POLITECNICO di  MILANO 

The Politecnico di Milano is one of the most outstanding technical universities in Europe, ranked at the 48th place in the world by the “QS World Technical University Ranking 2012”. Founded in 1863, it is the largest school of Architecture, Design and Engineering in Italy, with two main campuses located in Milan, the heart of fashion and design industries and the future venue of Expo 2015, and five more premises around the Lombardy region. Many important scientists and architects studied and taught here, among them Achille Castiglioni, Gio Ponti, Renzo Piano and Aldo Rossi, both Pritzker Price in 1990 and 1998 respectively, and Giulio Natta, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1963.

PhD School

The Politecnico di Milano was one of the first universities in Italy to establish a School of Doctoral Programmes in 2001 with a view to coordinating, assessing and monitoring the single doctorate programmes. The School offers courses to develop complementary abilities, such as seminars of epistemology, research policy and management, elements of scientific communication, and so on, whereas the single doctorate provides subjects and infrastructures for research, specific education and tutoring.  

PhD degree is the highest level of university education, aiming at developing abilities of PhD candidates through training through research, which results in a research thesis with original contributions, to enable them to take up research activities in industrial undertakings, in public and private services, in public administration, in research centres and in universities, as well as at promoting new entrepreneurial skills. 

PhD School’s figures:

• 3 years of duration
• 18 Doctoral Programmes in English
• Approximately 1,100 PhD candidates (a.y.2012/2013)
• 27% international students (a.y.2012/2013)

PhD Programmes at Politecnico di Milano 

• Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering
• Architectural, Urban and Interior Design
• Aerospace Engineering
• Bioengineering
• Design
• Electrical Engineering
• Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology
• Environmental and Infrastructure Engineering
• Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
• Information Technology 
• Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering
• Materials Engineering
• Mathematical Models and Methods in Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Physics
• Preservation of Architectural Heritage
• Structural Seismic and Geotechnical Engineering 
• Urban Planning, Design, and Policy

Executive/Industrial PhD: 

Companies are encouraged to let their employees undertake an Industrial/Executive PhD programme which normally lasts 4 years and is featured to establish a strong link of industry-university cooperation. [more...]

Selection procedure: 

Access to Ph.D. programmes is by selection. The University selection call is launched annually for all Ph.D. programmes and published on the website.

A five year university degree is required. An expert panel selects candidates based on their reaserch project proposal; curriculum vitae; motivation letter and recommendation letter(s).  [more...]

Selection call: usually from April to May [2013-2014 call now open]

Evaluations: Notifications of admissions and scholarships are given by the end of July. [more...]

Enrollment:  by October each year [more...]

Starting date of the PhD programme: November 

Tuition fees: € 1500 per year, waived for holders of POLIMI scholarships [more...]

Grants:

For the three-year duration of their studies, PhDs can be supported by grants at a current monthly amount of €1000-1300 plus tuition fee waiver. The details are given in the Call for Admission 

Duties: PhDs are expected to attend lectures, pass examinations, complete and defend a thesis on original research work. [more...]

 

Contacts:

PhD School: phdschool@polimi.it  

PhD admission and administration office: internationalphd@polimi.it 

Website: http://www.polimi.it/phd