phd college bologna

| OCTOBER 16, 4 PM – 6 PM | OCTOBER 20, 10 AM – 12 PM |

©Copyright 2024 - ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna - Via Zamboni, 33 - 40126 Bologna - Partita IVA: 01131710376 Privacy - Legal notes - Cookie settings

Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

• International Students
• Entry Professor

Doctoral Research Programmes

Phd programmes.

Our doctoral programmes provide advanced research and professional skills to highly qualified students. Many of the programmes are jointly coordinated with national and international partners and all doctoral programmes offer the opportunity to spend time abroad for research and internships. Admission is based on an examination. All doctoral programmes at our University begin on November 1 and last three years, and no fewer than 50% of the students enrolled in our programmes receive full scholarships. For more information on scholarships see the Fees and Scholarships page.

• Regulations for PhD Programmes (for all doctoral cycles in force since May 18, 2022)
• Note for 35th, 36th and 37th Doctoral cycles PDF version | RTF version

The following is a list of the PhD programmes at Unimore.

PhD programmes - XXXIX cycle - a.y. 2023/2024

Announcement.

» Call for admission and changes

» Selection committees

» Final ranking

Based on a rigorous selection process, applications are processed normally once a year. The admissions will be open in June or July 2023 (please refer to the Call).

More documentation

How to apply for the PhD Programmes (pdf)

How to apply for the Italian National PhD Program in Religious Studies (pdf)

» Guide for admission application to Ph.D. programmes

Please complete the application form and submit it electronically following the application guide. A non-returnable administrative fee of 25 € will be charged. The decision on admission as well as on financial support is published on the web.

FAQ Frequently asked question

PhD Certificates and Self-certifications

PhD original diploma (Parchment)

Contact office

For further information please contact: PhD Office via Università, 4 - 41121 Modena e-mail: [email protected] » Opening hours (italian only)

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

Is College Worth It?

2. public views on the value of a college degree, table of contents.

• Labor force trends and economic outcomes for young adults
• Economic outcomes for young men
• Economic outcomes for young women
• Wealth trends for households headed by a young adult
• The importance of a four-year college degree
• Getting a high-paying job without a college degree
• Do Americans think their education prepared them for the workplace?
• Is college worth the cost?
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology
• Current Population Survey methodology
• Survey of Consumer Finances methodology

We asked Americans what they think about the value of a four-year college degree from a few different angles:

• Is a degree important in order for someone to get a well-paying job in today’s economy?
• Has the value of a degree changed in recent decades?
• Can someone without a degree get a well-paying job?
• How useful do people think their own education was in preparing them for a well-paying job?
• Is the cost of college worth it today?

Four-in-ten Americans say it is not too or not at all important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job in today’s economy.

Only 25% say it’s extremely or very important to have a college degree, and 35% say it’s somewhat important.

We also asked the public about the importance of a college degree now versus 20 years ago.

About half of Americans (49%) say it’s less important today than it was in the past for someone to have a four-year degree in order to get a well-paying job. About a third (32%) say having a degree is more important now, and 17% say its importance hasn’t really changed.

Differences by party

Half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents – compared with 30% of Democrats and Democratic leaners – say it’s not too or not at all important to have a four-year college degree to get a well-paying job.

And a majority of Republicans (57%) say having a degree is less important today than it was 20 years ago; 43% of Democrats say the same.

These partisan gaps hold even after controlling for differences in the educational attainment of Republicans and Democrats.

Differences by education

College graduates are more likely than those with less education to say that having a college degree is extremely or very important (30% vs. 22%).

But views on whether having a college degree is more or less important today than it was 20 years ago don’t differ significantly by education. Roughly half of four-year college graduates (51%) and those with less education (48%) say it’s less important today for someone to have a college degree than it was in the past.

Adults with a postgraduate degree, however, have somewhat different views than those with a bachelor’s degree on both of these measures. Some 35% of postgraduates say it’s extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree in order to get a well-paying job, compared with 27% of those whose highest attainment is a bachelor’s degree.

And 39% of postgraduates – compared with 30% of those with a bachelor’s degree – say it’s more important to have a college degree today than it was 20 years ago.

Differences by age

Young adults stand out in their views on the importance of a college degree today versus in the past.

Among those ages 18 to 29, 44% say having a degree is more important today in order to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago. By comparison, 29% of those 30 to 49 and 30% of those 50 and older say the same.

Americans also have mixed views when it comes to whether someone without a four-year college degree could get a well-paying job in today’s economy.

Only about a third (34%) say it’s extremely or very likely that someone withouta four-year degree could get this kind of job.

Nearly half say it’s somewhat likely that someone without a college degree could get a well-paying job, and 20% say it’s not too or not at all likely.

These views differ by:

• Partisanship: 42% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats say it’s extremely or very likely someone without a four-year degree could get a well-paying job. Among Democrats, 25% say it’s not too or not at all likely; just 15% of Republicans say the same.
• Education: 28% of adults with at least a bachelor’s degree say it’s extremely or very likely that someone without a college degree could get a well-paying job today. This compares with 37% of those with some college and 36% of those with a high school diploma or less education.

When thinking about how useful their own education was in giving them the skills and knowledge needed to get a well-paying job, a majority of those with a four-year college degree or more education (58%) say it was extremely or very useful. (This finding excludes the 9% of respondents who said this question did not apply to them.)

Adults with a postgraduate degree are especially likely to say their education was extremely or very useful: 72% say this, compared with 47% of those whose highest attainment is a bachelor’s.

By comparison, adults with less education have more mixed views. Among those who have not completed a bachelor’s degree, 38% say their education was not too or not at all useful in giving them the skills and knowledge needed to get a well-paying job; 35% say it was somewhat useful, and 26% say it was extremely or very useful.

These views don’t differ as substantially by age or by party.

When asked about the cost of college these days, many Americans question whether it’s worth it if a student has to take on debt. Nearly half of adults (47%) say a four-year college degree is worth the cost, but only if someone doesn’t have to take out loans in order to attend.

Only 22% say college is worth the cost even if someone has to take out loans. And 29% say college isn’t worth the cost.

Meanwhile, data from the Federal Reserve shows that more than four-in-ten adults who attended college say they took out student loans for their education .

Views on the value of college differ by partisanship, education and age. But notably, in all groups except for Republicans, pluralities say the cost of college is worth it only if someone doesn’t have to take out loans.

A narrow majority of Democrats (54%) say the cost of getting a four-year college degree is worth it, but only if someone doesn’t have to take out loans. A smaller share of Republicans (41%) say the same.

About one-in-four Democrats (26%), compared with 19% of Republicans, say the cost is worth it even with loans.

Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to say college is not worth the cost (38% vs. 19%).

Americans with at least a four-year college degree are much more likely than those with less education to say that college is worth the cost even if someone has to take out loans (32% vs. 17%).

Those with a postgraduate degree are among the most likely to express this view: 37% say college is worth the cost even after taking out loans. This compares with 29% among those with a bachelor’s but no postgraduate degree.

Even so, across all education levels, more say a four-year degree is worth the cost only if someone doesn’t take on debt than say it’s worth the cost with debt.

Those with some college or less education are about twice as likely as those with at least a bachelor’s degree to say the cost of getting a degree isn’t worth it at all (35% vs. 18%).

Young adults are more likely than their older counterparts to say the cost of a degree is worth it only if someone doesn’t take out loans: 55% of those ages 18 to 29 say this, compared with 48% of those 30 to 49 and 44% of those 50 and older.

And 18- to 29-year-olds are less likely to say the cost isn’t worth it at all (22% vs. roughly three-in-ten among older age groups).

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

• Business & Workplace
• Economic Conditions
• Higher Education
• Income & Wages
• Recessions & Recoveries
• Student Loans

Half of Latinas Say Hispanic Women’s Situation Has Improved in the Past Decade and Expect More Gains

From businesses and banks to colleges and churches: americans’ views of u.s. institutions, fewer young men are in college, especially at 4-year schools, key facts about u.s. latinos with graduate degrees, private, selective colleges are most likely to use race, ethnicity as a factor in admissions decisions, most popular, report materials.

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center

‘There are no jobs’: PhD graduates struggle to build careers in academia

For the first time in decades, Ian Corbin has dental insurance.

Over the past 15 years, Corbin has been a doctoral student, an adjunct professor, and a postdoctoral fellow. And trying to scrape together a living has been tough. “I was always hustling,” he says.

When Corbin — who holds a PhD in philosophy from Boston College and works at the intersection of ethics and medicine — was a postdoc at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2019, he earned about $50,000 a year and had kids to support. “So I was always teaching classes in the evening and publishing articles as fast as I could. Just taking on really anything that anyone would give me,” he says.

Advertisement

Corbin’s story isn’t unusual. For many of those with doctorates, who typically spend between four and seven years in graduate school, the employment picture is increasingly bleak, especially for jobs in academia.

Maren Wood, who founded a firm that helps those with doctorates find jobs, says that the market for full-time professors has collapsed. Between 2007 and 2020, the number of openings in philosophy dropped by roughly half. The number of openings in English fell by about 60 percent .

Universities staffed up to accommodate millennials, she says, and now they’re trying to cope with declining enrollments, which are predicted to continue indefinitely . “There’s nothing wrong with a PhD,” says Wood, chief executive of Beyond the Professoriate, whose platform is currently used by Harvard and BC . “The problem is there are no jobs.”

Wood holds a PhD in history, and her breaking point was in 2011 when she came in second place for a job thousands of miles away. The gig was a one-year position. In Reno. And she was told the pay wouldn’t even be enough to live on.

The woman doing the hiring encouraged Wood. “You came in second place!” she exclaimed.

“For what?” Wood asked.

Wood had hoped to be a professor. She had been a top student and earned her PhD from the University of North Carolina. But it didn’t take long to realize: Despite the fact that she had a prestigious degree, there were virtually no decent jobs in universities.

Often, those with doctorates serve as adjunct professors — sometimes while they look for a more permanent gig. To students, adjuncts and tenure-track faculty may appear to be the same. They have PhDs. Students call them “professor.”

But when it comes to stability, they’re worlds apart. Adjuncts rarely get health care. They’re generally paid between $3,000 and $7,000 per class, and you might have to drive considerable distances to get from one job to another.

Over 30 percent of nontenure-track educators in higher education make under $25,000 a year, according to a 2019 survey by the American Federation of Teachers . Another 30 percent make between $25,000 and $50,000 a year. But over the past few decades, the number of adjuncts has grown much faster than the ranks of full-time faculty.

The dearth of jobs has been particularly tough on those in the social sciences, humanities, and some sciences, including biology. Richard Larson, a professor of data, systems, and society at MIT, has noted that many professors churn out lots of doctoral students over the course of their careers — and a good chunk of those students would like to be professors themselves.

But the math simply doesn’t work. Only a few of those grad students — fewer than 20 percent — can get the sort of job that their advisers have. (Though there are certainly disciplines — including chemical engineering and computer science — in which graduates can find jobs fairly easily, often in industry.)

Kristina Aikens, who earned her PhD in English from Tufts University, initially tried to piece together a living as an adjunct. For a year and a half, she says, she was teaching four or five classes in two or three locations, which is a common — though brutal — workload.

Aikens doesn’t believe that doctoral students — particularly in humanities — understand the real threat of finding themselves in an unstable position. “I think people think it won’t happen to them,” she says. “It’s not because they think that they’re better than anyone else. It’s just a denial that they’re in.”

But the threat of job instability is considerable. Massachusetts is not only the state with the highest percentage of people with undergraduate degrees; it also has the highest percentage of those with graduate degrees . And while many of those degree holders are thriving, too many live in precarious situations — situations made all the more precarious by the extraordinarily high cost of housing in the Boston area.

So if the supply of academic jobs has waned, why don’t doctoral programs simply slim down and admit fewer students?

Most of the people I spoke with noted that professors may be loath to give up their graduate students because they genuinely enjoy working with them. Grad students can talk about esoteric areas of scholarship, built on years of deep study.

“I think that faculty want to believe that they’re doing good,” says Wood. “I think that graduate deans generally believe that graduate education does good. And the fact that universities have paid so little attention to career outcomes means that they don’t actually have good data to work with.”

It’s also possible that schools’ reluctance to admit fewer graduate students is financially motivated. Universities often run on the work of grad students, as the Boston University strike has demonstrated . Grad students teach sections of large classes. They work in labs. They perform in-the-field research.

“The business model only works with a lot of cheap labor,” Corbin says. “I think it’s bad. I think it’s bad for students. I think it’s bad for the classroom. I think it’s bad for the grad students and the perennial adjuncts.” But, he believes, doctoral students represent an enormous pool of untapped talent.

Corbin is now a tenure-track researcher in neurology at Harvard Medical School, with a secondary appointment in bioethics. It’s a job he likes, and life feels much more stable. “It’s becoming less desperate,” he says.

Aikens — who now serves as the program director of writing support at Tufts — says she doesn’t regret getting a doctorate, and she doesn’t think we should preclude people from pursuing that sort of intense study.

Coming from a working-class background in West Virginia, she had wanted to see if she could do it. And the six years she spent getting a PhD were hard. But she knew that success wouldn’t necessarily lead to employment:

“At my graduation, literally at the ceremony, I turned to my friend and said: ‘Should I apply to law school? Because I don’t think this is going to work out.’”

Follow Kara Miller @karaemiller .

Hundreds walk out of Harvard College graduation; UCLA contends with new protest

LOS ANGELES — The end of encampments at some American college campuses this spring was not the end of pro-Palestinian protests at Harvard and UCLA.

Hundreds who attended annual graduation Thursday at Harvard College, Harvard University’s undergraduate college, staged a walkout to decry its disqualification of 13 students involved in earlier protests.

At UCLA on Thursday, administrators and Los Angeles police faced the return of pro-Palestinian protesters to the heart of campus.

On Wednesday, Harvard said one of its two governing boards overruled faculty members who had voted to re-invite 13 student protesters omitted from commencement.

The omission set off some of those invited to commencement, and a walkout was staged shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, with some participants chanting "Let them walk" and other slogans for about 10 minutes, according to video from the event.

Interim President Alan M. Garber spoke at commencement and was prepared for the action.

"As our ceremony proceeds, some among us may choose to take the liberty of expressing themselves to draw attention to events unfolding in the wider world," he said, according to Harvard Public Affairs and Communications. "It is their right to do so."

Garber observed a moment of silence in the name of "sympathy and empathy."

Some protesters were unhappy because they were under the impression Harvard would allow participants to graduate under an agreement between Garber and the Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine Coalition, NBC Boston reported .

A Harvard spokesperson later said “several hundred” people participated in the walkout.

Protesters at colleges across the U.S. and in other countries set up encampments this spring to decry civilian deaths and displacement in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and to call for schools to divest from financial support of Israel. Harvard's encampment was dismantled voluntarily. The university said it would meet with protesters to discuss disclosure and divestment .

In its statement Wednesday, Harvard said it planned to confer 1,539 degrees to Harvard College students. The school said it would fast-track degrees for the 13 excluded Thursday if they mount successful appeals.

“We understand that the inability to graduate is consequential for students and their families,” it said.

In addition to the 13, five other students were suspended and more than 20 face probation, according to NBC Boston.

Harvard student Margaret Mano said the exclusion clouded what should be a joyous occasion. “It is bittersweet. People in my house, my friends, they can’t graduate with me,” she told NBC Boston.

On the West Coast on Thursday, Los Angeles police were placed on high readiness — a citywide tactical alert that authorizes overtime so the force on duty is at full strength — after protesters returned to the heart of the UCLA campus in the city's Westwood community.

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at Kerckhoff Patio before dozens heeded a protester's megaphone-amplified call for a "takeover" of nearby Dodd Hall.

Police in riot gear staged nearby. A police cruiser’s tire appeared to have been slashed.

By midafternoon, a Palestinian flag extended from an upstairs window at Dodd Hall. Downstairs, it appeared students were able to leave the building, but multiple news outlets, including NBC News, were not invited inside.

Scrawled on the outside of the academic building were the words “Intifada Hall," using the Arabic word meaning "uprising."

A UCLA statement attributed to two of its top leaders said the university will not tolerate an encampment this time.

“Demonstrators have been informed that if they do not disperse, they will face arrest and possible disciplinary action, as well as an order to stay away from campus for 7 days,” it said.

On April 30, a mob attacked pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA for a few hours before police intervened. Authorities broke up the weeklong encampment and arrested more than 200 people two days later.

Inaction by campus and Los Angeles police during the first hours of the April 30 clash was the subject of multiple investigations, and UCLA's chief of police, John Thomas, has been reassigned pending the outcome of a campus inquiry.

Chancellor Gene Block, one of three university leaders who spoke about the campus uprisings to the House Education and Workforce Committee on Thursday, said he regretted having waited days to dislodge April’s encampment.

“We should have been prepared to immediately remove the encampment,” Block said.

Asked about Thursday’s protest, he said, “There is no encampment, and we have no demonstrations that are problematic.”

Morgan Chesky reported from Los Angeles and Dennis Romero reported from San Diego.

Morgan Chesky is a correspondent for NBC News.

Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. 

Miss Manners: Parents at odds when grateful graduate doesn’t send them a thank-you card

• Published: May. 27, 2024, 9:55 a.m.

Did the student not understand what it took for her parents to send her to school? Or is it something else? .shock - stock.adobe.com

• Judith Martin
• Nicholas Ivor Martin and Jacobina Martin

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was wondering if my daughter should have sent thank-you cards to my wife and myself when she graduated from college.

My wife said she should have, but I don’t feel the same way. Could you please let me know?

GENTLE READER: In the normal course of events, children take it for granted that their parents feed, clothe and educate them. In happy families, it sometimes strikes adult children how enormous an undertaking that is.

That may bring on a spontaneous burst of gratitude, beyond the usual affection that children who have felt loved and cared for will presumably have been expressing. This may be prompted by special occasions, such as parental birthdays; typically, however, the full realization of the time, energy, patience and money spent occurs when the children have children of their own.

Miss Manners would not have thought that college graduation would bring this on. Does your wife really want to focus on your shared contributions to your daughter’s education, however much you sacrificed, instead of on your daughter’s achievement? Isn’t this the time to tell her how proud of her you are -- not how indebted to you she is?

That may come later. Miss Manner hopes it will not be merely with a paltry card.

Stories by Judith Martin

• Miss Manners: Must I change sheets if houseguests only stay one night? Does it matter if they’re relatives?
• Miss Manners: Annoyed attorney takes a grilling from receptionist before call gets transferred
• Miss Manners: How can I tell if something is meant as a gift, or requires reimbursement?

Please send your questions to Miss Manners at her website, www.missmanners.com ; to her email, [email protected] ; or through postal mail to Miss Manners, Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

• Search Search Vai Close
• Directories Directories People Structures Vai Close
• AlmaRM - International mobility
• Certificates
• Document and library services
• EOL - Esami online
• Job vacancy
• Language courses
• Studenti Online - Manage your studies
• Tesi Online - Archive
• Tirocini Online - Internships offers
• UnibooK - Open knowledge
• Virtual Helpdesks - Online offices
• Virtuale - Teaching materials
• AlmaRegistri
• Cedolini web
• Incarichi extraistituzionali
• Internships
• IRIS - Institutional research archive
• Presenze web
• U-Web Reporting – Projects accounting
• University Intranet
• My e-mail for students
• My e-mail for staff

• Organisation and Campuses
• International outreach
• Contracting and sales
• Work with us
• Quality Assurance
• Guide to choosing your programme
• First and Single Cycle Degree
• Second Cycle Degree
• Course units, transferable skills, MOOCs
• PhDs and Professional Masters programmes, Specialisations and advanced training
• Study grants and subsidies
• Enrolment, fees and other procedures
• Incoming and outgoing international mobility
• Towards the job market
• Life at university and in the city
• The latest news from Alma Mater research
• Research in numbers
• Research areas and projects
• NRRP – Opportunities, expectations and results
• Research organisation and infrastructure
• Networking for research
• Open Science
• Research at Unibo
• Research for society and businesses
• People and the community
• Business and nonprofit
• Bodies and institutions
• Development cooperation
• Continuing education
• Sustainability
• Events and news
• Prospective bachelor's students
• Enrolled students
• Organizations and companies

Internationalisation of the PhD programme

The University promotes the internationalisation of the PhD programme by developing collaborations with foreign Universities and Research centres, as well as via participation in international research projects and programmes.

Research stays abroad

The PhD students enrolled at the University of Bologna have an opportunity to spend periods of study and research at foreign Universities and research bodies.

A top-up scholarship can be granted for research periods of at least 30 days.

PhD students may also obtain mobility incentives by participating in the following programmes:  Erasmus+ Study Mobility  and  Erasmus+ Internship Mobility .

PhD programme degree with foreign Universities

The University signs agreements with foreign Universities in order to encourage the internationalisation of the PhD programme.

Co-tutorship framework agreements

The framework agreements signed with foreign Universities, covering one or more PhD programme degrees, assure scientific collaboration over the medium-long term. They establish general terms for the collaboration between the two contracting parties, and the general commitment to the signature of individual co-tutorship agreements.

Co-tutorships agreements (cotutelle)

The co-tutorship agreements are bilateral agreements between the University of Bologna and a foreign University. They are signed for the purpose of establishing a joint doctoral programme for specific PhD students enrolled at one of the two partner Universities.

For further information, read Co-tutorship agreements for PhD students enrolled at foreign Universities .

Mobility framework agreements

Mobility framework agreements with foreign Universities cover the mobility of PhD students, in order to:

• facilitating the PhD students' mobilities at the partner University;
• developing joint research projects;
• creating networks of scientific cooperation.

International collaboration

Joint Doctoral Programme in Cultural Heritage (Una-Her-Doc)

The University of Bologna has signed a Consortium Agreement, in collaboration with the Universities partners of the Una Europa Alliance, aimed at establishing the joint doctoral programme Una-Her-Doc.

The call for applications is launched yearly:  https://www.una-europa.eu/study/una-her-doc/application-process-and-requirements . Applicants have to be enrolled in one of the Partner Universities.

PhD programmes funded by the China Scholarship Council

The University of Bologna and the China Scholarship Council have signed a Cooperation Agreement for the admission of outstanding Chinese students to the PhD programmes degrees offered by the University  with funding from the China Scholarship Council. 

Reale Collegio di Spagna

There has been an agreement between the University of Bologna and  Reale Collegio di Spagna since 1999.

This agreement enables Collegio di Spagna PhD scholars to attend University of Bologna PhD programme courses following the completion of their first programme year with a Spanish University.

Mobility Confap Italy (Brazil)

The  MCI “Mobility CONFAP-ITALY” project  is a mobility programme promoted by the University of Bologna and CONFAP, which is the Brazilian national confederation of State research foundations.

This programme awards mobility incentives to Italian and Brazilian PhD students who wish to complete their training paths, in whole or in part, at a member University.

Other opportunities for international collaboration

Scholarships from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI)

The  Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation  awards scholarships to foreign citizens and Italian citizens resident abroad who register for PhD programme degrees at Italian Universities.

This programme envisages the assignment of extra places to participants in the  call for applications who pass the admission tests, subject to the formal award of an MAECI scholarship .

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

In the context of the Horizon Europe programme, the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are intended to award funding to international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral networks for starting PhD programmes, aimed at the establishment of training paths for outstanding researchers.

In addition to the Doctoral Network type, there are two different types of MSCA funding supports for PhDs:

• Industrial Doctorates (DN-ID), involving also non-academics, in order to encourage entrepeneurial skills;
• Joint Doctorates (DN-JD), aiming at the awarding of joint, double or multiple degrees, acknowledged in two countries members or associated with Horizon Europe.

The Early Stage Researchers (ESR) are selected in international competitions and awarded extra positions on University of Bologna PhD programmes, with no need to participate in the call for applications published by the University.

Vinci Programme

The Université Franco Italienne launches yearly the Vinci Program supporting cooperation initiatives (cotutelle) between Italian and French Universities.

Chapter 2 is aimed at funding mobilities for cotutelle PhD candidates.

Chapter 3 awards funding for three-years scholarships for PhD program co-tutored by an Italian University and a French University, under the cotutelle scheme.

DAAD - German academic exchange service 

Each year,  DAAD  funds scholarships for PhD programme degrees co-tutored by an Italian University and a German University.

DIRI - Internazionalizzazione del Dottorato di Ricerca

Via Filippo Re 4 - 40126 Bologna (BO)

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

She Just Earned Her Doctorate at 17. Now, She’ll Go to the Prom.

Dorothy Jean Tillman II of Chicago made history as the youngest person to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health at Arizona State University.

By Alexandra E. Petri

When Dorothy Jean Tillman II successfully defended her dissertation in November 2023 to earn her doctoral degree from Arizona State University, she couldn’t wait to share the news with her best friend.

“It was a surreal moment,” Dr. Tillman said, “because it was crazy I was doing it in the first place.”

Dr. Tillman, at only 17, became the youngest person to earn a doctoral degree in integrated behavioral health from Arizona State’s College of Health Solutions, all before she was eligible to vote. Earlier this month, Dr. Tillman, now 18, took part in Arizona State’s commencement ceremony and delivered remarks as the outstanding 2024 graduate at the College of Health Solution’s convocation.

Lesley Manson, program director for the doctorate of behavioral health at Arizona State and Dr. Tillman’s doctoral chair, said Dr. Tillman displayed extraordinary perseverance, hard work and dedication for her young age, tackling every challenge head-on.

“She can serve as a real role model,” Ms. Manson said.

Dr. Tillman, called D.J. by her family and friends, was an early bloomer. She grew up in Chicago and was home-schooled from a young age, first in a group setting through online classes, and then by her mother, Jimalita Tillman, a single parent with a background in community theater.

Dr. Tillman was part of a gifted program before transitioning to home-schooling. Jimalita Tillman continued her daughter on an accelerated track: By the time she was 8, she was taking high school classes. While most 9-year-olds were learning math and reading, Dr. Tillman was starting college online.

At the time, they lived with Jimalita Tillman’s mother, Dorothy Wright Tillman, a civil rights activist who worked alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was a Chicago alderman. Dr. Tillman is her grandmother’s namesake (hence the II at the end of Dr. Tillman’s name).

During her early college days, Dr. Tillman’s classroom was often a Starbucks in Chicago, and her days began as soon it opened, she said. Her go-to order was an iced peach green tea with lemonade.

“Around the time when kids went to lunch, we’d be closing the computer,” said Dr. Tillman, who said her discipline and focus come from her grandmother.

Because of her age, Dr. Tillman lived at home while pursuing her higher education, and most of her coursework was online — a challenge for a self-described social butterfly. “I do love meeting new people and talking to people and understanding them and how their brains work,” she said. She found other ways to stay connected with friends through after-school activities.

At 10, she earned her associate degree in psychology at the College of Lake County in Illinois. At 12, she received her Bachelor of Science in humanities at Excelsior College in New York, and at 14, she earned a Master of Science from Unity College in Maine. She chose those fields because they can help scientists “understand why people treat the environment the way they do,” she told Time for Kids in a July 2020 interview.

Ellen Winner, a professor of psychology at Boston College and the author of “Gifted Children: Myths and Realities,” said that children like Dr. Tillman have a motivational intensity she calls a “rage to master.”

“One of the reasons they push themselves is they have a high, innate ability of some kind, and so learning, in whatever they are gifted in, comes easily to them and it’s very pleasurable,” she said. Schools are often not equipped for such gifted children, she added, which may lead parents to home-school their children. The trade-off, she and some experts say, is missing out on socialization and learning with children their age.

“There’s no perfect solution to kids like this,” Ms. Winner said.

Jimalita Tillman said she was sure her daughter was finished with higher education after earning her master’s degree. Dr. Tillman had just launched an organization to support Black youth in Chicago interested in STEM and the arts called the Dorothy Jeanius STEAM Leadership Institute. It was 2020, just after the beginning of the pandemic.

She was surprised when her daughter said she wanted to pursue her doctorate, and even tried to dissuade Dr. Tillman. But Dr. Tillman wanted to help young people with their mental health. She told her mother to trust her.

“I had to follow her lead,” Jimalita Tillman, 42, said.

Dr. Tillman was accepted into the management concentration at Arizona State’s College of Health Solutions, an online doctorate program. Her thesis on developing programs to reduce the stigma for college students seeking mental health services was based on a study she conducted for an in-person internship at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Dr. Tillman hopes her story resonates with girls who are talkative, outgoing “out-there kind of girls who are trying to figure themselves out but are very smart.”

“I want them to see someone who has taken that energy, sparkle and excitement and packaged it in a way that is classy and beautiful,” she said.

Dr. Tillman may now have her doctorate, but she’s also excited about teenage things — like attending a prom. On Saturday, she going as her best friend’s date to his senior dance. They’re taking an Escalade outfitted with stars on the ceiling, she said, a feature she requested and that her mother made happen.

Dr. Tillman has been focused on school and her professional pursuits, and she plans to host her institute’s summer camp again. Then, she said, she plans to take a beat and have a “fun teenage summer,” doing things she loves, discovering new hobbies and figuring herself out in the process.

“I want to focus on who I am,” she said.

• PhD Programme
• Steering Committee
• PhD Students
• Academic Year 2020/21
• Academic Year 2021/22
• Academic Year 2022/23
• Academic Year 2023/24
• How to apply

Theoretical Physics

Nuclear and Subnuclear Physics

Physics of Condensed Matter, Atoms and Molecules

Applied Physics and Complex Systems

Physics Education and History of Physics

PHD PROGRAMME

PHD COURSES

HOW TO APPLY

©Copyright 2024 - ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna - Via Zamboni, 33 - 40126 Bologna - Partita IVA: 01131710376 Privacy - Legal notes - Cookie settings

• myState on Mississippi State University
• Directory on Mississippi State University
• Calendars on Mississippi State University
• A-Z Index on Mississippi State University
• Maps on Mississippi State University
• News on Mississippi State University
• Contact on Mississippi State University

Prestigious NSF grant will fund MSU graduate student’s missing persons research

Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A Mississippi State University graduate student whose work benefitted the Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons is the recipient of a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship.

Sarajane Smith-Escudero, a master’s student in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, is a selection for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program in Anthropology. She was chosen as an outstanding graduate student with the potential to be a high-achieving scientist with demonstrated potential for significant research achievements. She will receive more than $150,000 for research and education materials in the first three years of her five-year fellowship.

“With this award, I hope to continue my research on the racialized public safety crisis that disproportionately affects Black, indigenous and other people of color. Overall, I hope to help the public in Mississippi by deepening our understanding of the intersections between race and ‘missingness,’ and hopefully raising awareness about missing persons cases,” said Smith-Escudero, a native of Laredo, Texas. “As NSF reviewers noted, not only will my project have a positive impact on Mississippi, but by bringing my insight as a bilingual BIPOC individual to forensic anthropology, I have the potential to help shape the discipline in the future.”

Smith-Escudero received a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and Latino studies from the University of Notre Dame in 2023. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in applied anthropology with a focus in forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology. The NSF award will allow Smith-Escudero to hold a fall graduate manager position with the MRMUP, led by Jesse Goliath, MSU Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures assistant professor.

For more information about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures and Mississippi Repository for Missing and Unidentified Persons, visit www.cas.msstate.edu , www.amec.msstate.edu and www.missinginms.msstate.edu .

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu .

Tuesday, May 28, 2024 - 8:00 am

• Arts & Society
• Community Engagement & Outreach News
• Students News
• College of Arts & Sciences

You may also be interested in…

Msu students digitally preserve legacy of one of starkville’s first black physicians.

May 14, 2024

Mississippi State architecture students receive travel awards for international research

May 13, 2024

12 MSU staff members recognized for their contributions with Zacharias Awards

May 17, 2024

• Find Mississippi State University on Facebook
• Find Mississippi State University on Instagram
• Find Mississippi State University on LinkedIn
• Find Mississippi State University on Pinterest
• Find Mississippi State University on Twitter
• Find Mississippi State University on YouTube

Marine to art major: ‘Art never really stopped for me, even while at war’

Edna Martinez  is not your typical art major at Augusta University.

Born in Mexico, her family moved to Las Vegas when she was 3 years old. While she had many interests growing up as a child, art was always a constant.

“I’ve done art ever since I was a kid, since I was really little,” said Martinez, who accepted her degree in art from Augusta University this spring. “I think it’s a family thing. My dad is an artist. He doesn’t call himself one, but he is. And most of my mom’s side of the family, they’re musicians or some sort of artist. So, I think it’s just in my blood.”

More: Augusta University President Brooks Keel gives last state of the university address

But after high school, Martinez’s life took a completely different path.

“I joined the  Marine Corps  when I was 18,” Martinez said. “I went on deployments while I was there to Afghanistan. And I was in the Marine Corps for four years.”

When people learn that she served as a U.S. Marine, Martinez acknowledges that most are surprised.

“I’m pretty laid back, so when I tell people that I was in the Marine Corps, they don’t really believe it at first,” Martinez said. “I was in the Marine Corps from 2010 to 2014, and I deployed twice to Afghanistan, once when I was 19, and then I turned 21 out there. But even while I was out there, my family sent me a sketchbook. They sent me pencils to draw with. And even while I was out there, I was trying to work on making portraits and drawing for other Marines. Art never really stopped for me, even while I was at war.”

Turning to art

After serving in the Marine Corps, Martinez moved to Augusta with her then-partner and took a well-paying job at then Fort Gordon, now Fort Eisenhower. Despite earning enough money to buy a nice house in the Summerville neighborhood, Martinez admits she wasn’t happy.

“I really didn’t like the job. In fact, I hated it. It was really depressing,” Martinez said, explaining that doing intel for the military was extremely stressful. “So, I decided I was going to take another job in Florida.”

Initially, when she applied for the new job in Florida, the position did not require a bachelor’s degree.

“But I had to wait to get a clearance for the job. So, after waiting that amount of time, they renewed the contract and suddenly I needed a degree,” Martinez said. “I think it’s funny how things worked out because, by this point, I had just bought a house here. And so I was like, ‘Well, I guess I’ll go get a degree in  art . Augusta University is just around the corner from my house. I’ll just get an art degree, and it’ll be fine.’ And then, to my surprise, I fell in love with it.”

Taking a variety of art classes including drawing and ceramics, Martinez was able to look at her world in a new light.

“I realized I was miserable at my job, and I really enjoyed art, and it helped me open up and get in touch with some feelings that I was having,” she said. “I know this sounds really cheesy, but it helped me get in touch with my emotions. I realized exactly how miserable I was at my job there and how much I didn’t want to take the job in Florida.

“So, even though I had gotten the clearance, I quit my job. I took a really big pay cut, but it was worth it. I got a job as a barista and started art school,” Martinez added, laughing. “I know, it’s the big cliché.”

But through that experience, Martinez said she learned an important lesson: Not only did she love art. She needed it. Martinez said she was recently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder following her service.

“Art has been a form of therapy for me more than ever this semester as I started treatment for PTSD and needed a way to decompress,” she said. “Art has literally saved my life at this point.”

Exploring medical illustration

Back when she was still working on base at Fort Eisenhower, a friend happened to tell her about the  medical illustration  program at Augusta University. Established in 1948, Augusta University has the oldest graduate program in medical illustration in the world.

The medical illustration program has been continuously accredited since 1967, and it is one of just four programs in North America accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.

“After I heard about it, I thought, ‘Well, I mean, I’m already here taking art, I might as well try.’ And that’s where I’m at now,” Martinez said. “I’ll apply to the medical illustration program this fall, so hopefully in the spring I’ll start my master’s degree here. Fingers crossed.”

But before she has even applied to the medical illustration program,  Martinez  has already become a published illustrator. Earlier this year, she had an illustration published in an Augusta University anatomy atlas titled,  “Anatomy and Physiology I: An Interactive Histology Atlas.”

Martinez said she thinks getting a job where she could help create images for educational videos and textbooks for doctors and surgeons would be a fulfilling career.

“Just being able to use your art to teach and show people something that they wouldn’t normally be able to clearly see during an actual medical procedure, I think would be really rewarding,” she said. “So, once I found out you could get a job doing medical drawings like that, I was excited.”

In order to achieve her goal of getting accepted into the medical illustration program, Martinez has not only studied art, but she has also taken several biology, anatomy, kinesiology and zoology classes.

More: University System of Georgia ending waiver to test-score admission requirements in 2026

“This is not fantasy. This is real,” Martinez said. “And you need somebody who knows the body and anatomy more intimately than your average artist in order to get it right.”

Scott Thorp , chair of the  Department of Art and Design , said Martinez was a standout student from the very beginning, when she first took his Drawing I class.

“Edna’s journey is a testament to the type of person she is. She’s always been driven and looked to art as an outlet. But now, she’s turning it into a career,” Thorp said.

“I think Edna’s story illustrates well how art can be both a passion and a career,” Thorp added. “She’s really honed her skills and found a sense of healing at the same time.”

Receiving her degree

When Martinez received her bachelor’s degree in art from Augusta University, members of her family from Las Vegas were in the audience, cheering her on as she crossed the stage.

“I’m the first in my family to graduate from college, so my mom is coming into town for it, and her sister is coming to town, too. It’ll be a big deal for them to see,” Martinez said prior the commencement in May. “I don’t think my mom would miss it for the world.”

And no matter what path she chose in life, Martinez said her family always provided her unconditional love and support.

“I’m the first in my family to have gone into the military. I’m the first to go to college. So, now, I’ll be the first to graduate,” she said. “And hopefully, eventually, I want to get a master’s degree in medical illustration.”

But Martinez said she doesn’t plan to stop there.

“I’d like to get a doctorate in anatomy or something like that. I think it’d be cool to be Dr. Martinez,” she said. “But my family is really proud of me. They all think it’s pretty cool. I think, at first, it sounded a little odd. I mean, I think every art student and every artist gets asked, ‘You really want to pursue art?’ But once they see how good you can be at it and that it is your passion, they get it.”

In fact, Martinez said her family and friends seemed to always know she was an artist at heart.

“A lot of people over the years told me to pursue art. They would say, ‘Why don’t you do art for a living?’ And I was like, ‘I can’t make money doing art,’” Martinez said. “Then, it turns out that money didn’t matter. I quit a job that was paying me enough to buy a house in Summerville at 26 years old. I took a big leap, but I needed to be happy.

“As my mom says, I’ve always been a little crazy like that,” Martinez added. “But my family has also told me, ‘We couldn’t do what you’re doing. We are proud of you.’ That means more to me than anything.”

Miss Manners: Should graduate send parents a thank-you note?

Should this letter writer’s daughter have sent her parents a thank-you note when she graduated from college?

Dear Miss Manners: I was wondering if my daughter should have sent thank-you cards to my wife and myself when she graduated from college.

My wife said she should have, but I don’t feel the same way. Could you please let me know?

In the normal course of events, children take it for granted that their parents feed, clothe and educate them. In happy families, it sometimes strikes adult children how enormous an undertaking that is.

That may bring on a spontaneous burst of gratitude, beyond the usual affection that children who have felt loved and cared for will presumably have been expressing. This may be prompted by special occasions, such as parental birthdays; typically, however, the full realization of the time, energy, patience and money spent occurs when the children have children of their own.

Miss Manners would not have thought that college graduation would bring this on. Does your wife really want to focus on your shared contributions to your daughter’s education, however much you sacrificed, instead of on your daughter’s achievement? Isn’t this the time to tell her how proud of her you are — not how indebted to you she is? That may come later. Miss Manners hopes it will not be merely with a paltry card.

Dear Miss Manners: My husband and I have suffered from several years of infertility, and I am often asked why we don’t have children. As it’s none of their business, and for privacy reasons, I typically answer with, “Though it’s a desire, it has not come as easy for us as others.” Whenever someone inquires further, I would like to know how to politely tell them it’s none of their business.

In polite language, “None of your business” is translated as “That is a personal matter.”

Dear Miss Manners: I am a case manager at a law firm and frequently must call people at another law firm to discuss cases that we have together. Sometimes the receptionist at the other law firm will ask detailed questions as to what the call is about before transferring me to the person with whom I need to speak.

I don’t mean a simple inquiry as to which case the call is about — I mean detailed questions. In my view, it’s none of the receptionist’s business what the call is about; if the law firm wanted her to have substantive conversations about cases, she would have a different position than receptionist.

On the possibility that she may be following instructions, I’ve never pushed back, but it does irritate me. Is there a polite way to convey “It’s none of your business, so please put me through to So-and-So” without actually saying that? Or does business etiquette require that I answer whatever questions the receptionist has before speaking with the person I actually called to talk to?

Well, this is not a personal matter. And most likely, the receptionist is not being nosy, but rather following instructions from her employers, as you suggest. Still, you could say, “She’ll know what it is about.” Miss Manners hopes that works.

New Miss Manners columns are posted Monday through Saturday on washingtonpost.com/advice . You can send questions to Miss Manners at her website, missmanners.com . You can also follow her @RealMissManners.

© 2024 Judith Martin

More from Advice

Meghan Leahy: Why one child can be more ‘difficult’ than another

Ask Sahaj: We both have spouses with Alzheimer’s. Is it too early to date?

Carolyn Hax: Facing a lifelong fear is hard. But too hard to do for your child’s sake?

Ask Amy: Parents fret over daughter’s relationship

Miss Manners: Rude remark gets flippant response at cocktail party