Executive PhD e High Apprenticeship

The Politecnico di Milano Doctoral School offers the opportunity to initiate co-supervised doctoral programs with external companies and organizations, as part of the Executive PhD program.

To begin the program, a research program must be defined in advance with a Polytechnic faculty member, who will serve as the doctoral thesis advisor.

Interested companies can request preliminary information by contacting:

• The Director of the Doctoral School
• Alternatively, the Doctoral Program Coordinators
• Or, preferably, directly with the faculty members with whom they intend to collaborate on the research project.

• Employees of companies or external entities, while keeping their job and salary, can train, develop and complete research, and achieve the title of Doctor of Philosophy at the end of their path.
• Recent graduates who are employees of enterprises or external entities and have an apprenticeship contract for advanced education, and wish to work and study at the same time for their PhD. In this case, the duration of the apprenticeship contract corresponds with that of the study cycle. The new employees must not have reached the age of 30. For further information on this type of contract, you can contact the Career Service via this  link. 

The duration is established by mutual agreement between the Board professors involved and the company, based on the type of commitment established in the agreement. The duration of the course is usually 4 years (minimum 3).

The PhD program includes a training component, through courses offered by the PhD Program and the PhD School, and a research component that can be conducted in the company, in the PhD Program's Department, or both.
The training plan is defined by mutual agreement between the company and the PhD Program's teaching staff.

The subject of the research, and the associated development path are established jointly by the company and the Board of Professors of the PhD programme. The path is monitored by two supervisors, one from the university and one from the company. 

If the path agreed in co-supervision requires the commitment of resources from the Department and / or investments for the development of the research, it will be regulated through a standard research contract between the company and the group responsible for the activity of the PhD candidate.

Executive PhD students can integrate their doctoral program into the company's vision and dynamics, ensuring a learning experience that fosters both personal and professional growth. This approach ensures strong collaboration and integration between the group's university research and the innovative development of the company or external organization for which the PhD student is employed.

For employees, it represents an opportunity for training and growth while maintaining their current job and salary, thus strengthening their ties with the company.

For companies, the advanced training contract offers the opportunity to recruit, train, and retain high-quality young talent, investing in their development through research.

• The company, interested in submitting the doctoral application for its employee, must contact the coordinator of the PhD programme involved, in order to determine if the PhD training offered is suitable for both the potential PhD candidate and the company or external entity, considering the objectives of both parties.
• "Executive" Applicants admitted to the doctoral path must enrol "without scholarship", and may start their PhD career in February, May or November.
• Before the start of the doctoral programme, the PhD candidate and the companies involved agree on the details of the project in co-supervision, which specifies the areas of research, how the research will be carried out and the scheduled planning of the training and research path. For some PhD programmes a contribution is expected to be made to the Department which will supervise the research activity and the contribution will cover the incurred costs. A formal agreement will be signed between the Politecnico di Milano and the company.
• In order to achieve the title of Doctor of Philosophy at the end of the PhD path, the candidate must fulfill all the training requirements required for this path.
• For protection of confidential data and information, a proper "non disclosure" agreement will be signed. 

Contact the coordinators