The course intends to train PhDs who possess economic-business, economic-political, as well as theoretical and quantitative analysis skills, integrating - as a particular feature of the course - economics, management and mathematical-statistical tools. The basic objective is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for a profitable professional placement in the academic world or, alternatively, in companies or public bodies in positions with a strong research connotation in the regional, Italian and European labor markets.
To this end, the training course is structured to develop:
- a solid knowledge of both the processes of management and organization of companies and of the processes of management of socio-economic phenomena and of policies at a regional and macroeconomic level, through the completion of the basic preparation and the learning of adequate research methodologies;
- a specialized theoretical and applicative preparation in the individual research fields in which the PhD project intended to decline the themes of innovation and sustainability.
The educational objectives are achieved by offering a set of courses on consolidated and innovative research methods in the social sciences, on qualitative and quantitative analysis tools and on the main theoretical perspectives, with a strong interdisciplinary approach. Specifically, the first year is dedicated to the transfer of the basic knowledge necessary to structure the research project appropriately. The teachings concern bibliographic research, research design, quantitative and qualitative research techniques, qualitative and quantitative data analysis tools, decision-making models of the various economic actors. Starting from the second year, specific research activities, lectures and seminars in line with the research field chosen by the student as well as courses aimed at developing soft skills, language skills and IT skills complete the educational path. At the same time, the student starts drafting the thesis which will become the main task of the third year.
A period of study abroad is strongly encouraged, starting from the second year of the course, so that the student can learn advanced research techniques and/or tackle emerging research topics with respect to the chosen scientific field. All three universities in the agreement have signed collaboration agreements for training and research with other foreign universities. Some of them are mentioned as examples.
In 2020, the University of Ferrara signed research collaboration agreements with the LONGFORD INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE (Ireland) in the field of management and accounting and with the JAMES LIND INSTITUTE (Switzerland) in the field of health management.
The University of Parma signed collaboration agreements for training and research in 2020 with the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais - Brazil) and with the Universidade de Fortaleza (UNIFOR - Brazil) as well as in 2019 with the National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan). Erasmus agreements for the mobility of PhD students are in place with the University of Economics (Bulgaria), ESA - Ecole Supérieure d'Agricoltures (France), the Universitatea Babes-Bolyai (Romania), the Marmara Üniversitesi (Turkia) and the Université Jean Moulin - Lyon III (France)
Lastly, the student can rely on the tutor's international relations network to identify the most suitable location abroad with respect to the specific research interests.