PhD in
This PhD programme addresses the study of education and social sciences in an interdisciplinary context, providing the necessary skills to face research in the theoretical and empirical-experimental field and promoting the development of innovative application practices.
The programme responds to the growing need in international research to develop complex interpretations of socio-cultural and educational systems and to deepen conceptual, theoretical and methodological models. The study plan foresees different activities to ensure that PhD students acquire basic epistemological skills, methodological skills, both qualitative and quantitative, as well as transversal skills.
Students and professors from different countries, different disciplines and scientific fields guarantee the international and interdisciplinary orientation of the programme.
Over the three-year period, several teaching activities are offered: lectures, practical sessions and seminars that aim to develop and illustrate the programme’s subjects and research areas and to focus on the most recent findings in the education and in the social sector.
The main teaching areas are philosophy of science, epistemology of related disciplines, research methodology, currrent questions and methods drawn from the international context.
The cycles of compulsory and optional lectures, workshops and seminars (study plan) are defined by the PhD Course Committee at the beginning of the cycle.
Duration of the programme: 3 years
Courses will be taught in Italian, German and English
Places available: 4 positions with scholarship, 1 position without scholarship
Campus: Brixen-Bressanone
This is a full-time PhD programme and you can choose between two research areas: Education (which includes Pedagogical and Didactics fields) and Social science. The research areas share modules on research epistemology and on qualitative and quantitative research methods.
During the three years, you will have to take part in diversified teaching activities: a series of introductory lessons, workshops and seminars that illustrate and explore in depth the issues and research fields available in the programme and the most recent developments in education and the social sciences.
During your PhD you are required to spend at least three months abroad. You can choose to split your trip abroad into three stays of at least three consecutive weeks each.
Our faculty collaborates with many universities and research centres in Italy and abroad. Among our partners, besides the two Euregio universities of Innsbruck and Trento, are also the universities of Dresden, Hildesheim, Oviedo, Thessaly, Vienna e Vechta.
PhD Programme Coordinator: Prof. Dorothy Louise Zinn (photo)
Student representative in the Lecturer's Committee: Giampaolo Santi
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All you need to know to come to unibz as an international student or exchange student
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.
Publication of the call: from 27/03/2025
Application deadline: by 29/04/2025 (by noon local time)
Admission interviews (online): 20/05/2025 the interview will be held in person in room A2.01 at the Faculty of Education in Brixen-Bressanone or via MS Teams. Candidates who make a motivated request by 10/05/2025 can participate in the admission interview online. Requests must be submitted via mail PhD_Education@unibz.it
Publication of ranking lists: by 16/06/2025
Applicants with scholarship: Starting from the publication of the ranking list by 01/07/2025
Applicants without scholarship: Starting from 02/07/2025 by 17/07/2025
Enrolment: Starting from 02/07/2025 until 31/10/2025 (by noon local time)
Total positions: 5
Positions with university scholarships: 4
Positions without scholarship: 1
The candidate must present a research project proposal . Candidates for the programme may model a project based on one of the following topics proposed by Faculty researchers in the different research areas, but they are also welcome to present their own proposals on unrelated topics, but nonetheless coherent with the Faculty Research Areas.
In order to apply to this programme you need one of the following qualifications:
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.
All candidates have to be proficient in at least two of the three languages of the programme: Italian, German, English. Language certification at B2 level (CEFR) in two of the three languages of the PhD programme (Italian, German, English) is a prerequisite for participating in the selection process according to the table of the unibz recognized language certificates.
Knowledge of the language may also be demonstrated by qualifications (secondary school/bachelor/master) related to a programme held entirely in the language to certificate. In this case, Italian and EU candidates must declare this on the application portal, and upload the qualification both in the section related to the general application and in the one related to the language certificates. Also non-EU citizens must upload a copy of their diploma and any additional documentation indicating the language of instruction related to the foreign qualification in both sections. Candidates demonstrate their language proficiency in the application portal (in the section “upload language certificates”) after they have created an application in the section “create/manage applications”.
Candidates without the certification of language proficiency are excluded from the admission procedure.
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:
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.
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.
Diploma supplement or the Master degree diploma together with the transcript of records of all passed exams (=certificate with exams list of Master degree):
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. unibz reserves the right to request a description of the contents of the single courses and/or teaching hours where necessary.
Only one research project can be submitted per application.
The project preferences indicated by the candidate are not binding for the purposes of the assignment of the position: The illustrated research proposal does not necessarily represent the research to be developed during the PhD.
Admission is based on the successful outcome of the selection procedure. The selection procedure consists of the evaluation of a research project uploaded by the candidate on the application portal and a personal interview.
Candidates whose project scores a minimum of 40/60 points will be admitted to the oral test.
The research project may be written in Italian, German or English, at the candidate's choice, and must respect the maximum length of 10,000 characters, using this template in Times New Roman 11 font.
The research project to be submitted/uploaded to the portal contains the following information at the top of the first page:
Evaluation criteria for the research project:
The evaluation criteria of the oral test take into consideration the following criteria:
To pass the oral test, candidates must obtain a minimum score of 40/60.
Date and time of the interview are indicated in the "Deadlines" section of this page.
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.
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.
CALL GENERAL PART (PDF): EN – IT – DE
CALL SPECIFIC PART (PDF): EN – IT – DE
For more information contact us by phone at +39 0471 012800 or send us an e-mail: phd@unibz.it