DISCA intends to educate skilled researchers able to positively contribute the Chemical Sciences advancement, in Academia and at the Industrial level, or, alternatively, to advancements of Environmental Sciences to the protection of natural and anthropic environment and land.

Two main specialized curricula are presently available: “Energy and Health”, and “Environment and Land”.

The education of the PhD students, within the different curricula, will be promoted through a constant experimental research activity and a suitable specialized educational track, aiming at obtaining the maximum capacity in self-managing research within a competing international framework.

DISCA will also promote multidisciplinary studies, which, in the complex landscape of exact sciences and of their applications, will constitute a well defined added value for new professionals. In order to reach a full scientific maturity, the PhD student, during a three years project, develops, under the guidance of a tutor, an intense research activity on an innovative topic, starting from a clear definition of the goals to be reached and, particularly, of the advances with respect of the state-of-the-art knowledge. In line with the most modern educational and scientific practice, part of the research will be performed in a foreign Country, raising the PhD student awareness of the wider international context and augmenting its expertise and its abilities.

DISCA participates in international tenders that contribute to the PhD program budget, in particular: 1) MSCA-ITN-2014-ETN: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks, Action acronym: MAGICBULLET, Action full title: "Peptide-Drug Conjugates for Targeted Delivery in Tumor Therapy", Grant agreement number: 642004 (just terminated in 2019); 2) Two grants from the 35th cycle will be covered by the H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018 network, Action acronym: BIKE, Action full title: "BImetallic catalysts Knowledge-based development for Energy applications", Grant Agreement number: 813748, starting date 01 April 2019, duration 48 months; the BIKE project involves 10 beneficiaries and 5 "partner organizations" from 9 European and non-European countries and is coordinated by the National Research Council; 3) Submitted project, Call: H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks), Type of action: MSCA-ITN-ETN, Proposal number: SEP-210548574, Proposal acronym: Magicbullet Reloaded.

The different topics and scientific areas of DISCA will also benefit from the presence, at University of Insubria, of laboratories and equipment dedicated to Chemical and Environmental Sciences, as well as by the presence of many Funding Agencies interested in scientific research and technology transfer. Fully- or partially-funded PhD Projects might be sponsored by Research Institutes or industrial partners such as CNR, ENEA, Edison. The areas of interest include: Analytical, Physical, Inorganic. Organic, Industrial and Environmental Chemistry, Material Sciences, Earth Sciences, Animal and Plant Biology, Ecology, Occupational Health.

Within this PhD Course, no discrimination of gender, age, nationality, religion, ethnical origin and social class will ever apply.