PhD FOR INNOVATION is a unique training & learning by doing programme designed to connect the best PhD skills with the needs of companies. Here, the two languages of academia and business meet on the field to create real impact and open up concrete opportunities for the future of PhD students and young researchers.

After a successful pilot edition in 2018, focused on SMEs, and two editions open to the six Italian Schools for Advanced Studies, in 2025 there was an edition focused exclusively on SISSA’s students and young researchers.

PhD FOR INNOVATION 2025 – 4^th Edition

Programme Purpose

The aim of PhD FOR INNOVATION is twofold:

To promote collaboration between companies and scientific research, facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation.
To build interdisciplinary and diverse PhD teams capable of applying their problem-solving skills and scientific knowledge to real-world innovation challenges.

By collaborating directly with industry, participants enhance their educational experience, gain exposure to new approaches and languages, and increase their visibility — all while tackling concrete, impactful problems that boost their career opportunities.

Our Partner Companies

In this edition the programme proudly collaborates with leading companies. Their involvement ensures cutting-edge challenges that foster real-world innovation and create meaningful opportunities for our participants.

The companies were:

Closing the 4th Edition of PhD FOR INNOVATION

The fourth edition of PhD FOR INNOVATION brought together 22 PhD students and postdoctoral researchers who worked in interdisciplinary teams to address real innovation challenges proposed by partner companies.

Participants combined scientific expertise with creativity and problem-solving skills, developing solutions that bridged research and industry. The companies involved expressed strong appreciation for the quality and relevance of the work, and as a sign of recognition, monetary prizes were awarded to the teams.

This experience confirmed the programme’s core mission: fostering collaboration between academia and business, promoting knowledge transfer, and creating opportunities for young researchers to engage with innovation beyond the lab.