Information for PhD students
Transversal skills bridge the gap between research and professional practice, enhancing researchers’ autonomy and their ability to collaborate in international and interdisciplinary contexts.
During their PhD studies, doctoral researchers learn to conduct original, innovative and independent research in a specific academic field, developing the knowledge and expertise needed to become internationally recognised experts in their research area.
At the same time, by addressing complex challenges with methodological rigour and creativity, they develop a broad range of transversal skills that extend beyond their specific discipline. These include critical and creative thinking, analysing situations and finding solutions, teamwork, effective time and task management, making effective use of technology, communicating ideas and research findings clearly, sharing knowledge with both specialist and non-specialist audiences, working in international and multidisciplinary contexts, and navigating different cultural environments.
In today's complex society, these skills are highly valued across a wide range of professional settings and in everyday life. They are relevant not only to academic careers but also to roles in business, public administration and highly qualified professions in both the private and public sectors.
Recognising the importance of these skills for future career development, the University of Bologna offers a wide range of training opportunities designed to strengthen the transversal skills of its PhD students.
Transversal skills
Participation in these training activities requires registration and follows a defined schedule. Participants are expected to engage actively and interact with lecturers, subject experts and fellow PhD students.
Courses, practical sessions and workshops are designed to develop advanced transversal skills in areas such as leadership, teamwork, conflict management, scientific communication, public speaking, European project proposal development, project management, professional networking, career development, research valorisation and technology transfer, information literacy, research data management, intellectual property, research ethics and safety, innovation and social impact.
These activities are open to PhD students enrolled in the 40th, 41st and 42nd cycles. Any activities intended for more specific groups of participants will be clearly indicated on the relevant course pages.
Registration for transversal skills training activities for the 2026/2027 academic year will open on Tuesday, 1 December 2026, at 10:00 a.m.
PhD students will receive a dedicated email containing detailed information about registration.
To register for individual activities, students must access the Registration portal and select the activities they wish to attend. Where an activity is offered in multiple editions, participants may register for and attend only one edition.
Before registering, students are also advised to check that they have not already attended the same course in previous years.
Each training activity will be organised and delivered by the relevant units of the University of Bologna's General Administration, which are responsible for coordinating the initiative. Registered participants will be notified when their activity is due to begin.
Certification of training activities and recognition of PhD credits
Upon completion of each training activity, participants who have attended at least 70% of the total scheduled hours and passed a final assessment will have the activity recorded in their individual training record, which can be downloaded at any time in PDF format from the U-WEB platform.
To request recognition of PhD credits for transversal skills training, students must download their individual training record — the only document accepted for this procedure — and the relevant course programme, available on the Transversal Skills for PhD Students webpage.
Both documents must then be uploaded to the PhD students portal.
No alternative arrangements for credit recognition are permitted. The procedure described above is the only one approved and authorised by the University's PhD Office.
Moocs for self-training: online contents always accessible, that you can study autonoumously
This kind of contents include video-classes, interactive modules and autoevaluation tests, in order to obtain useful skills and tools to manage work groups, useful communication, critical thinking and activity planning.
These contents are perfect for those who want to increase their skills in a flexible and indipentent way, by choosing the topics that are more consistent with your learning objectives.