International Doctoral School in Local Development and Global Dynamics

School's Website

Head of the School: prof. Bruno Dallago

Doctoral Programme:
The doctoral programme focuses on the knowledge of the new characteristics of local development in the context of the openness and integration of societies (“globalisation”) and on the processes through which the new emerging global knowledge has to be re-contextualized and combined with local specificities.
Since researching local development requires understanding and mastering diverse aspects and components that have their roots in different disciplines, the first year of the Doctoral Programme is devoted to interdisciplinary study. To profit from this part of the programme, students failing to have sufficiently strong bases in one or more of the disciplines of the programme will be required to compensate their academic deficits by taking basic courses in these disciplines.
Demand for young researchers with a doctoral degree in local development and interdisciplinary skills comes from both the academic and non-academic research institutions. Among the latter are the research offices of international organisations, industrial associations, governments at different level and their associations, multinational companies, non-governmental associations and their networks.

Scientific and didactic approach:
The scientific and didactic approach builds on a number of conceptual pillars around which the doctoral courses are organized: the function of agglomeration and specialisation economies in shaping the productive and institutional setting and determining the performance of a territory; the function of technology and infrastructures in building up local networks – both material and knowledge ones – and in enabling their entrance into global ones; the role of social and environmental capital in embedding economic activities at the local level and in exposing them to new sets of opportunities and threats; the functions of institutions and policies and legal frames in guiding local development so as to strengthen it as a crucial component of globalization and innovation. The scientific and didactic approach has three dimensions:
a) Interdisciplinarity
Local development, as pointed out above, has diverse but closely connected aspects that require an interdisciplinary approach. The disciplines involved are economics, engineering, law, political sciences, and sociology, as well as a solid base in analytical and quantitative methods.
b) Comparability
The comparative approach supports understanding, classifying and analysing the variety of local situations and the relationship between globalization and local development, as well as the variety of actors and functions involved. The diachronic comparison is fundamental for illustrating the importance of the “dynamic legacies” that actors obtain from their past experiences, and the skills and capabilities accumulated, which influence the way in which policy makers intervene.
c) International cooperation
Rooted in long-term partnership and cooperation between a solid international network of academic and non academic organizations, the Doctoral Programme is international in at least four respects: i) is open to talented students from any country; ii) lecturers are scholars of international reputation coming from both the consortium partners and other academic and research institutions; iii) teaching and research activities and thesis supervision are shared among the partners and include an important component of international student mobility; iv) the Doctoral Programme establishes cooperation arrangements with other akin or complementary doctoral programmes, particularly those based at the partner universities.
Although the approach is interdisciplinary, students will be suggested to choose a study track including modules, research seminars and a research topic that are in line with her/his educational background and suitable to the major chosen.

Specialized curricula
Following the interdisciplinary part students will specialise in one of the two following fields:

1. Innovation and local development
The aim is to provide students with advanced knowledge on the manifold role that innovation – technological, organizational and institutional – has in spurring development at the local level, along with competent skills to formulate and administer innovation policies in local systems open to dynamic globalisation processes.
The theoretical background consists primarily of the evolutionary approach to innovation, in particular focusing on the knowledge-based, interactive and system nature of the innovative process, on the role of institutions for it, and on its historical and geographical specificities.

2. Human and social resources in local development
The objective is to introduce students to the analysis and research of the complex social and institutional local context that constitutes the “basic asset” of a local society in front of the globalization processes.
The theoretical background is represented by institutional and evolutionary economics, economic sociology, social capital and network theory and the capability approach as the appropriate frame for sustainable growth.

Scientific areas
ECONOMICS
SECS-P/01 POLITICAL ECONOMY
SECS-P/02 ECONOMIC POLICY
SECS-P/03 FINANCE
SECS-P/05 ECONOMETRICS
SECS-P/06 APPLIED ECONOMICS
SECS-P/07 BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SECS-P/12 ECONOMICS HISTORY
SECS-S/03 STATISTICS FOR ECONOMICS INGENEERING
ICAR/03 ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH  ENGINEERING
ICAR/15 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE LAW
IUS/02 COMPARATIVE PRIVATE LAW
IUS/05 LAW AND ECONOMICS
IUS/13 INTERNATIONAL LAW
IUS/14 EUROPEAN COMMUNITY LAW
IUS/21 COMPARATIVE PUBLIC LAW SOCIOLOGY
SPS/07 GENERAL SOCIOLOGY
SPS/09 SOCIOLOGY OF ECONOMICS AND LABOR
SPS/10 SOCIOLOGY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND TERRITORY
SPS/12 IURIDICAL SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Lenght: 3 years