PhD

Environmental Sciences

Academic year 2025/2026

Department of Environmental Science and Policy

Università degli Studi di Milano

EQF level: 8

41° cicle

Field of study: natural sciences, mathematics, physics and statistics agriculture, forestry and veterinary

Place of teaching
milano (MI), italy

Languages in which the course is held
Italian

Cost
Not specified

Scholarships
14

Course contents

The doctoral programme provides solid grounding and research training in the field of
Environmental Sciences, promoting interaction with Italian and foreign research groups as well as
with institutions that study and manage the environment and health, and facilitating the
internationalisation process.
As a highly interdisciplinary programme, it aims to provide students with:
- an understanding of the methodological, instrumental, analytical, and statistical approaches to
study the environment;
- the ability to draw together interdisciplinary knowledge concerning the various components of
environmental systems.
The programme ensures high standards of learning in the integrated study of complex
environmental systems regarding:
- current and past biological and non-biological components;
- functional relations between the biotic and abiotic components and their mediating mechanisms;
- changes in the times of ecological, evolutionary and geomorphological processes.
The programme focuses on the following aspects:
- biodiversity, at all levels of organisation of living organisms;
- relations between biotic components, and between them and the abiotic environment, including
in anthropogenic components;
- human-environment interactions, also in a diachronic perspective, both in terms of the impact of
anthropic activities on environmental systems, and of the impact of the environment on risks for
humans and human activities.
Another objective is to develop innovative methods for teaching environmental sciences.
The doctoral programme is entirely in English

Page of the course on the University's website

Teaching

Place of teaching

milano (MI), italy

Attendance methods

Compulsory attendance

Languages in which the course is held

Italian

Admission requirements

Type of degree required

2nd Level Degree

Field of study

education, information and communication technologies (icts), architecture and construction, engineering and engineering trades, agriculture, forestry and veterinary, health and pharmacy, sports sciences and physical education, arts and design, humanities and literature, foreign languages, politics, social sciences and communications, psychology, economics, law, natural sciences, mathematics, physics and statistics

Foreign language skills

English
To meet the language proficiency requirement, doctoral students must submit an English certificate from one of the certifying bodies recognised by the University (https://www.unimi.it/en/study/language-proficiency/placement-tests-and-englishcourses/accepted-language-certificates), at B2 level or above, by the end of the first programme year.

Degree programme classes

LM-1, 1/S - Cultural anthropology and ethnology, LM-2, 2/S - Archeology, LM-3, 3/S - Landscape Architecture, LM-4, LM-4 C.U., 4/S - Architecture and construction engineering, LM-5, 5/S - Library studies, LM-6, 6/S - Biology, LM-7, 7/S - Agricultural biotechnologies, LM-8, 8/S - Industrial Biotechnologies, LM-9, 9/S - Pharmaceutical, veterinary and medical biotechnologies, LM-10, 10/S - Conservation of architectural heritage and environment, 11/S - Conservation of scientific and industrial heritage, LM-11, 12/S - Science for conservation of cultural heritage, LM-19, 13/S - Computer science and publishing systems, LM-13, LM-13ante22, 14/S - Pharmacy and industrial pharmacy, LM-15, 15/S - Philology and classical literature, LM-16, 19/S - Finance, LM-17, 20/S - Physics, LM-80, 21/S - Geography, LM-18, 23/S - Computer Science, LM-43, 24/S - Computer Science for humanities, LM-20, 25/S - Aerospace and aeronautical engineering, LM-21, 26/S - Biomedical Engineering, LM-22, 27/S - Engineering/ Chemical, LM-23, 28/S - Civil engineering, LM-25, 29/S - Automotion engineering, LM-27, 30/S - Telecommunications engineering, LM-28, 31/S - Electrical engineering, LM-29, 32/S - Electronic engineering, LM-30, 33/S - Energy and nuclear engineering, LM-31, 34/S - Engineering and Industrial Management, LM-32, 35/S - Computer Engineering, LM-33, 36/S - Mechanical Engineering, LM-34, 37/S - Naval engineering, LM-35, 38/S - Environmental engineering, LM-36, 41/S - African and Asian languages and literatures, LM-37, 42/S - Modern European and American languages and literatures, LM-38, 43/S - Modern languages for international communication and cooperation, LM-39, 44/S - Linguistics, LM-40, 45/S - Mathematics, LM-41, 46/S - Medicine and surgery, LM-42, 47/S - Veterinary Medicine, LM-44, 50/S - Mathematics and physics: modelling for engineering, LM-45, 51/S - Musicology and musical heritage, LM-46, 52/S - Dentistry and orthodontics, LM-47, 53/S - Sport management, LM-48, 54/S - Regional, urban and environmental planning, LM-49, 55/S - Tourism Development and Management, LM-50, 56/S - Planning and management of education and training services, LM-87, 57/S - Social policies and social services, LM-51, 58/S - Psychology, LM-52, 60/S - International relations, LM-53, LM-53ante21, 61/S - Materials engineering, LM-54, 62/S - Chemistry, LM-55, 63/S - Cognitive Sciences, LM-56, 64/S - Economics, LM-57, 65/S - Adult and Continuing Education, LM-58, 66/S - Universe Sciences, LM-60, 68/S - Nature Sciences, LM-61, 69/S - Nutrition and health sciences, LM-62, 70/S - Political Science, LM-63, 71/S - Public sector administration, LM-64, 72/S - Religion Studies, LM-65, 73/S - Performing arts and multimedia production, LM-73, 74/S - Agroenvironmental sciences and technologies , LM-68, 75/S - Sport science and technology, LM-67, 76/S - Sport science for prevention and rehabilitation, LM-69, 77/S - Agriculture, LM-70, 78/S - Food industry, LM-86, 79/S - Animal husbandry, LM-72, 80/S - Aviation and maritime navigation, LM-71, 81/S - Industrial chemistry and related technologies, LM-75, 82/S - Environmental and land sciences and technology, LM-76, 83/S - Economics for environment and culture, LM-77, 84/S - Management studies, LM-79, 85/S - Geophysics, LM-74, 86/S - Geology, LM-85, 87/S - Education sciences, LM-81, 88/S - Cooperation and development studies, LM-83, 91/S - Statistical, Demographic and Actuarial Sciences , LM-89, 95/S - History of art, LM-90, 99/S - European Studies, LM-91, 100/S - Technologies and methods for the information society, LM-92, 101/S - Theories of communication, LM-12, 103/S - Design, LM/DS, DS/S - Defence and security, LM/SNT1, SNT_SPEC/1 - Nursing and midwifery, LM/SNT2, SNT_SPEC/2 - Health professions for rehabilitation , LM/SNT3, SNT_SPEC/3 - Health professions for technical assistance, LM/SNT4, SNT_SPEC/4 - Health professions for preventive care, LM-78, 17/S, 18/S, 96/S - Philosophy, LM-14, 16/S, 40/S - Modern Philology , LM-82, 48/S, 90/S, 92/S - Statistics, LM-59, 59/S, 67/S - Advertising and business communication, LM-88, 49/S, 89/S - Sociology and social research, LM-84, 93/S, 94/S, 97/S, 98/S - History, LM-94, 104/S, 39/S - Translation for special purposes and interpreting, LMG/01, 102/S, 22/S - Law, LM-24 - Building engineering, LM-26 - Safety engineering, LM-66 - Computer security, LM-93 - Theories and methodologies of e-learning and media education, LM/SC - Applied Criminology for Safety and Investigation, LMR/02 - Conservation and restoration of architectural heritage, LM-95 - Maths and Sciences in the Middle School - A059, LM-96 - Tecnology - A033, LM-85bis - Primary Schooling Sciences, LM/GASTR - Economic and social sciences of gastronomy, LM/SC-GIUR - Legal Sciences - Law, LM-SC.MAT - Materials science, LM-Data - Data Science

Admission

Available places

Admission

Admission selection

Admission to the doctoral programmes is through a public selection procedure involving the evaluation of qualifications and tests for the comparative assessment of applicants. Applications are vetted by Admission Committees appointed in compliance with current regulations. Selection stages: - assessment of the CV (max. 20 points) and research project (max. 10 points); - interview (max. 70 points). Only applicants who obtain at least 10 points for the CV and at least 5 points for the research project are called for the interview. The selection process aims to ascertain the applicants' prior knowledge, skills, aptitude for scientific research and personal motivations. Applicants are selected based on an assessment of their CV and a research project, which may or may not be inspired by the work of the second-cycle degree thesis, as well as on an interview held either in person or online, as stated in the programme specification. The research project, which must be drafted using Form 1 attached hereto, is only for selection purposes and does not limit the choice of the doctoral thesis in the case of admission. The applicant's CV and research project are assessed before the interview. Applicants will be able to see the result of this assessment on the University website, on the programme webpage. When assessing the CV, the Committee takes into account the applicant's university studies, publications, professional experience and other qualifications, if any. In assigning points for the CV, the Committee considers the statistical distribution of exam grades for the study programme courses, as well as the conditions and the period over which the applicant has obtained his/her qualifications. The interview is public; interview dates will be posted on the University website following the assessment of qualifications. The aim of the interview is to verify the applicant's knowledge of topics germane to the educational and scientific contents of the doctoral programme. The interview includes a seminar-style presentation of the proposed research project, followed by a general discussion to verify the applicant's expertise, scientific qualities and motivations. The interview is conducted in the language indicated in the programme specifications; in any case, applicants may ask to be interviewed in English. To take both the test and the oral exam, applicants must present one of the following identity documents: • identity card; • passport; • (Italian) driving licence. The outcome of the interview process will be communicated by the Committee at the end of the interviews. At the end of the interviews, the Committee draws up a general ranking list according to the total score assigned to each applicant for their CV, research project and interview. The minimum pass score is 70/100. The general ranking is published on the Postgraduate admission rankings page in the days following the examinations. The Committee must conclude their work by the day after the last interview.

Cost

Not specified

Scholarships

Scholarships:

8 University of Milan, 2 of which for the following research projects:
• "Climate and its variability and change in Italy, the Alpine Region and the Mediterranean area".
Lead instructor: Prof. Maurizio Maugeri
• "Ecology, differentiation, and conservation of endemic Galapagos petrels". Lead instructor: Prof.
Diego Rubolini

1 scholarship co-funded by Engitec Technologies for the research project: " E-waste recovery and
valorization through hydrometallurgical processes "

1 scholarship funded by the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for the research
project: "Analysis of the climate-resilience of Alpine forests and their ecosystem services". Lead instructor:
Prof. Giorgio Vacchiano

1 scholarship co-funded by the Edmund Mach Foundation and the Department of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences for the research project: "Multidisciplinary investigation of understudied species of
the genus Sanguisorba in the Alps: integrating metagenomics, population genetics, plant ecology and
phytochemical analysis - SanguisorbAlps". Lead instructor: Prof. Anna Giorgi

1 scholarship funded by Department Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Production, Landscape,
Agroenergy for the programme: “Applied research paths for identifying tools to support ecological transition in
climate change adaptation in mountain communities in Lombardy” - Lead instructor Prof.ssa Anna Giorgi

1 scholarship funded by Department Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Production, Landscape,
Agroenergy for the programme: “Urban Reforestation and Soil Quality: Evaluating Ecological Integration and
Climate Resilience through a Living Lab Approach" – Lead instructor Dott. Lorenzo Matteo Walter Rossi.

Employment opportunities

The aim of the course is to promote the scientific productivity of doctoral students and their qualifications, as preparatory elements for pursuing a career in research institutions or other professional fields. PhD graduates in Environmental Sciences are fully qualified to pursue careers in academia and other public or private research institutions, both in Italy and abroad, in numerous disciplines in biology, earth sciences, agricultural and veterinary sciences, and public health. In addition, they are professionally qualified to take on managerial roles in: international organisations (e.g. EFSA, ECHA, OECD); ministries and ministerial bodies (e.g. ISPRA), regional (including agencies, e.g. ARPA), provincial, mountain community or municipal administrations with responsibilities in the areas of territorial and environmental planning, management and surveillance, geological and environmental hazard and risk assessment, protection of nature and cultural, palaeontological and landscape heritage, and fauna and flora management. In addition, doctors of environmental sciences are fully qualified to work in public and private laboratories for: monitoring the quality of natural, man-made and working environments; pharmaceutical and food quality control; occupational hygiene.

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Other editions of the same course

Academic year edition 2024/2025Academic year edition 2023/2024Academic year edition 2022/2023

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