Overview

Public management, governance and policy issues are addressed with a solid multidisciplinary scientific approach. The focus is on the knowledge of the elements which are necessary for the management of organizations that are involved directly or indirectly in the planning, delivery and monitoring of public services, capitalizing on the possible work experience of the candidates.
Target Skills:
a) ability to analyze emerging needs;
b) ability to detect, interpret and present data which are useful for decisions and impact assessments, considering ethical and privacy issues;
c) ability to imagine innovative multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance solutions, within the typical operational framework of the PA;
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.

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 II and III, 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, after approval of the board. The result of the research work should demonstrate, in addition to scientific rigor, an appreciable knowledge improvement, capable of improving the performance of the public administration. In this sense, teaching staff makes use of the collaboration of a group of external members with a high professional profile from the world of the PA. PhD students are also encouraged to present their work in progress at both national and international congresses, also thanks to the active support of their supervisors. This aims at progressively improving the research work thanks to the feedback received during the discussion, and at stimulating the PhD student to continuous comparison. For those who already work in the PA the acquired training aims at consolidating professional skills; for those who work in national and international organizations operating in favor of the PA through providing services and implementing public policies, including companies consultants and PA suppliers, the training aims at a satisfactory improvement of one's professional position, promoting life-long learning processes.

Interdisciplinarity is a peculiar feature of the PhD programme. In particular, the research topics reflect the specializations of the four departments that jointly develop the programme: Department of Political Sciences (specialized in the Public Governance area), Department of Management (specialized in the Public Management area), Department of Economics (specialized in the area of ​​Public Policy) and Department of Statistics (specialized in applied quantitative analysis). PhD students carry out research activities in one or more sub-fields of the broader interdisciplinary field of design-planning, management and evaluation of services and public policies. These sub-areas are declined in specific research projects of one's own interest, perfected with the help of thesis supervisors, according - but not limited - to the topics covered by the training activities. 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, ability to respond to public needs in hybrid public-private contexts, social cohesion, 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.

At the end of the training course, PhD participants possess an interdisciplinary background with knowledge relating to the entire process of conception, design, implementation and evaluation of a public service or public policy, and have had the opportunity to examine applications of analytical and methodological tools to their field of interest within the areas of specialization.
By building on this set of skills and on the ability to dialogue between different disciplines, PhDs can qualify:
(1) for positions of policy analyst, management analyst, policy advisor, audit manager in consulting firms, research institutions and national or international public and governmental institutes;
(2) for positions with executive roles in profit and non-profit public or private sector organizations involved in the design, planning and management of public services;
(3) for project coordination positions in subjects related to public policy management and relations with the EU;
(4) as economists in national and international public bodies, as consultants in specialized companies or researchers oriented towards a national and international academic career in the fields of economics, political science and public management.

The activity of PhD students is spread over a total of three years, each characterized by a main mission. Year I is dedicated to basic multidisciplinary training, year II to specialized "tailor-made" training of the individual doctoral candidate in preparation for research work, year III is dedicated to completing the research project and to the presentation of the final thesis.

During year I and part of year II, PhD students receive a common and compulsory multidisciplinary training of at least 120 hour-classes. The objective of year I is to develop a common language and basic skills in the three disciplinary fields, i.e. Public Governance, Public Management and Public Policy, as well as providing methodological and research method skills (see research training).

During year II, the training course of the candidates is personalized with the support of the teaching staff and in particular of the supervisor in a way which is functional for the preparation of the research work. The tools used to complete the training will benefit from skills derived from the four Departments and stays at international universities, in-depth academic seminars including external seminar activities or participation in congresses and training internship activities, after approval of the teaching board.
During the second year, the development of the definitive project idea is required.

During year III, the activity is mainly focussed on the development of the research project, functional to the presentation and discussion of the final thesis. During year III it is notable that PhD students participate in scientific congresses, in order to present their first research results.