Materials, Sustainable Processes and Systems for the Energy Transition

Overview

Why Politecnico? 

• A large number of scholarships available

• Scholarship amount: € 16.243,00 gross per year

• Scholarships are increased by 50% for study periods abroad; 

• An allowance is provided to all PhD students for mobility abroad;

• Maternity leave paid

• High quality research
• International experience

• Joint research activity with the non-academic sector 

The Materials, Sustainable Processes and Systems for the Energy Transition programme from Politecnico di Torino aims to build a just and innovative society in harmony with the planet.

This study programme is a project of the School for Advanced Studies IUSS of Pavia and the Center for Climate Change studies and Sustainable Actions (3CSA) of the Federation of the Italian Schools of Advanced Studies, co-funded by the Italian Ministry of the University and the Research (MUR).

A multi- and inter-disciplinary programme with the partnership of 30+ Italian University and Research Centers. A key contributor to the work required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The education and research programme is organized in 6 curricula which share two common goals: 

• to propose new sustainable models to address climate change and its impacts, and

• to build a learning and research community able to promote innovative and operational solutions to the complex problems of our society.

A programme where ideas and methods concerned with Environment, Society, Technology, Economics and Health themes are integrated in a global vision.

Educational Programme

The PhD degree course aims to equip candidates with in-depth knowledge and technical expertise in their chosen specialty, and high-level, cross-disciplinary and robust education in the other five curricula. 

The objective is to give all candidates the opportunity to choose among the expertise available in 30 Italian universities and to work in inter-disciplinary teams on ‘hot topics’ related to sustainability and climate change. Students will be able to design their education programmes in terms of the courses and topics studied, to learn how to solve problems from different angles, and how to engage in effective discussion with experts in other domains. 

Candidates will be assigned to scholarship in one of the areas within the six curricula. Candidates will be enrolled in the universities offering the relevant specializations and will follow an education roadmap that include activities at three levels:

• the multi-disciplinary PhD level;

• the multi-disciplinary level of the student’s particular curriculum;

• a more focused level related to the particular disciplinary area.

Research Programme

Addressing climate change and finding just and effective ways to redesign all human activities in a sustainable way is complex, and requires approaches that take account of many different aspects. Single disciplinary methods are sub-optimal, and although they might identify solutions to very specific problems, they might ultimately have negative impacts on some other important areas.

The PhD-SDC aims to promote inter-disciplinary discussion among the PhD candidates following the different curricula, so that the potential impact of individual research programmes on different fields can be identified and addressed. 

The aim is to replicate the reality of experts asked to study, understand and solve complex problems, not in isolation in a ‘single discipline bubble’, but in collaboration with colleagues with different backgrounds and expertise.