Admission to the programme is open to all candidates interested in research areas of the CIMeC, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, gender, or age. Applicants are supposed to have an Italian laurea magistrale university degree or have completed a Bachelor's and a Master's degree awarded by end of October 2026. In order to know whether your foreign degree satisfies Italian PhD entry criteria you can request a comparability statement from CIMEA. More details found at https://international.unitn.it/incoming/diploma-verification. Should your foreign degree be deemed suitable for admission to an Italian PhD the CIMEA verification will substitute your Diploma Supplement / Dichiarazione di Valore.

There will be one call for the 2026 cohort for 13 fully paid positions.

Following is an approximate schedule for the 2026 selection:

1. Call published by April 2, 2026

2. Application deadline: May 7

Although the online application is open until 4:00 pm Italian time on the due date, we strongly encourage you to complete the application a few days beforehand. If you haven't received a request to confirm your application, and confirmed it by 4:00 p.m., the online application system will block you out and your application will not be considered. No exceptions.

3. Title evaluations: by May 20

Title evaluations (candidates need not be present) will most likely take place in late May. Ranking will be posted on the UNITN website no later than a business day or two later.

4. Interviews: by June 10

Interviews will be conducted via zoom and in presence by mid-June. Shortlisted candidates are interviewed via video-conference if preferred by the candidate, otherwise in presence in Rovereto.

If admitted to the Program, candidates must reply within 8 business days from the final ranking, published on https://www.unitn.it/en/phd/cognitive-and-brain-sciences no later than June 20.

5. Beginning of PhD program: November 1, 2026

The list of research topics that the Doctorate in Cognitive and Brain Sciences proposed for the 2026 selection is available at https://phd.unitn.it/drcimec/123/2025-research-topics. This list will be updated and final by the time the 2026 call is published.

A minimum B2 level English is highly recommended but documentation in support of this is not required in order to be considered for a PhD position. It will however be necessary to acquire a B2 level certification by the end of the 3rd year of the PhD program.

This year the Research Statement is part of the online application in the dedicated section. Tip: begin applying now, enter the Research Statement section of the application, and begin working on it well before the deadline (each section has a limited amount of characters).

A €30 application fee, payable by credit card, is required in order to apply.