The Department of Economics and Management is the administrative home of the PhD programmes in Models and Methods for Economics and Management – Analytics for Economics and Management (AEM) and in Business and Law – Institutions and Business: value, rules and social responsibility.
The PhD programme in Models and Methods for Economics and Management - Analytics for Economics and Management (AEM) aims to train high-level scholars and experts capable of mastering analytical and computational tools to carry out data analysis and make complex economic and business decisions, with advanced methodological training and the ability to apply these skills to areas such as Finance, Logistics, Energy, the Environment and Sport.
The PhD programme provides training focused on the use of quantitative and computational methodologies, geared towards applications in the industrial and service sectors. In the first year, the programme focuses on Methods and Models for Economics and Finance, Operational Research and Statistics.
The main career paths lead towards research – at universities or in public and private research institutes – or professional roles in other economic organisations, whether public or private, national or international. The qualifications acquired during the PhD programme enable PhD graduates to take up both academic posts and high-level managerial roles in complex organisations within public and private research bodies, in companies in the services sector and in industrial enterprises, particularly where analytical and computational tools are useful for data analysis and decision-making support.
From the 39th intake onwards, an Advisory Board has been established, comprising both Italian and international academic staff, as well as representatives from businesses, trade associations, scientific societies and research centres. The establishment of the Advisory Board, which took place at the meeting of the Academic Board on 4 April 2024, was aimed at developing skills consistent with the needs of the labour market and promoting teaching and research models and methods that ensure the quality of doctoral students’ training across the various fields. To this end, the Advisory Board has been structured in such a way that the three main areas of the AEM PhD programme are adequately represented and reflect the needs emerging from society and the relevant scientific, technological, economic and financial contexts. The Advisory Board meets annually.
The curriculum for the PhD programme in Business and Law – Institutions and Business: Value, Rules and Social Responsibility aims to equip PhD students with the knowledge, understanding, analytical skills and critical evaluation of the transformations taking place within the complex contexts in which both institutional and corporate responsibility are exercised, within the interrelated dynamics of the local, national and global markets, with a view to the shared objective of contributing to the creation of efficient, effective and innovative governance systems for the promotion of social wellbeing, in accordance with the principles of sustainability.
Through a multidisciplinary approach, the programme aims to foster the acquisition of the essential tools for developing an interdisciplinary and cross-cutting perspective – as evidenced not only by the overall title of the teaching modules (“Cross-cutting Courses”) and the topics covered, but also by the central theme of the PhD programme, which revolves around the cross-sectoral and multidimensional nature of the concept of sustainability and the social responsibility it entails, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. By the end of the programme, PhD students will have developed an independent capacity for understanding, interpreting and critically analysing issues, based on the combined use of economic and legal categories, as well as the respective qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis and evaluation (qualitative and quantitative) for a systemic analysis of the organisational, administrative and managerial contexts in which businesses (including the third sector) and public bodies operate, and for identifying the most suitable tools to promote the values underpinning sustainability, from an economic, environmental and social perspective.
With a view to strengthening dialogue with businesses and the local community, an Advisory Board was established from the 29th intake onwards, appointed by the Academic Board on 29 September 2023. The Advisory Board acts as a strategic interface between the PhD programme and key stakeholders from various academic fields and socio-economic sectors. Its role is to provide guidance, foster dialogue and strengthen alignment between the programme’s academic objectives and the evolving needs of businesses, professional bodies and institutional organisations. The Advisory Board meets annually.
The Department also participates in the PhD programmes of national interest in Resources for the New Public Administration: People and Data, with its administrative headquarters at the University of Milan-Bicocca, and in Scientific, Technological and Social Methods Enabling the Circular Economy, with its administrative headquarters at the University of Padua, and contributes to the PhD programme in Economic Sociology, Organisation, and Labour – Esol, with its administrative headquarters at the University of Milan (joint PhD programme).
