PhD in Public Governance, Management e Policy (Public-GoMaP)

Interdisciplinarity is a peculiar feature of the Public-GoMaP PhD program. In particular, the research topics reflect the specializations of the four departments that jointly develop the doctorate, namely: Department of Political Sciences (specialized in the Public Governance area), Department of Business Sciences (specialized in the Public Management area), Department of Sciences Economics (specialized in the area of ??Public Policy) and Department of Statistical Sciences (specialized in applied quantitative analysis).
PhD students carry out research activities in one or more sub-areas of the broader interdisciplinary field of design-planning, management and evaluation of services and public policies. These sub-areas are divided into specific research projects of participants' own interest, perfected with the help of their thesis supervisors, according to - but not limited to - the topics covered by the training activities (see Research training activities section).
By way of example, the specific issues may concern aspects of economic and social development, environmental sustainability, financial sustainability, technological innovation, the ability to deal with operational, natural, financial, geopolitical and cybersecurity risks, social protection, the ability to respond to public needs in hybrid public-private contexts, social cohesion, the evaluation of local public policies with applications in relevant areas of public intervention such as hospital and territorial assistance, investments in infrastructure for sustainable mobility, local, social and educational.

NRPP Call Admission Board
Appointed by RD 1103/2022 Prot. n. 0162873 of 17/07/2022

The issues of public management, governance and policy are addressed with a solid scientific multidisciplinary approach. The focus is on the knowledge of the elements necessary for the management of organizations that intervene directly or indirectly in the design, delivery and monitoring of public services, capitalizing on the possible work experience of the candidates. Objective skills: a) ability to analyze emerging needs; b) ability to detect, interpret and present data useful for decisions and impact assessments, considering ethical and privacy issues; c) ability to structure innovative multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance solutions, within the typical public sector operational environment; d) knowledge of qualitative and quantitative tools for measuring and evaluating performance and policies; e) awareness of the opportunities of digital technologies. The objectives are consistent with the M4C1.4 measures of the PNRR.

The activity of the Public-GoMaP PhD students is spread over a total of three years, each characterized by a prevailing mission. Year 1 is dedicated to basic multidisciplinary training, Year 2 to "tailor-made" specialist training for the individual PhD student in preparation for research work, Year 3 is dedicated to completing the research project and presentation of the final thesis.
During year 1, and part of year 2, doctoral students receive a common and compulsory multidisciplinary training of at least 120 hours of lessons. The objective of Year 1 is to develop a common language and basic skills in the three disciplinary areas, namely Public Governance, Public Management and Public Policy, as well as providing the methodological and methodological skills of research (see Research training activities section).
During Year 2, the candidates' training path is customized with the support of the teaching staff and in particular the supervisor in a way that is functional to the preparation of the research work. The tools used to complete the training will benefit from the skills present in the three proposing Departments and periods of stay at international universities, academic seminars or participation in congresses and the carrying out of training internships, subject to the approval of the PhD board. During Year 2, the development of the final project is required.
During Year 3, the activity is mainly focused on the development of the research project, functional to the presentation and discussion of the final thesis. During Year 3 it is desirable that the doctoral student participate in scientific congresses to present the first stages of advancement of their research project.

A sequence of courses in the two-year period (Year 1 and Year 2) offers interdisciplinary training in the main thematic areas of Public Governance, Management and Policy and in methodology and method. In particular, compulsory courses (Years 1 & 2), with specialization and seminars (Year 2) useful for the development of the research thesis (Years 2 & 3), according to the following main themes. Starting from aspects relating to the evolution of global, multilevel and multi-stakeholder governance models, of complex organizations, of comparative and European public law (coordination between EU, national, regional and local administrations) and of the role of managers and officials of the PA, the courses deal with the measurement and management of performance (ethics, social equity, sustainability, accountability, intellectual capital), distinctive aspects of public-private partnerships, co-production and hybrid organizations (organizational, operational and strategic public) with attention to aspects of risk management to ensure operational, financial and environmental sustainability. Consistently with the PNRR, the training activities consider the issues of social cohesion and tools for the comparative measurement of the performance of companies with different purposes and governance (e.g. capitalist and cooperative). They deal with the design of effective and sustainable public policies, taking care of the evaluation of the impact of policies (causal inference, controlled experiments), with attention to the estimation and forecasting of macroeconomic dynamics, with reference to relevant areas of public intervention such as hospital and community health, investments in infrastructure for sustainable mass transit, local policies. The possibility of specialization allows to capitalize on the candidates' previous experiences, also making use, after approval by the board, of the support of an external supervisor or manager of the PA.

Although mainly carried out in Italian, the PhD program favors internationalization through three main lines of intervention: (1) during Year 2, specialized training is provided, in consideration of the specific individual specialization path, also through courses of international doctoral courses already activated by the respective Departments (in particular the PhD programs in "Political and Social Sciences", "Management", "Economics" and "Statistics"); (2) thematic seminars are organized through international visiting scholars on the topics of interest of the course; (3) periods of specialization are proposed at universities, research institutes or international organizations with which the three Departments regularly collaborate.

PhD students are required to produce a final thesis on their research project suitable for publication in national or international journals and to present the progress of their research projects on dedicated occasions during Years 2 and 3, with the possibility to benefit from the feedback of the teaching staff and researchers of the proposing Departments and of any supervisors or external stakeholders, subject to the approval of the board.
The result of the research work must demonstrate, in addition to scientific rigor, an appreciable impact for the improvement of knowledge capable of improving the performance of the public administration. In this sense, the faculty board hires a group of external members of high professional profile from the field of public administration.
The doctoral student is also encouraged to present his/her work in progress at both national and international conferences, also thanks to the active support of the supervisors. This is both in order to progressively improve the research work by the feedbacks received during the discussions, and to stimulate the PhD student to continuous confrontation. For executives, the training acquired aims to consolidate professional skills developed within the public sector, in national/international organizations operating as providers of the public sector, providers of public services, or partners for the implementation of public policies, including consultancy companies, for a satisfactory improvement of one's professional position, favoring life-long learning processes.