The main objective of the doctoral training project is to train high-level professionals with strong "problem-solving" skills. Through the delivery of academic and specialized courses, seminars, schools, and guided research activities doctoral students are trained to become proactive professionals able to "tune" their skills with the increasingly complex market demands associated with the search for constant and challenging technological innovations. The doctoral course aims to meet the demand for achieving the new research and higher education goals necessary to respond to the needs outlined in the System Priorities and the Areas of Research and Innovation identified in the National Research Program 2021-2027 (NRP) and the Missions underlying the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). We refer in particular to Industry 4.0, enabling technologies (advanced robotics, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, horizontal/vertical integration, simulation, Industrial Internet, or Internet of Things applied to industry, etc., and more generally to the so-called 4.0 paradigm with a focus on the green revolution and ecological transition (circular economy, renewable energy, hydrogen, energy efficiency, etc.) as well as the redevelopment of the urban fabric and buildings up to the issues of protection of the land and water resource at the basis of Mission 2 of the NRP, without neglecting the issues proper to Mission 3: infrastructure and sustainable mobility. In fact, the PhD aims to train highly qualified professionals, capable of fitting into the renewed industrial and professional context and public administrations,
current and future, as well as to meet the technological challenges posed by the transition to Industry 4.0 and Public Administration (PA) digitization and innovation. The set of training aims to enable the achievement of adequate knowledge of the methodologies of innovative design, technical/economic and energy/environmental, management and control of complex systems, and related technologies.
In addition, the doctoral course focuses part of the educational and research activity on Cyber-Physical Systems and all related technologies, such as Cloud computing, digital security, the Internet of Things, sensors, electronic devices and techniques for communication (at all protocol levels), also worrying about the focusing also on related design, development and evaluation techniques, both from a theoretical and practical, so that these provide adequate support for applications and industrial environments that as well as to the common user. The goal is to train researchers and experts capable of working at the infrastructure level, as well as in service development, considering smart cities, industrial environments, and the whole territory as application areas of interest. The project approach will strictly follow engineering principles and special attention will be paid to strengthening the interaction with industry, the territorial entities and PA structures. The organization of the training plan stands as a high qualification complement of the educational paths of the previous levels (Lauree Magistralis), already active or in planning, at the University of Messina, thus completing an educational paradigm of exceptional quality and strong characterization.
The already extensive interaction with the world of productive activities is destined to be strengthened not only to train up-to-date and highly desirable professional figures but also to create those constructive collaborations and interactions that are fundamental to ensuring a training pathway that is always at the forefront.