About the courses
The Sustainable development and cooperation PhD program will train students to become “leaders in sustainability” within public or private research institutes, non-profit organisations, international development agencies or environmental certification agencies.
To acquire an education in sustainable development, the student must foster a complex set of skills from a diverse range of disciplines: the life sciences, earth science, physics, economics, law, history, geography and archaeology. This interaction of the environmental, socio-cultural and economic spheres, requires the creation and development of tools and models that cross disciplinary boundaries.
The SUSTNET program is designed to provide analytical know-how, methodological and practical skills to help students gain up-to-date knowledge on the rapidly deteriorating state of natural, social, and economic environments and to understand how to plan and implement sustainable practices.
To reach this objective, PhD students are assigned to a team of experts in at least two different ERC domains (including LS6, LS7, LS8, LS9, SH1, SH2, SH3, SH4, SH5, SH6, SH7, PE1, PE4, PE10), who will share their existing experience and skills in ecological, cultural, social, and economic sustainability. The tutor team (TT) will be responsible for planning the research and training activities of the student.
Research and training activities
In order to successfully complete their PhD, students will need to obtain 180 ECTS through 1) research activities; 2) specific disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses; 3) soft skills training. Furthermore, the student will be required to attend courses or training offered by a second institution for at least 3 months.
Research activities
Research activities are the core of the PhD program, and consists in the development of a research project under the supervision of a Tutor-Team. The TT will train the PhD students on the specific aspects of their research, help them plan their research, and discuss any issues and achievements on a daily basis.
Both the research topic and the tutors are assigned by the PhD board within three months of the beginning of the PhD.
Read more about the main research topics addressed in the PhD programme.
Mandatory training
One interdisciplinary mandatory course (10 ECTS) will be taught each year (80 hours) by members of the PhD board and external tutors, who will use a combination of frontal teaching (online and/or in presence), student/teamwork presentations, laboratory/field practicals. These core activities will be complemented by a cycle of “SUSTNET seminars” with invited speakers from partner institutions and collaborators. At the end of the module, students will be required to pass an exam. It is a mandatory requirement that students attend a minimum of 75% of the learning activities.
The interdisciplinary courses will be:
2024-25 Sustainable human-environment interactions – Ref. Francesca Marucco
2023-24 One health & sustainable socio-emotional development – Ref. Ornella Abollino
2022-23 Food security & sustainable food processing – Ref. Gabriele Beccaro
2021-22 Sustainable human-environment interactions – Ref. Beatrice Demarchi
INTERNAL NON-MANDATORY COURSES FOR SUSTNET
- Sustainable water uses and stream ecology – Ref. Stefano Fenoglio 2 CFU; ENG
https://en.unito.it/ugov/degreecourse/1333559
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – Ref. Giorgio Cantino 3CFR; ENG
Link not yet available, please contact the teacher
- Sustainability management – Ref. Lucrezia Songini, Maurizio Cisi 6 CFR; ENG
Link not yet available, please contact the teachers
- Data exploration, graphs and maps in R
(Ref: Alberto Doretto; 2CFR, ENGL)
- Introduction to GIS
(Ref: Samuele de Petris; 3CFR, ENGL)
- GIS advances and applications
(Ref: Enrico Caprio, Francesca Marucco, Samuele de Petris; 3CFR, ENGL
ACKNOWLEDGED COURSES FROM OTHER SOURCES
- Marine Soundscape and bioindicators of acoustic disturbance – Elena Papale 3 CFR; ENG
https://naturali.campusnet.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=b0b3
- Sustainability of animal production – Cecilia Mugnai 6 CFR; ENG
https://www.san.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=pv13
- Science communication – Gianpiero Vigani 5 CFR; ENG
https://dott-sbba.campusnet.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=tyt9
- Academic English - Jemma Faye Clair Robinson 5 CFR; ENG
https://www.phdphysics.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=qp4u
- The role of remotely sensed open data for mapping climate change effects (module from the course Climate change in crops and forests)- Enrico Corrado Borgogno Mondino 1 CFR; ENG
https://dott-safa.campusnet.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=3hjd
- Laboratorio di Fisica Ambientale (Environmental physic laboratory ) - Enrico Ferrero 3 CFR; IT
https://fisica-sc.campusnet.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=b126
- Modelli e misure climatologiche - Enrico Ferrero 6 CFR; IT
https://disit.uniupo.it/it/didattica/corsi/gestione-ambientale-sviluppo-sostenibile-gass
- Economia dell'Ambiente - Silvana Dalmazzone 6 CFR; IT
https://www.didattica-est.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=dduo
- Gestione delle Risorse Naturali - Silvana Dalmazzone 6 CFR; IT and ENG
https://www.didattica-est.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=q4x4
- Tecniche e metodi dell’etologia/ethological methods - Marco Gamba 8 CFR; IT
https://naturali.campusnet.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=4b6e
- Phd toolbox for data analysis – Marco Gamba 10 CFR; ENG
https://dott-sbba.campusnet.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=7kkl
- Geomatics for smart agriculture - Enrico Corrado Borgogno Mondino 6 CFR; ENG
https://www.sa.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=taz5
Furthermore, students will be encouraged to attend courses which are more specifically geared towards acquiring skills needed to carry out their PhD research. These will be discussed and decided with the TT. With regard to the acquisition of soft skills, PhD students are strongly encouraged to attend the courses offered by the PhD school of the University of Torino, and the other Universities within the network, which address more general issues, such as mobility opportunities, career development, fund raising, bibliography and bibliometry; Academic English and “Ethics in publication”, multilinguistic skills.
Seminars and conferences
You can access information on seminars and conferences clicking here.