Computer Science and Engineering

PhD Program Presentation

According to Anglo-Saxon terminology, the Ph.D. program allows one to obtain the title of Ph.D. or Philosophy Doctor (Ph.D.). It is the highest level of education obtainable, which, in addition to being necessary to pursue an academic career, is increasingly in demand for senior roles in industry.

The PhD in Computer Science and Engineering is a three-year program that offers a broad-based preparation that, in the spirit of DISI, considers both scientific and engineering aspects.

At the beginning of the course, each PhD student is paired with a supervisor (and a co-supervisor), who accompanies him or her throughout the cycle. In the first 24 months, the integration and deepening of the cultural background is envisaged according to a personalized educational plan (prepared by mutual agreement between the doctoral student and the supervisor, and then submitted to the College for approval) based on an ad hoc training project that envisages the achievement of specific CDs through the attendance of courses and the passing of the relevant profit exams.

For this reason, the DISI Department offers dedicated doctoral courses each year; it is also possible to take doctoral courses provided by other doctoral programs at the University of Bologna or other Italian universities, as well as courses offered by specialized international schools aimed at doctoral students and young researchers in Italy or abroad. Part of these CDs can also be acquired by following seminars or seminar cycles.

By the 15th month, the doctoral student must submit a written thesis proposal for binding approval by the College. At the end of the first 24 months, the doctoral candidate must have completed the personalized teaching plan and report on the thesis's progress. Transition to the next year, decided by the College, is based on a public presentation by the candidate. The third year is entirely devoted to thesis work.

The College may authorize a doctoral candidate to spend periods of residence in Italy at universities, research centers, or companies. The doctoral student must spend at least 3 months abroad (with an invitation to a 6-month stay); the period can be spent in a single solution (spread between the first and second year of the doctoral program, or between the second and third) or possibly in two separate solutions in two separate years.

Research topics

• Distributed systems and algorithms
• Programming languages and systems
• Computer networks and applications
• Software engineering
• Formal methods and semantics of programming languages
• Artificial intelligence
• Real-time and fault-tolerant systems
• Parallel algorithms and probabilistic algorithms
• Image Processing
• Bioinformatics and biometric systems
• Information systems and databases
• Concurrency theory
• Security
• Logical foundations of computer science
• Multimedia systems

Job opportunities and potential areas of employment

The PhD course in Computer Science and Engineering aims at the preparation of professionals able to autonomously develop activities related with scientific research and innovation, both in an academic and in an industrial context, as well as management of ICT projects both in Italy and abroad.

These activities requires the following competences: the skills for coordinating research activities in an academic context or within international research institutions; the competence for proposing and then developing projects consisting in the realization of ICT systems, possibly in an interdisciplinary context, appropriate for an innovative industrial environment; the ability to interact and possibly collaborate with researchers of other national or international companies and institutions.

The main expected employments are: the academic career both in Italy and abroad; the research activity at both companies or institutions, both in the private and the public sector; the management of industrial ICT project. Additional opportunities include other activities like consultant, expert in technological transfer, and in the spin-off of highly technological companies in the ICT context.