PhD Students 40th cycle

Sara D'Amelio is PhD Student at the University of Bologna - Department of Statistic Sciences "Paolo Fortunati". She got a Master Degree in Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, earned at the University of Bologna; during her academic career she had several significant experiences, such as the internship she did in the Healthcare framework and the voluntary work fulfilled in migrants' social services. Those have been crucial to define and narrow down her research interests as well: after graduation, Sara studied and worked as Medical Anthropologist in ethnopsychiatric team and as social worker with migrant people.
Nowadays, she deems ground-breaking and multidisciplinary projects are deeply needed to improve social services, therefore she is focusing on partnership and engagement between University, local authorities and community, following the "Civic University" pathway.

Supervisor: Maria Letizia Guerra; co-supervisor: Sara Branchini.

Scholarship financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 4.1 (Ministerial Decree 629/2024) - Public Administration and Centro Antartide.

Collaboration between University and territory: the model of the Civic University applied to social innovation in the field of sustainable development, new welfare and ecological transition. Methods and methods of application of the Civic University model starting from the experience of the Green University of Bologna APS and in relation to international practices: between University and civil society in the path from data analysis, experimentation and policy development, social impact assessment and modeling of sustainable organizational practices of local authorities to encourage and accompany change.

Francesca Delfini is PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Economic Sciences. His research interests include competition policies, industrial and transport economics. He holds a master's degree in Economics from Tor Vergata University. She worked as a Research Assistant at Lear, an economic consultancy firm specializing in competition policy and regulation, where she worked on the application of microeconomic models and econometric tools to competition-related issues, in projects for businesses, non-governmental organizations and public institutions national and supranational. His research objective is to use economic tools for impact assessments of specific national and supranational competition policies. In particular, his project will focus on competition in the aviation sector, structuring the analysis of one or more of the following key points: profitability of regional airports, role and actual need for state aid, relationship between greater efficiency of airports regional and development of the regional economy, coherence between the objectives of European policies.

Supervisor: Elena Argentesi; co-supervisor: Salvatore Nava.

Scholarship financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 4.1 (Ministerial Decree 629/2024) - Public Administration and by Learlab Srl. Competition economics.

Virginia Fidenti is a PhD Candidate at the University of Bologna - Department of Economics. She holds a Master's degree in European and International Studies from the University of Trento. For her Master's thesis, she conducted research at the Centro de Estudos em Administração Pública e Governo (CEAPG) at Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil) as a Graduate Visiting Researcher. She then collaborated as a research fellow on the project “Inequalities in Tertiary Education (Intedu)” at the University of Bologna, studying inequality of opportunities in access to education through an experimental approach.

Currently, she works on the analysis of poverty, social exclusion, and socioeconomic inequalities, adopting an intersectional approach that investigates the intertwined and reinforcing structural causes, thus worsening the conditions of the most vulnerable groups. The project also explores the causal impact of public policies aimed at reducing poverty and inequalities.

Supervisor: Giuseppe Pignataro; co-supervisor: Luca Bonacini.

Research activity relating to the study of economic phenomena at a micro-economic and/or macro-economic level, with quantitative methods (mathematical, statistical and probabilistic) and with reference to analyzes in the field of economic policy, labor economics and education, environmental economics, public economics, the study of the public sector of the economy and its interactions with the private sector, public intervention in the economy and local finance.

Stella Vita Gatti is PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Statistical Sciences "Paolo Fortunati". She obtained a master's degree in Economics from the University of Bologna with a thesis entitled "The Impact of Female Empowerment and Resources on HIV Diagnoses in Sub-Saharan Africa". During the master's degree he gained internship experience as a Research Assistant analyzing the dynamics of the HIV epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa from a microeconometric point of view. She is interested in issues of social inequalities, with particular attention to gender discrimination and violence.

Supervisor: Maria Rosaria Ferrante; co-supervisor: Silvia De Nicolò.

Scholarship financed by the Emilia-Romagna Region as part of research training projects - Territory: Technological, cultural, economic and social transition towards sustainability.

Statistics for the sustainability of the territory.

Supervisor: Vincenzo Scrutinio; co-supervisor: Margherita Fort.

Borsa China Research Council

The Impact of the Gig Economy on China's Labor Market: A Perspective from Employment Quality, Wage Disparities, and Employment Structure.

Valentina Liguori is a PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Management. She obtained a three-year degree in Business Economics from the University of Naples and continued his studies at the University of Bologna, in the master's degree course in Business Management. During this period, he participated in several research-related training activities, including a collaboration with CERN in Geneva for an innovative sustainability-oriented project. His research interests are focused on sustainability and inclusion. In particular, his doctorate focuses on educational institutions, with the aim of understanding how they can be enhanced and made more inclusive. Its ambition is to promote greater well-being within these institutions, which play a fundamental role in the lives of young people, thus contributing to improving the quality of school life.

Supervisor: Angelo Paletta; co-supervisor: Luciano Covi.

Scholarship financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 4.1 (Ministerial Decree 629/2024) - Public Administration and by Iprase.

Enhancing School Effectiveness through Professional Learning Communities: Analyzing the Interplay between School Management, Learning Environments, and Student Outcomes.

Lorenzo Maccarone is PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Economics. His interests are in the fields of Urban Economics, Regional Economics, Transport Economics and more generally Applied Economics. After obtaining a three-year degree in Economics and Finance at the University of Rome "La Sapienza", he moved to Bologna, where he obtained a master's degree in Economics (LMEC).

Supervisor: Roberto Patuelli; co-supervisor: Lorenzo Masiero.

Research activity relating to the study of economic phenomena at a micro-economic and/or macro-economic level, with quantitative methods (mathematical, statistical and probabilistic) and with reference to analyzes in the field of economic policy, labor economics and education, environmental economics, public economics, the study of the public sector of the economy and its interactions with the private sector, public intervention in the economy and local finance.

Alessandra Meriani is PhD student at the University of Bologna - "Paolo Fortunati" Department of Statistical Sciences. He holds a degree in Communication Sciences (2021) and an International Master in Statistics, Economics and Business, Business Analytics curriculum (2023) from the University of Bologna. His master's thesis, supervised by Professor Ida D'Attoma, explored the holistic phenomenon of permaculture by applying advanced statistical and text mining techniques. He worked in consultancy for a year and a half as a data engineer. Since 2023, he has held the role of Academic Tutor at the University of Bologna. With an interdisciplinary background, he brings a unique perspective to his research, combining linguistic-semiotic interpretation with rigorous data analysis. His current work focuses on the application of advanced statistical and data mining techniques to address the issue of reducing food waste and promoting healthy and sustainable food choices.

Supervisor: Ida D'Attoma; co-supervisor: Matteo Vittuari; Mario Mazzocchi.

Modeling of food consumption behaviors, strategies for reducing food waste, analysis of synergies and conflicts with the promotion of healthy and sustainable choices.

Hristina Miljković is a PhD Candidate at the University of Bologna, Department of Management. She graduated with honors from her Master’s in Business Administration at the same university and completed an exchange program at the University of Münster, focusing on finance. Alongside her PhD, she is pursuing the CFA charter. She began her academic career as a teaching tutor at the University of Bologna, contributing to courses like “Financial Analysis,” “Corporate Valuation”, “Introduction to Finance” and "Business Plan". She also developed and is teaching “Crash Course in Corporate Finance” at the Forlì campus. Hristina competed in multiple international competitions, winning first places in the EY NextGen Woman in Strategy and Transaction, Luxottica Business Game, and Microsoft Challenge at the TUM Business Game. She was also part of the University of Bologna team for the CFA Challenge competition. Her research focuses on impact investing, climate change, and public sector's role in sustainable transition. Her PhD objective is to explore how generative models and financial markets can support sustainability, building on her master’s thesis on the environmental impact on corporate capital structures post-Paris Agreement.

Supervisor: Selena Aureli; co-supervisor: Barbara Petracci; Pierpaolo Pattitoni.

Analysis of governance and organizational models and measurement and managerial management tools in different public service contexts; sub-topics: a) Business sustainability practices and evaluation of the effectiveness of public policies for the conservation of soil and natural resources; b) Impact investments, application of models generating social/environmental value.

Tommaso Roccabianca is PhD candidate at the University of Bologna - Department of Management. With a Bachelor's degree in Economics, Markets and Institutions, got specialized in Health Economics with a Master's Degree in Health Economics, Management and Policy. His studies were enriched by work and study experiences abroad, thanks to a six-month internship in a Berliner start-up and a semester at the University of Hamburg. In the last months of his Master’s studies, he collaborated with IRCCS Policlinico di Sant'Orsola for a project on cost analysis of Robotic Surgery. Currently, he is researching the role of Robotic Surgery in Public Health, thanks to a collaboration between the University of Bologna and IRCCS Policlinico di Sant'Orsola. His research focuses in particular on the economic and clinical implications associated with the implementation of such technology.

Supervisor: Emanuele Padovani; co-supervisor: Antonio Gangemi.

Advancement of surgical care in the Public Sector: comparative analysis of robotic and traditional methods.

Francesco Romanucci is PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Political and Social Sciences. He obtained a degree in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Macerata and a master's degree in Politics, Administration and Organization from the University of Bologna. His research interests range between Public Policies and Public Administration, with a particular focus on topics such as Policy Design, governance models (in particular Collaborative and Multi-stakeholder Governance), the dynamics of policy implementation and the recent reforms inspired by New Public Management.

Supervisor: Giliberto Capano; co-supervisor: Federico Toth.

Political and sociological analysis of the most relevant critical issues/innovations/changes in the design, regulation, evaluation and management of policies within the PPAA. In particular: a) attention to the dynamics of co-programming and co-planning in regulating relationships with external parties, in particular with third sector bodies (New Public Governance); b) the post-New Public Management transformations of PAs, in particular the introduction of lean management principles and tools in the public sector; c) multilevel management and regulatory response to crises in the migration, economic, health/pandemic, educational fields at national, European or global level; d) development of innovative methodologies and tools for monitoring the implementation phases of policy interventions, for the design and governance of implementation structures and for the evaluation of interventions with respect to the objectives; e) determinants of the success or failure of public policies.

Besjon Tanuzi is a PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Management. He is a tax risk analyst with solid academic and professional experience. He holds a Master of Public Administration in Economic and Financial Policy from Cornell University, where he was a Fellow in the Infrastructure Policy Management and Finance program, and a Bachelor's and Master's in Business Administration from the University of Tirana. Since 2021 he has been a member of Pi Alpha Alpha, the global honorary society for Public Administration. At Cornell he also worked as an Assistant Professor for infrastructure financing courses PADM5755 and macroeconomic theory MGMT 5240. Professionally, Besjon worked as a fiscal risk expert at the Ministry of Finance and Economy in Albania, working with the IMF and the World Bank to improve risk assessment frameworks. He has monitored fiscal risks related to macroeconomic forecasts, government debt, public-private partnerships and state-owned enterprises in the energy sector. His role also included designing and analyzing policies to improve public financial management and mitigate fiscal risks.

Supervisor: Angelo Paletta; co-supervisor: Genc Alimehmeti; Emanuele Padovani. 

Analysis of governance and organizational models and measurement and managerial management tools in different public service contexts; sub-topics: a) Business sustainability practices and evaluation of the effectiveness of public policies for the conservation of soil and natural resources; b) Impact investments, application of models generating social/environmental value.

Antonietta Viola is a PhD student at the University of Bologna - Department of Economics. He obtained a master's degree in Statistics, Economics and Business - Curriculum "Quantitative methods for economic decisions", at the University of Bologna. She is passionate about data analysis and has worked in this field for one of the largest companies in the economic consultancy and research sector. His area of ​​research concerns the use of quantitative methods for the design and evaluation of public policies, with applications to the issues of inequalities of opportunities and policies aimed at mitigating poverty and social inequalities. He had the opportunity to gain practical experience in this field by carrying out various volunteer activities within associations that support people and families in vulnerable conditions.

Supervisor: Giuseppe Pignataro; co-supervisor: Luca Bonacini.

Scholarship financed by the European Union - NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) Mission 4, Component 1, Investment 4.1 (Ministerial Decree 629/2024) - Public Administration.

Policies relating to the reduction of territorial inequalities, measurement of social deprivation and vulnerability of families, identification of universal access to basic services.

Leonardo Ventimiglia is PhD student at the University of Bologna – Department of Economics.He currently also holds the role of research assistant and doctoral student at SUPSI (Professional University School of Italian Switzerland), where he focuses on the study of social norms in favor of the energy transition. Previously, he carried out an internship at ISTAT, where he contributed to the development of an indicator on the perception of the quality of life in European capitals. His interdisciplinary education combines a three-year degree in Sociology from the University of Milan-Bicocca, and a master's degree in Statistical Science from the University of Bologna. His research area concerns the decarbonisation of mobility and tourism consumption, with the aim of promoting low energy impact leisure activities through an experimental approach.

Supervisor: Alessandro Tavoni; co-supervisor: Veronica Pizziol.