Research Themes

The PhD programme in Design is structured into various research fields, which correspond to specific research teams within the Department of Design.
In order to coordinate research activity over a wide range of topics, teams cluster around three Sections, which are:

  • Design and Cultures
  • Products, Strategies and Services
  • Design for Environments, Landscape and Mobility
  • Design, Innovation and Sustainability
The PhD programme in Design carries out research on specific topics emerging from the research initiatives of all Departments.

PhD candidates are requested to develop an original research contribution.

The PhD thesis must thus contribute to increase the knowledge in the candidate’s research field. Besides, it has to be coherent with the research topics developed in the Department where the PhD programme is carried out.

The original research results are collected in the PhD thesis, where the candidate’s contribution is brought into correlation with the research state of the art in the specific research field.

According to these topics, every year research avenues are released by the Design PhD program for PhD applicants. Applicants can follow one of the avenues as the basis for the research project to be presented with the application.

Research Themes for the current Call for Applicants (AY 2026/2027)

Deadline: 18th September 2026 (2pm, Italian time)

The full text of the call is available on the PhD School website.

APPLY HERE

Research Theme

Proponent

Mobility Futures: rethinking automotive experience design towards the naturalness of interaction between driver and car
Marco Ajovalasit
Situated Craft: Indigenous Knowledge and Design Practices for Regenerative Ecologies
Laura Anselmi
Toward a Cross-Modal Framework for Regenerative Interior Design
Anna Anzani
Relational Environmental Design for Innovation and Learning in Digi-Logical And Sustainable Sociotechnical Systems
Mario Bisson
Rethinking Practices of Seeing in Communication Design: Theory, Practice, and Digital Transformation
Valeria Bucchetti
Designing Anticipation: Design Futures as a Strategic Capability for Transforming Governance
Marita Canina - Carmen Bruno
Weak Futures: Reimagining Design as Ethical Resistance
Manuela Celi
Designing with Prompts: New Creative Processes in the Age of Visual AI
Gabriele Colombo
Rethinking urban communities: a multispecies approach to Design for Social Innovation
Davide Fassi
Textiles beyond fashion. Integrating new technologies and sustainable practices through knit design
Giovanni Maria Conti
Printing with Uncertainty: Rethinking Design in Additive Manufacturing
Marinella Ferrara
Ageing-Inclusive Placemaking for Everyday Life in Later Age
Silvia Maria Gramegna
Rethinking the role of the Arts in Design Culture
Luca Guerrini
Decolonising design for intangible Cultural Heritage. Exploring techno diversity and digital pluralism for the active safeguarding of endangered and minority languages.
Eleonora Lupo
Mending Futures. Design Research on Repair Culture and Industrial Practices in the Age of Material Accountability
Stefano Maffei
Data Visualization for Information Literacy
Michele Mauri
Biocultural Heritage: A Novel Epistemology for Biodesign
Daniela Petrelli
Situated Collaborative Storytelling: Narrative-Based and Art-Based Approaches to Participatory Design from the Margins
Francesca Piredda
Agency, Interpretation and Collaboration in AI-Mediated Communication Design Processes
Marco Quaggiotto
AI-supported Computational yacht design for flexible manufacturing
Andrea Ratti
Communication accessibility for cultural heritage (libraries, museums, theaters)
Dina Riccò
Biofabricated Surfaces for Regenerative Design: Exploring Material Experience in Living Systems
Valentina Rognoli
Service as Transformational Entity within Systemic Design interventions
Daniela Sangiorgi
Designing light for the psychophysical well-being
Andrea Siniscalco
Generative AI for Design Heritage: Practices, Knowledge, and Ethics
Davide Spallazzo
Designing for Responsive Museums: Multisensory Approaches and Tools Beyond the Visual
Raffaella Trocchianesi
Design-oriented scenarios and proposals for distributed local-based resilient and sustainable healthcare systems.
Carlo Vezzoli
From Speculation to Service: Investigating the Role of Futures Thinking in Service Design Practice
Beatrice Villari

Moreover, additional calls for PhD places with thematic scholarships, restricted to a specific research topic, are open.
The calls are available on the PhD School website.