Cognitive and Brain Sciences

• Animal cognition
• Computational neuroscience and cognition
• Conceptual representations
• Decision making and reasoning
• Development
• Human-centric machine intelligence
• Language
• Learning
• Memory
• Motivation
• Motor control and action planning
• Neurodevelopmental disorders
• Neuroimaging and brain connectivity
• Numerical cognition
• Perception and attention
• Systems and circuit neuroscience
• Vision

M-PSI/01 General psychology
M-PSI/02 Psychobiology and physiological psychology
BIO/05 Zoology
BIO/09 Physiology
ING-INF/05 Information processing systems
MED/26 Neurology
MED/27 Neurosurgery
FIS/07 Applied physics
L-LIN/01 Glottology and linguistics
INF/01 Informatics

To apply for the PhD programme, you must have one of the following qualifications:

• a specialist or master's degree or a degree issued under the previous regulations;
• a second-level diploma awarded by higher-education institutions for the fine arts, music and dance (AFAM, Alta Formazione Artistica e Musicale);
• an equivalent academic qualification obtained abroad (master's degree) that allows admission to the PhD program in the education system or in the country of issue and that is considered suitable by the selection committee for the sole purpose of accessing the course.

As for the 42th cycle, for this doctoral programme, the following are available:

• 4 positions covered by scholarships, funded by the University of Trento;
• 5 positions covered by topic-specific scholarships, funded by Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia;
• 1 position covered by topic-specific scholarship, funded by Fondazione Bruno Kessler;
• 1 position covered by topic-specific scholarship, co-funded by Fondazione Museo Civico di Rovereto and by Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello (CIMeC);
• 1 position covered by topic-specific scholarship, funded by Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello (CIMeC) within the project “HIAP - Human-Inspired Artificial Perception, – Fondo Italiano della Ricerca (MUR_FIS_Fondo Italiano per la Scienza 2023) – CUP E53C25001830001;
• 1 position covered by topic-specific scholarship, funded by Centro Interdipartimentale Mente/Cervello (CIMeC) within the project “NATPRED - Naturalistic Predictions: How our brain anticipates the future in a dynamic world” – Fondo Italiano della Ricerca (MUR_FIS_Fondo Italiano per la Scienza 2025) – CUP E53C25002550001.

For information on topic-specific scholarships visit the dedicated page.

The admission call indicates:

• admission requirements;
• deadlines;
• admission procedure;
• details of the funded positions;
• availability of scholarships.

For the 42nd cycle of this doctoral course, the following additional 4 positions funded by topic-specific scholarships (four-year) are available:

• 2 grants financed by Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, on the following topics:
  • Mapping How Brain Chemistry Shapes Whole-Brain Activity;
  • Neuroimaging and electrophysiological biomarkers behind autisms distinguished by disability versus difference over development;
• 1 grant financed by MUR FIS 3 - Fondo Italiano per la Scienza – to be implemented at CIMeC - Center for Mind/Brain Sciences of the University of Trento within the Project “NATPRED - Naturalistic Predictions: How our brain anticipates the future in a dynamic world” – MUR FIS 3 - Fondo Italiano per la Scienza – project code FIS-2024-01366, CUP E53C25002550001, admitted to financing with D.D. prot. n. 18169 del 17/11/2025 on the following topic: “Investigating predictive neural representations in naturalistic settings using MEG-based dynamic RSA”;
• 1 grant financed by Università Italo Francese / Université Franco Italienne (UIF/UFI) under the Vinci Call 2026 funding, related to the research topic “From sound to harmonic structure: cognitive maps of music in the human brain”, in cotutelle (joint supervision) with Université Paris-Saclay. 

For information on topic-specific scholarships visit the dedicated page.

The admission call indicates:

• admission requirements;
• deadlines;
• admission procedure;
• details of the funded positions;
• availability of scholarships.