PhD in Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering

1. Engineering of Infrastructure, Resources and Territory
2. Structural and Geotechnical Engineering
3. Chemical and Process Engineering
4. Materials Engineering and Industrial Biotechnology

Curriculum 1: Engineering of infrastructure, resources and territory

• Water Engineering
• Sanitary engineering
• Roads and Transport Systems
• Topography and  Cartography
• Geoengineering and Georesources
• Applied Geology

Curriculum 2: Structural and Geotechnical Engineering

• Continuum Mechanics
• Structures
• Geotechnics

Curriculum 3: Chemical and process engineering

• Principles of Chemical Engineering
• Chemical Plants
• Fundamental of Chemical Process Development
• Industrial and Technological Chemistry

Curriculum 4: Materials engineering and industrial biotechnology

• Fundamental Chemistry of Technologies
• Materials Science and Technology
• Industrial, Food and Environmental Biotechnologies

Appointed by RD n. 709/2023 Prot n. 149534 on Jun 02, 2023

Call for further PhD Positions
Appointed by Rectoral Decree n. 1066/2023 Prot. n. 0226313 of 04/08/2023

* The following shall take part in the work of the Examination Board as expert members for positions linked to specific research topics:

• Corrado Fittavolini - Eni SpA

Call for applications
Appointed by Rectoral Decree n. 709/2023 Prot. n. 149534 of 02/06/2023

* The following shall take part in the work of the Examination Board as expert members for positions linked to specific research topics:

• Corrado Fittavolini - AgroMateriae Srl

The main goal is the acquisition of the knowledge and skills needed to conduct high-quality scientific research activities in the development of innovative technologies and methods for the current and emerging fields of either civil engineering, or process and chemical engineering, or environmental engineering, or materials engineering, or industrial biotechnologies.

The scientific activity of PhD students is generally devoted to the theoretical-experimental investigation of a project in the framework of the active research fields in the DICAM department; projects in cooperation with foreign universities, research centers as well as with industrial partners are warmly recommended.
The development of the doctoral thesis and the dissemination through scientific publications and participation to national and international conferences, constitute the main activity for the student and provides for a relevant experimental work and/or modeling and numerical simulation of the processes examined. The activities can be carried out both in DICAM laboratories and in other institutions. Activities include development of the research plans, experiments and/or field survey. Formal education is concentrated mainly in the first year. The starting point of the research activity should be a wide bibliographic research about the state-of-the-art in the field of interest. Projects in cooperation with industrial partners allow to spend some time in working and profesional context. Results dissemination occurs in particular through the doctoral thesis monograph and peer-reviewed papers.

The goal of the training activity is to teach the students advanced knowledge and skills in the typical fields of Civil, Chemical, Environmental and Materials Engineering and Industrial Biotechnology.
Formal instruction consists of specialist courses (3rd level courses) and seminars. The specialist courses are managed by DICAM Department and deal with cross-disciplinary (intellectual property, EU calls for research funding, Academic and technical writing and presenting in English), as well discipline-specific topics for the research topics of concern for the PhD program. These activities should be concluded in the first two years of the program. The training program is defined for each student according to his/her own previous studies and research goals.
Seminars are held by file speakers form national and international Universities and Institutions; these provide opportunities for deeper investigation of specific research topics, interdisciplinary research and internationalization. Attending national and international conferences and high profile initiatives (e.g. PhD schools, seminar cycles by high profile institutions) is warmly encouraged.
Formal teaching is complemented by informal learning activities carried out under the supervision of research tutors. These concerns the development of field-specific skills on research and dissemination.
For all the students, it is very warmly recommended to spend a period abroad (minimum 5 months) in universities or research centers or other institutions.

The PhD Program aims at the development research skills with an international perspective.
The PhD students join research groups at UniBo that hold a well established network of international collaborations on the fields of research, dissemination, and university education.
All the students have to spend (with the exception of particular cases) a period of studies in the laboratories/research centers of international institutions working on the same projects of their own PhD program; the period should last between 5 and 18 months. During his/her stay, the student learns new experimental techniques and/or develops specific modeling procedures which are complementary to those existing at DICAM. “Exchanges” of PhD students coming from other universities are regularly approved to spend some time at DICAM working on common projects; some students are also hosted according to specific international agreements (ERASMUS mundus, EU projects ecc.). Research activity abroad is scheduled usually during the second and central phase of the research.
The PhD program organizes workshops and seminars, with international profile, hold by professors form foreign institutions or visiting professors. PhD courses and seminars are mainly held in English.
Participation of foreign candidates to the admission tests of the program is possible through web-based applications.
The PhD Course is open to accept positions reserved to foreign students. In the last years some positions were funded by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions, Chinese Scolarship Council, Italian Ministry of Foregin Affairs, etc.
Joint tutorship (co-tutela) with foreign universities was arranged for some of our students.

In addition to the final thesis, the ability of the student to carry out research activity should be documented by some presentations at international congresses as well as by some papers published in international scientific journals relevant for the typical fields of PhD programme. The development of national and international patents is greatly appreciated.