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35 fully-funded PhD Scholarships at IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy

Publish Date: Mar 28, 2015

Deadline: Jun 29, 2015

IMT Ph.D. Program “Institutions, Markets and Technologies”

Call for applications 2015/2016

IMT’s international PhD program – “Institutions, Markets and Technologies” – is truly unique. The program, which lasts three years and includes a research period abroad, is governed by a single collegial body (called Scientific Board) made up primarily of tenured professors of the Institute.

Based on the strong interdisciplinary nature of the Institute, which integrates competences in economics, engineering, computer science, physics, history and cultural heritage, IMT’s doctoral program offers advanced training for the analysis and management of a variety of technological and societal systems. More specifically, the program encompasses the four scientific macro-areas present at IMT: Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Economics and Management, and Cultural Heritage, and is articulated in 3 field-specific, yet complementary, curricula:

  1. Computer Science and Systems Engineering (CSSE)
  2. Economics, Management and Data Science (EMDS)
  3. Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage (AMCH) 

Each curriculum is affiliated with one or more macro-areas and is linked with one of the Institute’s Research Units. The structure of the program therefore perfectly reflects IMT’s multidisciplinary organization model, which places the integration of research and teaching at the fulcrum of its mission.

Table 1 – Curricula description

Computer Science and Systems Engineering

Current trends in society show an increasing pervasiveness of information and communication technologies into our lives, as witnessed by the growing popularity of mobile, portable, and wearable devices, as well as by the massive shift toward equipping everyday objects with computational and networking capabilities.

The integration of computing devices and physical processes leads to the emergence of new cyber-physical systems that exhibit intricate dependencies between parts of inherently different nature. These systems pose very challenging and fundamental questions of both methodological and technological nature. Their successful engineering and operation requires a novel holistic inter-disciplinary approach, combining fundamental research at least in the following domains: synthesis and verification of highly concurrent computing systems; data-driven modeling, control and optimization of large-scale dynamical systems; modeling of novel surfaces and materials; analysis of massive quantities of data, such as imaging data.

The CSSE curriculum provides the doctoral student with a solid interdisciplinary background to analyze cyber-physical systems and provide solutions to a huge variety of complex engineering problems. The program of studies is based on a set of common courses, covering the fundamentals of numerical linear algebra and numerical methods for differential equations, computer programming, dynamical systems and control, numerical optimization, stochastic processes, and machine learning. These basic courses are followed by a number of advanced courses and research seminars, related to the different areas of specialization for the PhD work, that can be chosen by the student.

The specialization in computer science deals with the development of models, algorithms, and verification methods for modern distributed systems, focusing on cutting-edge research issues on the fundamentals and the applications of architectures and languages to modern distributed systems, including global and cloud computing systems, web systems and services, and mobile systems.

The specialization in control systems is oriented towards identification and optimization-based control of dynamical systems, with an emphasis on real-time embedded optimization algorithms for control of stochastic, distributed, and large-scale dynamical systems, and their application in industrial problems arising from the automotive, aerospace, and smart-grid domains. The specialization in computational mechanics is concerned with the development of innovative computational methods to study advanced problems of solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, and cutting-edge problems involving multiple fields and length scales of high interest in both the academic and industrial sectors. Students focusing on image analysis work on devising new machine learning and data mining algorithms for innovative feature extraction, sparse data representation and scientific visualization scale multimodal data, with emphasis on images arising in the natural and life sciences.

Keywords: computer science; control systems; computational mechanics; image analysis; machine learning.

Input and output profiles:
Perspective students should preferably have a master-level background in computer science, engineering, physics, mathematics, statistics, or in a related field. The CSSE curriculum prepares researchers and professionals that are able to analyze and propose constructive solutions to several real- life problems of industrial, economic, and societal interest, making them qualified to work in high-profile professional roles within universities, research centers, and companies.

Research units contributing to the curriculum: SYSMA, DYSCO, MUSAM, PRIAN, NETWORKS
Ph.D. candidates also have the opportunity to collaborate with other institutions that work with IMT Research Units.

 

Economics, Management and Data Science (EMDS)

This curriculum provides participants with a solid knowledge base in analytical methods in economics and management science. With its multidisciplinary approach, the curriculum is unique in its deployment of a strong integration of concepts, analytical foundations, and practical expertise, to educate a new professional élite with distinctive capabilities in analyzing, visualizing, interpreting, and managing complex problems in economics and management. Graduates are trained as future leaders in policy and industry. Students are involved in the analysis of real world big/high dimensional data, in collaboration with companies and institutions. The curriculum relies on distinctive competences at IMT Institute for Advanced Studies in economics, management science and analytics, computer science, applied mathematics, network theory, and system engineering/operation research. Specific fields of study are economic networks and network industries; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; systemic risk analysis; economics and finance; organization, entrepreneurship, and technology; strategy; marketing science; critical infrastructures; systems modeling and optimization; stochastic systems; production and operations.

Close associations with a selected set of companies and institutions provide the opportunity to analyze relevant problems, motivating new analytical techniques from practical problem solving.

Input and Output Profiles

This curriculum aims at preparing researchers and professionals with a deep knowledge of methods and techniques for the analysis of big/high dimensional data in economics  and management science. Perspective students should preferably have a master-level background in economics, management science, physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, or in a related field. The curriculum is designed to prepare candidates for leading positions in companies, research centers, and institutions. Job opportunities for graduates from this curriculum are at companies and institutions, with a focus on analytics and data science.

Research Units contributing to the curriculum: AXES, ICES, LIME, NETWORKS, DYSCO.

Ph.D. candidates also have the opportunity to collaborate with other institutions that work with IMT Research Units.

Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage (AMCH)

The curriculum in Analysis and Management of Cultural Heritage proposes courses in Management of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Institutions, European and International Legislation on Cultural Heritage and Landscape, Art History, Museology, Technologies applied to the valorization of Cultural Heritage. Both research oriented and practice oriented courses constitute the program, which aims at educating qualified professionals operating in the concrete field of cultural management and academics. It promotes research offering the students a lively contact with different research approaches and methodologies, through case studies belonging to research fields such as Art History, Classical Archaeology and Museology.

Input and Output Profiles

The curriculum aims at providing prospective professionals operating in the field of management of culture and cultural heritage with specific know-hows. Prospective students should preferably have an undergraduate background in the Social Sciences, the Humanities, or ICT related to Cultural Heritage. This curriculum will enable graduates to access to:

a. Academic career in Art History.
b. Public and private Institutions dealing with the concrete management of Cultural Heritage, promotion of Culture and Tourism, organization of cultural events, diffusion and teaching of culture.

Research Units contributing to the curriculum: LYNX (main), AXES, LIME.

Ph.D. candidates also have the opportunity to collaborate with other institutions that work with IMT Research Units:
• ASK Centre (Art, Science and Knowledge), Bocconi University,
• ISTI-CNR, for themes related to the use of ICT technologies in the field of Cultural Heritage both in terms of valorization and analysis (e.g. CH applications of data management and data mining technologies).

Duration: 3 years
Language: Courses and seminars are held in English.
Classes start on 02 November 2015.

Scholarships and Facilities

  • 34 Ph.D. positions are covered by scholarships in the gross amount of 13,638.47€ /year.
  • All Ph.D. students will have tuition fees waived (regional tax of around 140€/year excluded).
  • D. students who are granted a scholarship have free accommodation in shared double rooms in the School residence halls (with the exception of students whose permanent residence is within a 30km radius from IMT).
  • All Ph.D. students will have free access to the canteen services.
  • All Ph.D. students are covered by insurance against any accident and/or injury that may occur while carrying out their Ph.D. activities.

The number of scholarships may be increased as a result of additional funding made available by public or private organizations after the publication of the call and within the deadline for submission of applications (in this case notice will be given on IMT’s website and Online Notice Board).

All Ph.D. positions may be covered by an apprenticeship contract. This is a type of work contract specifically created for youth, in which a company provides both remuneration and professional training for the young worker while benefiting from tax reductions in exchange. Therefore, it is a type of contract particularly suited for growing companies willing to invest in young workers to allow them to progressively grow within the enterprise.

For more information, please visit the IMT PhD/Prospective Students webpage.

1-  REQUIREMENTS

Applications are open to candidates who meet the below requirements without regard to nationality, age, gender or religion.

  • Knowledge of English is compulsory.
  • The candidate must have completed and obtained a degree equivalent to at least 4 years of university studies. The 4-year duration has to be considered as the minimum but not sufficient requirement: the eligibility of degrees will be assessed by the Selection Committee.

For the selection procedure, candidates are required to upload online the documents indicated in the Table 3 - Attachments to the application

For the enrollment, candidates will be required to hand in the documents indicated in Table 4 - Documents required for enrollment

2-  APPLICATION

Applicants must fill out the online application form in English and attach the required documents by 29 June 2015 at 6:00 pm (CEST), under penalty of exclusion from the competition.

Applications submitted by means other than the online procedure will not be accepted, unless explicitly permitted by IMT following a well-motivated request concerning technical impediments.

Application Procedure

In order to apply, applicants must first submit their personal data: applicants will then receive a confirmation e-mail containing a password and basic instructions for the submission procedure.

The first time applicants access their account, they will be requested to choose the curriculum/curricula for which they wish to apply.

Although not mandatory, information and attachments marked as Optional are most welcome, as they enable the Admissions Committee to evaluate candidates comprehensively.

Data and documents entered into the application form are the sole responsibility of the applicant. In the event of false declaration(s), the applicant will not be allowed to enroll in the Ph.D. Program at IMT.

Further details are available here: PhD Italy


This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.imtlucca.it/phd/prospective/admission

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Study Levels

PhD

Eligible Countries

International

Host Countries

Italy