The PhD program in Political Economy carried out part of its educational and scientific activities within the Doctoral School in Economics to which it belongs. The teaching staff involved were, in most cases, members of the faculties of the doctoral programs affiliated with the school. A significant number of college professors were external, with some coming from other national and international universities.
Courses lasted an average of 20 lessons, each lasting two hours, in the first term and 12 lessons, each lasting two hours, in the second/third term. An examination session was held at the end of each term. Only one recovery session is allowed, within the month of October. Admissions to the second year are based on the results of the exams.
All first-year students in the previous year, based on the results of the evaluations carried out on the educational activities, were eligible for admission to the second year of the PhD program. During the second year, an expert in the subject area was assigned as a supervisor (internal and possibly external) for each student who did not request or obtain suspensions from the PhD program (granted for research training and periods abroad at national and international economic research institutions or for work reasons), and a doctoral thesis topic was identified on this basis. The doctoral college periodically evaluated the progress of the research developed by the doctoral candidates, also through the organization of presentations of "works in progress."
Second-year students were invited to present, at a doctoral workshop, the general research plan and a scientific article produced or in preliminary phase, before an audience composed of doctoral colleagues from all years, supervisors, professors of the PhD college in Political Economy, and other invited professors.
All second-year students in the previous year, based on the progress in the research subject of the doctoral thesis, were eligible for admission to the third year of the PhD program. During the third year, an activity of close monitoring of the quality and progress of the thesis research was implemented, in agreement with the supervisors (internal and possibly external) for each student who did not request or obtain suspensions from the PhD program (granted for research training and periods abroad at national and international economic research institutions or for work reasons). The doctoral college also periodically evaluated the progress of the research developed by the doctoral candidates through the organization of presentations on the state of research.
Third-year students were invited to present, at a doctoral workshop, the defined research plan, an outline of each of the articles included in the thesis, and, among these, the scientific article considered the most relevant, before an audience composed of doctoral colleagues from all years, supervisors, professors of the PhD college in Political Economy, and other invited professors.
In the previous year, 14 students were positively evaluated by external referees. Of these, 10 students took the final exam and obtained the title of Doctor of Political Economy. Specifically, the new Doctors in Political Economy for the academic year 2021-22 (November 2021 - October 2022) are as follows:
Elena Durante (2021)
Domenico Fichera (2021)
Ilaria Villani (2021)
Andrea Fazio (2022)
Ettore Gallo (2022)
Elena Miola (2022)
Mauricio Torres Velasquez (2022)
Maryia Sulik (2022)
Darko Dukelic (2022)
Elena Costarelli (2022)
In the academic year 2021/22, investment in teaching and the implementation of analysis techniques based on statistical learning algorithms in empirical contexts of large dimensions (Big Data) has been further strengthened. The experimentation and implementation of these techniques have involved both the development of predictive tools for continuous economic trends and the verification of methods aimed at structural analysis through the use of high-dimensional controls. To this end, the purchase of an additional machine (server) for high-performance parallel computing has been planned. These hardware resources are remotely accessible to all doctoral students.
In May 2022 (23-27), the Doctorate in Political Economy, together with the Department of Economics and Law at the University of Urbino, the Scuola Normale Superiore, and in collaboration with the Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, organized and hosted the 17th edition of the advanced course "Innovation, Growth and International Production. Models and Data Analysis".
In September 2022, the Doctorate in Political Economy organized the "II Ventotene Workshop in Macroeconomics", a three-day event attended by over 60 participants, including numerous international experts in theoretical and applied macroeconomics from academic institutions and major central banks. On this occasion, some doctoral students presented their work in dedicated "young economists sessions", which allowed for the discussion of their research with internationally renowned experts. The complete program of the workshop is documented on the doctoral program's website.