills (corresponding at least to the upper intermediate level, B2), which will be assessed during the interview.

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:

1. 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);
2. In the application portal, select the PhD programme and pay the registration fee of 50 € (see instructions in the portal);
3. 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, candidates must include the documentation listed below. Incomplete applications will be excluded from the competition.
Attention: text exceeding the maximum allowed length (if clearly indicated for a document) will not be taken into account! Please respect the format/length indicated.

Diploma supplement or the Master degree diploma together with the transcript of records of all passed exams (=certificate with exams list of Master degree):

• 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.

If the certificates or diplomas were awarded by Italian public bodies, the relevant self-certification forms must be completed in the portal.

If the certificates or diplomas were awarded by foreign bodies, the certificates or diplomas must be uploaded to the portal.

1. Presentation letter (in English in PDF format, maximum 3,500 characters including spaces, maximum 45 MB). Give evidence of the reasons for applying to the PhD programme in Experimental Research through Design, Art and Technologies, the reasons that prompted the applicant to choose unibz (in particular the Faculty of Design and Art) and the career prospects after completing the PhD. Include a brief discussion of your general research interests, questions and objectives, and add a summary of the skills you have already acquired (e.g. in research at master's level) and the techniques and methodologies you are interested in learning and applying in your PhD research. Candidates are encouraged to offer a personal and authentic perspective; therefore, they are invited to avoid the use of AI in formulating these texts. Candidates can also specify if they are interested in the position without a scholarship. 
2. Updated curriculum vitae covering the last 5 years of experience in English according to the unibz format, downloadable at the following link. If available, the candidates can include a digital copy of up to 3 selected publications (published, in press or submitted) from the last 5 years and/or a portfolio of up to 3 projects from the last 5 years. The candidate must provide the following information for each project: when it was carried out; the concept (maximum 3,500 characters including spaces); whether it was commissioned, whether it is self-produced or part of an educational experience; the role of the candidate in the project. Candidates may include links to other media to present the projects. All materials must be submitted in English in single PDF file (maximum 45 MB).  
3. up to a maximum of 2 letters of reference, written in 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. 
4. Research proposal (in English in PDF format, maximum 7.000 characters including spaces, maximum 45 MB): Candidates propose a research topic of particular interest to them, considering the research topics addressed by the current members of the Board of professors and the PhD programme.

The proposal should include:

• the title of the research project to be carried out, together with a draft of the project;
• the draft should include a discussion of the state of the art;
• aims and objectives of the planned research;
• a discussion of the research methodology.

The illustrated research proposal does not necessarily represent the research to be developed during the PhD; in the event of admission, the PhD research project that will actually be carried out will subsequently be defined and approved by the Board of professors, after the start of the PhD activities as provided for in the unibz Regulation on PhDs. Candidates can add annexes to the text document to accompany the proposal with other presentation media, such as images, visualizations, links to external resources. 

The admission procedure is as follows: 

• Applications that meet the basic eligibility requirements will be evaluated by the Evaluation Committee, which will take into account: the presentation letter, the CV, the titles, the publications, the portfolio and the letters of reference and the match between the applicant’s profile/interests and the research areas of the PhD programme. The Evaluation Committee will then draw up a list of candidates to be invited to the interview. 
• Selected candidates will be invited to discuss their project proposal, motivation and prove their ability to communicate in English. The interview will be conducted by video-conference. The evaluation committee will rank the candidates on the basis of a comparative evaluation. 

The final ranking list will be published here.

• Prof.ssa Letizia Bollini
• Prof.ssa Antonella De Angeli
• Prof.ssa Elisabeth Tauber

To confirm your study place, you need to log in to the application portal and pay the following fees (€ 250 in total) using one of the payment methods indicated on the portal by the specified deadline.

• Administrative fees: € 50 
• 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.