About this programme

The agri-food sector in Italy represents a driving sector for the country's economy, at the center of the main national and European Union economic supply chain. It is the second manufacturing sector which, with an annual turnover of over 155 billion euros, a number of employees equal to 385,000 units and over 6,850 companies with more than nine employees (2021 data), contributes 8.6% to the national GDP. The approach to food production in the last twenty years has changed radically, moving from a supply chain concept to a system one in which multidisciplinarity becomes a fundamental element for the training of figures capable of facing current and future challenges, especially in terms of sustainability and protection of the planet.

This topic has been addressed by the Italian academic system since 1995 with the establishment of a national coordination of Research Doctorate courses in Food Biotechnology, subsequently extended to Research Doctorate courses in Microbial Biotechnology, Food Science and Technology, Science and Agri-food Product Technologies and Food Sciences and multidisciplinary PhD courses of different titles. Since 1996, the National Coordination has organized an annual workshop between the various participating locations on "Developments in the Italian PhD Research in Food Biotechnology" and then on "Developments in the Italian PhD Research in Food Science and Technology". The purpose of the workshop is to verify the progress and quality of the research produced by the doctoral students of said Research Doctorate courses, as well as to encourage interactions between the various universities participating in the national coordination. The initiative proved to be fundamental for the cultural and scientific growth of doctoral students, offering them the possibility of an extended discussion and of learning about different educational-scientific realities. In 2008, the National Coordination stipulated a framework agreement to formalize the establishment of a National Inter-University Network among the Research Doctorate Courses in the Food Science, Technology and Biotechnology sector, which 20 different universities throughout Italy are members of.

The intense activity carried out by the Coordination in over 25 years has developed the necessary skills to be able to achieve its evolution through the instrument of Doctorates of national interest.

The aims to be pursued in this national doctorate are the following:

prepare joint training courses capable of responding to the needs of the labor and research market;
promote internationalization through cultural exchanges with European PhD schools/networks/courses in Food Science, Technology and Biotechnology in order to facilitate the mobility of researchers abroad (international mobility);
encourage the mobility of doctoral students between the universities adhering to the agreement (national mobility), including study and research periods at the same consortium institutions in the course programmes;
optimize human resources by encouraging the mobility of teachers between the consortium sites for the holding of seminars, lessons, research activities, etc.;
continue to organize the annual Workshop on "Developments in the Italian PhD Research in Food Science, Technology and Biotechnology", in order to discuss. deepen and disseminate the most advanced research activities in the sector of Food Science and Technology;
strengthen the interaction between the academic and productive world through the promotion of the professional figure of the PhD in Food System, in order to increase the competitiveness of the agri-food system at a national and international level.

Learning objectives

The PhD in Food System is a highly specialized figure capable of competently addressing the current challenges that the food system is facing. The educational objectives of the doctoral course are:

Train the student in the knowledge of scientific and research approaches for the production of foods that are safe from a hygienic and health point of view, of quality from a chemical, nutritional and sensorial point of view, and sustainable;
Provide the student with the technical-scientific tools and personal skills to manage food production processes;
Enable the student to carry out projects focusing on the proposed research topics with particular attention to the organization and management of a scientific experiment.

To achieve these objectives, the doctoral students will carry out technical-scientific research activities in the laboratories of the associated universities, using modern and cutting-edge technologies. These will concern food analysis from a microbiological, nutritional, chemical and technological point of view, as well as addressing challenges for improving production processes to make them more sustainable from an environmental, economic and social point of view.

In addition to laboratory and experiential activities, the student will have to follow educational training activities, organized at a national level, on topics of relevance to the professional figure.

Finally, research activities are planned in foreign institutions and universities.

Given the highly applicative nature of the topics addressed, research periods may also be envisaged at companies in the food sector to test the hypotheses studied and thus increase the Technology Readiness Level (TRL).

The consortium of universities offering the national doctorate in Food System has a network of collaborations with universities located on all continents. Collaboration with these academies is developed through framework collaboration programmes, joint diplomas and student exchanges for periods abroad. Also relevant is the collaboration with EIT Food for the provision of training activities on the improvement of metaskills and entrepreneurial capacity, an initiative that could lead the national doctorate to also receive accreditation from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).