Courses and Requirements

Please note that the study program might be subject to minor changes; activation of electives depends on student's choice.

Lessons start at the beginning of September and attendance is mandatory. You cannot attend the program by distance learning.

First year - a.y. 2025-26 (41° cycle)

1 preparatory course
Attendance in 13 compulsory courses
Exams for each compulsory course
Research internship period during the summer

SEM	TITLE	HOURS	PROFESSOR
1	History of Institutions: Civic, Economic and Political	24	G. Alfani
	Statistics*	24	M. Bonetti, vp B. Cole
	Sociology	36	A.M. Jeannet
	Political Science	36	G.Invernizzi, L.Martin
	Data Analysis*	24	D. Britto
2	Qualitative Research Methods*	24	A. Compagni, G.Cappellaro
	Doing Research	24	A. Kentikelenis
	The Policy Process	24	T.Colussi
	Computational Methods — preparatory course	12	E. Moscato
	International Politics and Society	24	A. Kentikelenis
	Mobility, Social Stratification and Inequality	24	A. Kentikelenis, A.Aassve,M.Martinelli
	Methods for Policy Evaluation*	24	D. Britto
	Public Administration	24	V. Mele
	Computational Methods for Social and Political Science*	36	D.Hovy, E. Moscato, L.Lupo
	Principles of Research Ethics**	2	SELF-MANAGED ONLINE course

* Methods courses (MET)

**The course is available at ECR.unibocconi.it (login with Bocconi credentials, using the Student ID as username). Students have to pass the final test and send the certificate to the PhD administrative assistant for the registration by the end of the academic year: 31/08/2026

Second year - a.y. 2025-26 (40° cycle)

10 courses. In details:

7 compulsory courses
3 electives

Exams for each course
Research paper

Note: Activation of electives depends on choices made by students

COMPULSORY COURSES

SEM.	TITLE	HOURS	PROFESSOR
1	Demography	24	L.Mencarini
1	Representation and Democracy	24	L.Martin
1	Global Health and Development	24	M.Parbst
1	Politics and Economics of the European Union	24	C. Altomonte, I.Colantone
1	Experimental Research	24	M.Bonetti
2	Inequality, Gender and Policy (Profeta classes - Mencarini classes)	24	P.Profeta, L.Mencarini
NEW!	Open Science for Researchers elective online workshop (75 minutes) offered by the Bocconi Library, open to all PhD Students from 2nd year

3 ELECTIVES OUT OF THE FOLLOWING

SEM.	TITLE	HOURS	PROFESSOR
1	Political order(s), States and Global Affairs: History and Geopolitics	24	A.Colli, M.Fochesato
2	Population Dynamics	24	C.Devillanova, N.Balbo, A.Aassve, L.Mencarini
2	Governance, Corruption and Accountability	24	M.Cucciniello
2	Politics of Migration	24	A.Alrababah
2	Health and Society	24	A.Torbica

Third and Fourth year

Study/research period at other universities
TA/RA activities (optional)
Seminars
Completion of the thesis prospectus (3rd year Nov)
Oral defence of thesis prospectus (3rd year Dec)
Thesis submission to external reviewers (end of fourth year)
Thesis dissertation

NEW! Open Science for Researchers: elective online workshop (75 minutes) offered by the Bocconi Library, open to all PhD students from 2nd year.

DETAILED REQUIREMENTS