PhD Course

Geosciences

Thematic area Hard Sciences
Duration 3 years
Language English
PhD Programme Coordinator D'Alpaos Andrea

The Doctoral Programme in Geosciences at the University of Padova is engaged in world-class research into processes at work on and within the Earth at different spatial and temporal scales

  Find out more

The Doctoral Program in Geosciences at the University of Padova is engaged in world-class research involving the full breadth of the Earth sciences that has been grouped in 6 main research areas at the Department of Geosciences:

1) Sediments, life and climate throught time, 2) Earth and planetary dynamics, 3)seismology and applied geophysics , 4) natural resources, raw materials, and sustainability, 5) archaeometry, geoarcheology and geoheritage and 6) geomorphological processes and landforms, geological hazards and risks.

We therefore range from research topics where "basic" disciplines are mainly involved to "applied" research activities, fields where the disciplines of Earth Sciences are proving to be crucial for a country like Italy subject to high hydrogeological vulnerability and high seismic and volcanic risks.

PhD students are actively involved in the research programs of the Department of Geosciences, within which they must develop aspects of their particular interest, working with high level of independence on research projects approved by the Academic Board. The PhD aims to train specialists capable of dealing with a wide variety of interdisciplinary connections that typically characterize the research in the Geosciences. The skills and expertise acquired by the PhD candidates during the program will allow them to operate with full competence in a very wide spectrum of fields.

In recent years, the research projects assigned are characterized by great interdisciplinarity, in line with the research methods and approaches of the modern geosciences. During the program, PhD students have very often to face with specific challenges that to be overcome need either highly specialized analytical methodologies and techniques or collaborations with researchers from other disciplinary fields (e.g., engineers, mathematicians, chemists, physicists and biologists). Most of the projects are conceived with strategies aimed at creating an opportunity for collaborations with Italian or foreign public or private universities or research institutes in order to implement the skills, expertise and knowledge of the individual doctoral students.

Requirements for the Individual Training Plan: the PhD course in Geosciences has a duration of three years and the degree can be obtained after having acquired at least 30 credits (180 hours) for training through courses and attendance at a minimum of twelve (12) seminars during the three years. There are compulsory courses that a PhD student must take, and the student can then independently create, in agreement with his/her supervisor, his/her own Individual Training Plan.

The knowledge, skills and competences acquired during the program will allow PhD doctorate to be employed in public bodies, institutions, companies, professional studios but also to continue their career in the academia and /or public and private research institutes.