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Project description:

The space sector is one of the most multidisciplinary. Almost all the "terrestrial" disciplines have a spatial equivalent with the specific peculiarities of such a particular environment. The PhD course in Sciences, Technologies and Measurements for Space (STMS) aims to train researchers who can operate in this sector with a strongly multi-disciplinary preparation that combines typical skills of Engineering and Science. This aspect, which represents the strong and peculiar point of this course, is essential for space missions where often the most important scientific results are obtained with instruments and devices that are designed using the state of the art of Engineering. Such a multidisciplinary approach is offered through a diverse composition of the PhD board with professors from both fields. This peculiarity is not usually offered in other PhD courses, which, being administered either by Departments of Engineering or Astronomical Sciences, provide a more focused preparation in only one of the two fields. In particular, the teaching staff offers numerous transversal courses and seminars in order to train a research doctor with the required multidisciplinary skills.

Objectives of the course:

The aim of the Doctoral Program in Sciences, Technologies and Measurements for Space (STMS) is to train researchers able to carry out research activities in disciplines connected with science, technologies and measurements for space. The Course, based in a University Center (CISAS), has a very heterogeneous teaching staff made up of Science and Engineering professors, which offers an extremely multidisciplinary environment. Students often work within national or international programmes, actively participating in theoretical, technological, computational or experimental activities in the field of space research. The educational program allows students to acquire skills that can be used to the fullest both in view of a university career and a position in research institutes or high-tech industrial sectors. The formation of the Course and the various contacts with industries in the sector can also stimulate future PhD students to compete in the broader national and international scenario, or to promote the growth of high-tech spin-offs and the innovation of local industry with important territorial effects . The multidisciplinary approach, at the basis of the training of PhDs in STMS, enables them to manage scientific and/or industrial research programs at leadership levels.

Expected occupational and professional opportunities:

The professional placement of PhDs in Sciences, Technologies and Measurements for Space is distinct between the two existing curricula. The indications given refer to the information available, generally relating to the first three years after graduation.
The usual types of professional placement for PhDs in the "Mechanical Measurements for Engineering and Space" (MMES) curriculum are mainly those relating to the design, construction and qualification of instruments for measuring and analyzing mechanical and thermal quantities, which are widely professional insertion both in the industrial field and in that of research structures. In particular, in the field of applied research, the skills of the PhDs in MMES are required in high-tech industries relating to mechanical, thermal and optomechanical instrumentation, and in IT service companies, with particular regard to the aerospace sector.
Research Doctors of the Curriculum "Sciences and Technologies for Aeronautics and Satellite Applications" (STASA) usually find professional placements in the academic field, in the aerospace industry, in Space Agencies (national or foreign) and associated Laboratories, in the INAF Astronomical Observatories, in research institutions, companies in the high technology field, university spin-offs, in foreign laboratories or in the start-up of (or participation in) small advanced technology companies.

  Curriculum

• MECHANICAL MEASUREMENTS FOR ENGINEERING AND SPACE
• SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR AERONAUTICS AND SATELLITE APPLICATIONS

  Other information

• PhD Programmes Calls and Admissions
• PhD Programmes
• The International PhD guide
• More informations