Educational, Development and Learning Sciences

The doctoral programme in Education, Development and Learning Sciences promotes the acquisition of the theoretical, experimental, and methodological competencies necessary to design and implement highly qualified research activities in the fields of pedagogical, psychological, and human-social sciences. These activities may be carried out at universities, public or private entities, educational and training institutions, and productive organizations, both in Italy and abroad. They are aimed at providing a significant advancement of knowledge, also with reference to crucial areas such as permanent transition within a plurality of life and work contexts. The programme is interdisciplinary in nature and has an international vocation.

The primary object of investigation in research training is human development and its educability, explored from different theoretical, empirical, and methodological perspectives mainly attributable to two disciplinary fields: pedagogy and psychology, without neglecting the contribution of other disciplines within the human-social, scientific, and technological areas. Particular attention will be dedicated to:

• the themes of social cohesion and inclusion as a strategy to counteract multiple forms of discrimination and marginalization, with a specific focus on disability, social vulnerabilities, and gender discrimination; 
• the themes of labour pedagogy and organizational psychology, in order to support research paths capable of innovating career management skills and empowerment, which are useful for facing the continuous and rapid changes in educational and training institutions, public administrations, and enterprises; 
• the development of innovative technological tools (with particular attention to the field of artificial intelligence) for entrepreneurial development, from the perspective of environmental and social sustainability. 

The educational curriculum leverages the multidisciplinary expertise of the Academic Board members and numerous international collaborations, promoting innovative research and practice through a rich and articulated dialogue. This wealth of contributions allows for the generation of the skills necessary to govern the complexity of the contemporary world, which involves educational, training, and university institutions, personal care services, public and private bodies, and the production system. The intent of the programme is therefore to develop research competencies capable of reading and interpreting complexity through the ability to make universal values and individual dimensions, pluralities of knowledge and new insights interact. Furthermore, it aims to promote respect for individual rights (with particular attention to the gender dimension) and the ethics of care within the perspective of social inclusion and cohesion, with a special focus on supporting the intellectual, economic, social, and cultural growth of Southern Italy.

The acquired skills will be applicable in the fields of basic and applied research within different contexts:

• in educational, training, and university institutions to implement specific interventions in the field of teaching and advanced university skills, as well as in strengthening educational and professional guidance activities, also with the aim of bridging regional gaps; 
• in assistance and personal care services, social enterprises, and socio-cultural policy contexts to foster social inclusion processes with reference to differences in gender, age, cultures, and psycho-physical conditions; 
• in enterprises, research centres, and the Public Administration to strengthen organizational-managerial skills in support of environmental sustainability, sustainable development, equal opportunities, and the inclusion of people with disabilities; 
• in companies dealing with e-learning, media education, and edutainment. 

The general objectives of the programme are:

• to guarantee a solid theoretical-practical preparation in order to acquire an adequate knowledge of the most advanced theories, methodologies, and technologies specific to the disciplines relating to pedagogical and psychological fields and, more generally, to those of the human-social sciences; 
• to ensure high-quality research training in pedagogy and psychology useful for developing interventions in different contexts (from education and training systems to personal care services, from enterprises to public administrations, etc.) that compensate for the scientific talent gap that contributes to Italy's delay compared to the performance of other countries and, specifically within Italy, of the Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy) compared to the rest of the country;
• to promote the acquisition of transversal skills across different research areas, transferable to highly qualified research and work contexts; 
• to foster the ability to design educational actions that generate new forms of coexistence and social justice aimed at counteracting exclusion in the various phenomenologies in which it may manifest; 
• to promote the acquisition of skills related to digital and media technologies; 
• to foster skills in management, leadership, and effective communication; 
• to support the refinement of linguistic and IT skills; 
• to ensure a fruitful link between the research world and the productive and service systems, both public and private; 
• to create an international network of researchers to develop skills in fundraising activities through the establishment of scientifically competitive partnerships; 
• to encourage the exploitation of research results and guarantee the protection of intellectual property, ensuring open public access to research results and related data (e.g., publications of original scientific research results, raw data and metadata, sources, digital graphic and image representations, and scientific multimedia materials) in the shortest time and with the fewest limitations possible, according to the "Open Science" and "FAIR Data" principles, in order to support digital and ecological transition processes. 

• Ethics and methodology of educational research 
• Ethics and methodology of research on development and learning 
• Complexity society and organizational systems 
• Media technologies, AI, e-learning 
• Expert professionalism in the field of education 
• Expert professionalism in the field of development and learning 
• Theories, practices, and contexts of education and care throughout the lifespan 
• Statistics for psycho-pedagogical sciences

Other educational activities (seminars, laboratory and research activities, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary training):

• Language proficiency refinement 
• IT skills refinement 
• Research management and knowledge of European and international research systems 
• Exploitation and dissemination of results, intellectual property, and open access to research data and products 
• Fundamental principles of ethics, gender equality, and integrity 
• Seminars
• Laboratory activities

All Second-Cycle Degrees

At the end of the programme, doctoral students will be able to independently develop research projects; coordinate data collection by integrating methods specific to pedagogical and psychological sciences with reference to education, development, and learning sciences; evaluate results; propose technological innovations for scientific and professional purposes; and operate in multidisciplinary teams.

Ph.D. graduates will be able to continue their training in their respective areas of professional specialization as well as acquire expertise functional to new professional figures capable of merging knowledge relating to bio-psychic development with learning and training processes, capitalising on the links between cognition, emotion, instruction, and education.

The acquired skills will facilitate professional placement:

• in the third sector of the social economy, personal care, and assistance services (health authorities, local socio-educational and health services, residential care homes/RSA, non-profit associations), including those of a scientific nature (IRCCS - Scientific Institutes for Research, Hospitalization and Healthcare); 
• in educational and training institutions, universities, and research centres; 
• in enterprises, in order to strengthen corporate innovation processes and organizational well-being; 
• in industries that develop educational software, digital learning environments, and software for neuropsychological rehabilitation and enhancement; 
• in various areas of the private and public sectors: in particular, in the Human Resources field, promoting team-building activities and corporate training (at multiple levels, from executives to employees); 
• in the area of Personal Support Services, strengthening psycho-pedagogical training and training for personal and organizational well-being, which are indispensable elements for the learning and productivity of work groups within the perspective of the learning organization.

These are public and private sectors in which the presence of researchers possessing high-level skills will guarantee a fruitful connection between the research world and the productive and service system (both public and private), significantly contributing to supporting the formation of a new culture of work, a new way of professional thinking/acting, and, more generally, a new "culture of innovation".