psychology phd programs in italy

80 Best universities for Psychology in Italy

Updated: February 29, 2024

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Below is a list of best universities in Italy ranked based on their research performance in Psychology. A graph of 15.9M citations received by 672K academic papers made by 80 universities in Italy was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. Sapienza University of Rome

For Psychology

2. University of Milan

3. University of Padua

4. University of Bologna

5. University of Florence

6. Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

7. University of Turin

8. University of Pisa

9. Federico II University of Naples

10. Polytechnic University of Bari

11. University of Verona

12. University of Pavia

13. University of Genoa

14. University of Parma

15. University of Rome Tor Vergata

16. Vita-Salute San Raffaele University

17. University of Cagliari

18. University of Bari

19. University of Milano-Bicocca

20. University of Catania

21. University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

22. University of Siena

23. University of Trento

24. University of Perugia

25. University of Brescia

26. University of Palermo

27. University of Messina

28. Polytechnic University of Milan

29. G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti

30. University of Ferrara

31. University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli

32. University of Trieste

33. University of Aquila

34. University of Udine

35. University of Salerno

36. Polytechnic University of Turin

37. University of Insubria

38. Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome

39. Polytechnical University of Marche

40. University of Eastern Piedmont

41. University of Sassari

42. University of Catanzaro

43. Bocconi University

44. International School for Advanced Studies

45. Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies

46. University of Calabria

47. University of Foggia

48. Roma Tre University

49. University of Bergamo

50. Ca' Foscari University of Venice

51. University of Camerino

52. University of Salento

53. Normal School of Pisa

54. Carlo Bo University of Urbino

55. University of Cassino and Southern Lazio

56. Parthenope University of Naples

57. University of Molise

58. Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria

59. Free University of Bozen

60. Foro Italico University of Rome

61. Basilicata University

62. University of Macerata

63. LUISS University

64. University of Sannio

65. University of Teramo

66. University of Tuscia

67. Kore University of Enna

68. Maria Santissima Assunta Free University

69. IULM University

70. IUAV University of Venice

71. Carlo Cattaneo University

72. University of Naples "L'Orientale"

73. Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples

74. Salesian Pontifical University

75. University of Gastronomic Sciences

76. Pontifical Gregorian University

77. Pontifical University Antonianum

78. University of Italian Studies for Foreigners of Perugia

79. Pontifical University of the Holy Cross

80. University of Italian Studies for Foreigners of Siena

The best cities to study Psychology in Italy based on the number of universities and their ranks are Rome , Milan , Padua , and Bologna .

Psychology subfields in Italy

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PhD in Psychology

• Admission Board
• Training and research

Application deadline: Jun 20, 2023 at 11:59 PM (Expired)

PhD Call for Applications, with scholarships funded by NRRP and other funds

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• PhD Programme Table
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Enrolment: From Jul 28, 2023 to Aug 21, 2023

Doctoral programme start date: Nov 01, 2023

• Psychological Sciences

Joint PhD Program in Cognitive Neuroscience

Psychological Sciences:

General Psychology

• Emotions, attention and learning
• Psychophysiology of sleep and dream
• Chronopsychology and chronobiology
• Perception and decision making
• Body action and cognition
• Spatial cognition, memory and individual differences

Psychometrics

• Psychometric methods in cognitive and clinical assessment
• Advanced inferential statistics
• Qualitative methods for psychological research
• Bayesian Inference in Statistical Analysis

Developmental and Educational Psychology

• Typical and atypical development from early childhood to adulthood
• Risk and protection factors in development
• Development in the life cycle and technologies for information and communication
• Teaching, learning and social processes in educational settings

Social Psychology

• Gender inequalities and prejudices reduction
• Personal and social identity
• Equal opportunity and community participation
• Psychosocial factors in risk and safety

Work and Organizational psychology

• Diversity management in organizations
• Organizational change and development
• Employability and new careers
• Psychosocial factors in the workplace

Psychodynamic psychology

• Perinatal psychopathology
• Developmental psychopathology in childhood
• Child and parents psychotherapy research
• Emotional intelligence in clinical and educational settings

Clinical psychology

• The use of new technologies in clinical psychology
• Clinical assessment of psychological distress/well-being/adjustment/attachment
• Psychosomatics
• Applications of new technologies in clinical psychology
• Psychological interventions
• Action, motivation and decisions
• Reinforcement learning
• Representation of space and time
• Representation of the body

Appointed by RD n. 709/2023 Prot n. 149534 on Jun 02, 2023

The PhD programme aims at training candidates in innovative basic, field, applied, clinical and rehabilitative research in Psychology. This goal is achieved by training candidates in basic skills concerning comprehension of scientific texts, scientific writing, presentation skills, oral communication of scientific results in national and international conferences, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis. When basic research skills have been acquired, PhD candidates will be able to pursue their research goals in one of the fields of Psychological Sciences or Cognitive Neuroscience. They will then review the relevant scientific literature pertaining to their topic, formulate a clear research hypothesis, adopt a method fitting their research design, run the appropriate data analyses and provide discussion and interpretation of findings in the light of the relevant, available literature.

The PhD programme is based on the integration of training, individual study and research activities. Thanks to their training, PhD candidates will acquire basic research skills related to academic writing and scientific dissemination and mastery of research methodologies and techniques of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. This knowledge will be completed by the individual study on the specific field of investigation, in agreement with the tutor. After the consolidation of basic research skills, PhD candidates will carry out their scientific project on a topic of Psychological Science or Cognitive Neuroscience with characteristics of innovation and originality both at a theoretical and a methodological level. The Curriculum in Cognitive Neuroscience emphasises the "hypothesis driven" approach to scientific research. Lab activities form the main commitment of PhD candidates and imply training in neuroscientific methods, techniques data handling and theoretical reasoning.

PhD students are required to attend seminars and courses for acquiring the skills necessary for designing and implementating a research project. The courses introduce and deepen issues related to scientific communication, research methodology, and statistical models. Alongside these specific courses, seminars and workshops will be offered by national and international experts. Furthermore, PhD students have the opportunity to participate in international summer schools and seminars at other universities, which offers topics relevant to their research. The specific training for the research field of each PhD student will be carried out in the reference laboratory and supervised by the tutor. PhD candidates will present to the Academic Board and to the Department of Psychology their research during the three years, implementing oral and written communication skills of their research activities. The Curriculum of Cognitive Neuroscience offers training in Journal Club, Article reviewing, Programming Language, Statistics in Neuroscience, Theoretical neuroscience, training in Neuroscientific techniques (such as recording of EEG signals, psycho-physiological indices eye movements, transcranial stimulation, damage mapping).

During the period abroad PhD students will be able to consolidate international collaborations, integrating their training with theoretical insights, new research methods and procedures of data analysis, in order to formulate theoretical and practical implications of their research results. Moreover, the PhD program includes seminars and courses taught by international experts. English is the official language and it characterizes all the activities of the PhD program. The PhD program is visible in the Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window program. The PhD program is also sent to several national and international psychological associations to promote the attractiveness of the PhD program for students from other Italian and international Universities. The curriculum of Psychological Sciences which relies on colleagues belonging to seven areas of psychology offers the possibility to spend visiting periods abroad in prestigious academic universities where scientific collaboration among colleagues are productive. Moreover, there are agreements of co-tutorships between the program and international Universities. The Cognitive Neuroscience curriculum is held in collaboration with the University College of London (UCL), which has signed an official agreement for possibly jointly conferring doctoral title recognized both in Italy and UK. In this case students can complete their doctoral thesis at 2 institutions (typically, 2 years at UNIBO and 1 year at UCL), discussing potential projects and selecting an advisor at the 2 institutions and members of the curriculum include experienced Italian and UK academics who have conducted research at International institutes, are supported by International funding agencies and can provide students with an International environment for conducting scientific activities.

At the end of the program, PhD candidates are expected to have acquired evaluative and critical capacities in regard to the research topics addressed, communication skills of scientific findings, mastery of research methodologies in the field of Psychological Sciences or Cognitive Neuroscience. During the three years program, the advance of each candidate is systematically assessed. At the beginning of the program, a tutor is assigned to each candidate. At the end of the first year, the PhD candidates will submit a research project to the Academic Board for evaluation. The research project will be orally presented to the Academic Board and to the other PhD candidates and to the members of the Department, and it will be evaluated by two reviewers who will provide the candidate with a written evaluation and guidance in revising the research project. In the second year, the ongoing research will be presented to the Academic Board and to all other PhD candidates. The Academic Board will give an evaluation of the research advances. In the third year, a draft of the PhD dissertation must be submitted to the tutor for evaluation. At the end of the PhD, students are expected to have published at least one paper, and to have at least one more paper submitted. This is achieved throughout the three years, under the guidance of the supervisor.

Elisabetta Crocetti

Dipartimento di Psicologia "Renzo Canestrari"

Viale Europa 115 Cesena (FC)

[email protected]

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PhD program

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The University of Padova believes in investing in young people to give new impetus to research. Training researchers is one of the main purposes of the university. Doctorate research activities range from the training of future generations of university lecturers and researchers to the preparation of professionals with the specific skills needed to work in the R&D centres of industries and at independent institutions.

The Doctoral School of Psychological Sciences at Padua University, one of the oldest Universities in Europe, is designed to produce highly skilled experimental psychologists with specialized training in one of five areas:

• Experimental Psychology
• Developmental and Socialization Psychology
• Social and Personality Psychology
• Cognitive Science
• Experimental and Clinical Psychobiology
• Applied Cognitive Science and Neuroscience.

For information about the Doctorate Course in Psychological Sciences please visit http://dottorato.psy.unipd.it/ .

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PhD Psychology programs in Italy

School and community psychology.

University of Bologna

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is the only global university performance table to judge research-intensive universities across all of their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Psychological Science

The University of Padua

Psychological techniques and sciences.

Vita-Salute San Raffaele University

Free University Maria SS. Assunta

Applied psychological sciences.

University of L'Aquila

Clinical psychology.

University of Bari Aldo Moro

University of Bergamo

Applied cognitive psychology, work, organizational and personnel psychology.

University of Cagliari

University of Catania

Clinical and health psychology.

University of Florence

University of Genoa

Clinical and health psychology sciences and techniques.

University of Messina

Applied experimental psychological sciences.

University of Milano-Bicocca

Clinical psychology and health promotion: person, family and community relationships, programming and management of social policies and services, psychology of social processes, decision-making and economic behavior.

University of Naples Federico II

Applied cognitive psychology, clinical and life cycle health psychology, developmental psychology and education, physical activity and health.

Foro Italico University of Rome

Sapienza University of Rome

Cognitive neuroscience and clinical neuropsychology, psychology and health, psychology applied to health, labour and legal-forensic contexts, physical activity and health promotion.

Tor Vergata University of Rome

Clinical psychology and life cycle neuropsychology.

University of Niccolo Cusano Studies

Psychological science and techniques, psychological sciences and techniques.

University of Valle d'Aosta

University of Pisa

Clinical and health psychology and neuropsychology.

European University of Rome

Kore University of Enna

Cognitive psychology in health communication.

University of Trento

Psychology for organizations: human resources, marketing and communication.

Catholic University of the Sacred Heart

University of Pavia

Deadline information, best universities with psychology in italy.

Bachelor Psychology programs in Italy

Master Psychology programs in Italy

Most Popular Psychology programs in Italy

PhD Psychology programs in Italy

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