Company personnel training

The University of Bologna supports businesses in their innovation processes and in their related organisational and professional changes, which often require the updating of competences already held or the acquisition of new ones. Starting from the company requirements, the University defines and develops vocational training projects using competency-based learning models.

The companies are guided in identifying the most appropriate solutions within the University’s broad Programme Catalogue which, at different levels of study and vertical integration, covers every topic in the scientific, technical, technological, legal and regulatory, social and psychological, economic and managerial fields.

As regards economic and managerial training, please refer to the Bologna Business School programme catalogue.

Among the University’s programme catalogue, the following tools are used to train company personnel:

  • Post-graduate programmes

  • Summer/Winter Schools

  • Masters

  • Industrial PhD programmes

Post-graduate programmes

In addition to post-graduate and lifelong learning programmes already available in the catalogue, companies can also take advantage of the possibility to request tailor-made courses, designed on demand to meet business needs, integrated with the highly qualified teaching and scientific and technological research delivered by the University teachers.

The training intervention is designed following an in-depth analysis of the company’s training needs in relation to the market context in which it operates and its development objectives.

The tailor-made training may come in two formats:

  • Spot training interventions, typically short-term. This is generally a one-off format, suited to filling specific competence gaps.

  • Medium/long-term training paths, involving a series of courses, repeatable if required, co-designed with the company personnel. This format is suited for companies intending to invest in training for their own personnel, using a tool very similar to the Business Academy concept, aiming to increase internal competences, speed up professional growth and expand knowledge in new sectors and technological fields, involving their staff on several levels (e.g. basic courses for a large number of employees, advanced courses for specific profiles, alignment programmes for new recruits).

List of post-graduate and lifelong learning programmes in the catalogue

Summer/Winter Schools

Summer and Winter Schools are international courses with programmes varying from one to four weeks. They include both lectures and workshops, and in some cases also opportunities for discovering the culture and traditions of Emilia Romagna. Most courses are held in English.

The courses are addressed mainly to students and young graduates from Italy and around the world, but in some cases are also run for specific professional figures.

The companies can enrol their own staff, even from foreign branches, in any programmed Summer or Winter Schools, but they can also co-design a Summer or Winter school to meet the needs of one or more businesses, with reserved places if required.

More information on Summer/Winter Schools

Masters

University master’s programmes are professional training courses leading to a permanent and recurrent scientific post-graduate qualification, open to first cycle or second cycle graduates. Some of the master’s programmes at the University of Bologna are delivered in the English language.

For people already in work, the master’s programme is an opportunity to update and supplement their competences and enhance their professional profile, to better tackle changing professional needs or prepare for a new role or company context.

For a company, the master’s programme is a tool for enhancing their own talents, with a view to professional growth or as part of a business transformation process.

The companies can enrol their own staff, even from foreign branches, in any master’s programme already in the catalogue, but they can also co-design a master’s programme to meet the needs of one or more businesses, with reserved places if required.

More information on Master’s programmes

Industrial PhD programmes (executive)

Entities or companies can enter into an agreement with the university in order to activate industrial PhD programmes. Within these programmes, it is possible to allocate a portion of the available positions to employees of the same entities or companies engaged in high-skilled activities, providing them with a privileged opportunity for training and enriching their profiles. The PhD programme is a unique opportunity for growth, allowing the employee not only to acquire innovative, highly qualified methodological competences on a subject of interest for the company, but also to take advantage of the contamination of approaches and visions offered by being part of a university research team, establishing and consolidating cooperative relations that may continue even after the end of the PhD programme.

The individual study plan will be agreed and co-designed with the company tutor, in order to define an appropriate and functional division of the employee’s commitments to both the PhD programme and their business activities.

More information on PhD programmes for employees

Funding for continuing education in businesses

Companies can benefit from funding for continuing education (joint interprofessional funds, regional funding, etc.) available under regional and national regulations.