Italian second cycle master's degree (“Laurea Magistrale”, under D.M. 270/04 or “Laurea Specialistica”, under D.M. 509/99) or Italian degree obtained prior to D.M. 509/99 (the previous Italian regulations) or Second cycle Master's degree obtained abroad, equivalent to the above-mentioned Italian degrees and recognized as suitable for the admission to doctoral program.
Further information available in the Call.

The skills acquired through the Ph.D. programme are useful for working within public or private training and research institutions, requiring skills in the direction and design of public policies relating to labour, environmental, social and economic sustainability or, within medium-sized or large companies, with study and high design tasks related to the organisation of personnel and production processes oriented towards digitalisation and ecological transition.

Other possible employment opportunities in trade unions or employers’ organisations or public institutions include the performance of management functions concerning the conduct of trade union negotiations, dialogue with workers’ representative structures, administration of collective agreements, dispute management, and settlement of collective disputes.

Research institutions also include those belonging to the academic circuit, which is one of the natural outlets for the course.

The Course imparts the skills to interpret / govern the processes of innovation and development of work, in industrial companies, services, public institutions and territories and their transformative implications (regulatory, economic, organizational, technological and production), also considered in the interweaving with the issues of inclusion and sustainability, through the acquisition of multi-disciplinary analysis, research and intervention tools suitable to thematize the complex relationships between legal and organizational-managerial regulation of work, the innovation processes of companies (industrial, service, public) and the dynamics of territorial socio-economic development.

The research areas are divided into two thematic strands "Work, Institutions and Society" and "Development, Innovation and Sustainability"; they are continuously updated to take into account the evolution in the reference disciplines of the Course (https://www.phdlavorosviluppoinnovazione.unimore.it/en/research-areas/) .
Thanks to the synergy within the PhD School E4E (Engineering for Economics – Economics for Engineering), particular attention is dedicated to the understanding of the dynamics of the digital transformation of organizations, and to the elaboration of legal, economic-financial and managerial tools to govern the transformation of companies in an Industry 4.0 key. This research itinerary focuses on the aspect of datafication of work and production processes, resulting from digitalization, and its transformative effects.

The research areas are consistent with the large multidisciplinary areas of research and innovation, inspired by the European framework programme Horizon Europe, referred to in the National Programme for Research 2021-2027 of the MUR, and with the objectives and priorities of action referred to in the Pact for Work and Climate and the Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart specialization 2021-2027 of the Emilia Romagna Region.

The training and research course supports the construction of critical thinking skills, and a profile of multidisciplinary skills necessary to interpret and govern complex socio-economic phenomena, in line with the general training and research objectives of the Course.
The achievement of the degree is subject to the acquisition of 180 ECTS and the elaboration of an original research contribution.

The training program is divided into frontal training activities, applied research, also in internships at companies, public administrations, companies and other national or international institutions or in the context of research projects defined in agreement with external subjects, on specific topics of common interest, and opportunities to participate in the design of training initiatives and dissemination of research results, even to a non-specialist public.

The frontal training includes a mandatory component (basic courses, seminars/multidisciplinary additional modules, and training activities for transversal skills) and an optional component (laboratory activities). The basic courses provide an up-to-date picture of the research concepts and methodologies typical of the areas represented in the course, aiming to support PhD students in the development of the skills necessary to perfect the definition of the knowledge problem, specify the theoretical and methodological choices and independently set a research design on the specific theme of the thesis. The training activities for transversal skills aim at the acquisition and / or improvement of advanced language skills (written and oral communication techniques for the enhancement and dissemination of research results, methodologies for writing scientific articles), bibliographic analysis, research management and knowledge of European and international research systems, enhancement and dissemination of results, intellectual property and open access to data and research products. The laboratory activities offer conceptual and methodological insights useful for the specific research project of PhD students.
The training course is also carried out with the participation of teachers from foreign universities and research institutions, also to promote periods of international mobility of doctoral students. The Course promotes the growth of doctoral students through the comparison, both within the Course between the attending students (cycle of seminars of doctoral students and PhD students in LSI organized by them), and outside, through participation in congresses and/orork

The study and research activities carried out by PhD students are verified at the end of each year. The progress of the thesis work is monitored at the end of the first, second and third years.