The Doctoral School: a structure dedicated to coordinating all transversal activities related to the Doctoral Program.

Purpose of the Doctoral School

The University's Doctoral School coordinates doctoral programs and manages joint activities, helping to ensure training in scientific research and providing the skills needed to conduct research, including internationally, and highly qualified professional activities.

Objectives of the School

The School's objectives are:

1. to promote the strategic decisions made by the University's governing bodies regarding Doctoral Programs;
2. to coordinate, organize, and facilitate service and support activities for Doctoral Programs with administrative headquarters at the University of Palermo, in order to stimulate and encourage interaction and dialogue between the various macro-areas of the University, respecting the specific characteristics of the Doctoral Programs;
3. promote and coordinate cross-disciplinary educational offerings, including offering doctoral students interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary training courses, language and IT training, as well as activities in the fields of teaching, research management and knowledge of European and international research systems, the valorization and dissemination of results, intellectual property, and open access to research data and products, and the fundamental principles of ethics and integrity;
4. promote events, meetings, and discussions among doctoral students both within the University and nationally and internationally;
5. contribute, in collaboration with other University bodies, to quality assurance in the planning and management of doctoral training, in compliance with the Standards for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), as recommended by ANVUR.
6. The School encourages interactions with Italian and foreign universities and research institutions, including by promoting international agreements, scientific collaboration, and framework agreements.
7. The School promotes collaboration with businesses and public and private entities that conduct research and development, supporting the Departments in establishing intersectoral/industrial doctoral programs, advanced training and research apprenticeships, and scholarship funding.

The School carries out its activities with reference to the 35 doctoral programs with administrative headquarters at the University (including two of National Interest) and those in agreement with the University or with which the University forms a consortium, including the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions for the mobility of researchers within the European program.

The Doctoral School

• supports the student community during their studies and research within the University;
• it facilitates collaboration with prestigious foreign universities, which is important for internationalization, enables the exchange of knowledge and skills, fosters relationships with the manufacturing sector, and stimulates contacts and shared activities with numerous external institutions;

It is the University's point of reference for advanced research training.

The School carries out its role with the understanding that young doctoral students represent the best investment not only for the University, but also for organizations and businesses that choose to take a risk, choose innovation as the founding principle of professional growth, and strive for broadening their horizons and raising quality.

The School is a meeting point of experiences and opinions for coordinators, doctoral students, and graduates who, together, have a single goal: to ensure that the doctoral journey is a professional and personal success for those who undertake it.

The Doctoral School of the University of Palermo has an important unique feature: it aligns the transversal actions of all doctoral programs and all areas of knowledge, breaking down knowledge barriers and strengthening knowledge bonds to the point of fostering transdisciplinarity!

Transdisciplinarity is a scientific and intellectual approach that aims to fully understand the complexity of today's world. The term refers to a form of integrative and cooperative research in which not only academics participate, but also experts from civil society, economics, politics, and culture.

Transdisciplinarity therefore aims to recognize the plurality of knowledge resources and integrate not only scientific knowledge but also experiential and practical knowledge into research work.

Transdisciplinarity differs from multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity because it is situated at a different level of communication.