Research
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The curricular training activity comprises 60 ECTS credits (CFU) distributed over the first two years, in addition to a series of practical workshops in language, computer science, and project design.
Both lectures and other training activities serve as starting points for defining and clarifying research paths and themes in an interdisciplinary manner, as well as providing PhD candidates with the necessary foundation to carry out in-depth scientific research.
During the first year, the PhD candidate will complete 30 ECTS credits of lectures, structured as follows: 30 ECTS credits designed to provide transversal skills related to cultural heritage, including its management, protection, and conservation. Candidates will attend lectures on research methodologies in the following disciplinary fields: archaeology, philology, classical and patristic literature, ancient philosophy, classical, medieval, modern, and contemporary history, archival and library science, history of music and art, performing arts, economics of culture, geography, archaeometric and diagnostic methods in geology, physics, and geophysics, and digital skills.
In addition to lectures, the programme will include the following workshop activities:
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Research activities encompass all aspects of cultural heritage (see, for example, the list of thesis topics from the 39th to 41st cycles below). The research project is proposed by the PhD candidate for unrestricted scholarships, and must in any case be approved by the Academic Board (Consiglio di Dottorato), which may request modifications. For project-specific scholarships, the research activity is predefined, and candidates, in accepting the scholarship, also agree to fully carry out the planned research. Following the approval of the research project, the Academic Board assigns a supervisor (and potentially a co-supervisor) chosen from among the Board's faculty members. The supervisor’s task is to monitor and guide the PhD candidate in carrying out their research and to assess their progress. For specific aspects, the Board may, upon proposal by the supervisor, appoint an External Expert to the Academic Board, who will serve in a purely advisory role (and will not be required to sign reports or certificates). At the end of each year, the PhD candidate must submit a report on the research and teaching activities carried out, as well as the progress achieved. The report must be countersigned by the supervisor and co-supervisor, and will be submitted to the entire Board for approval. In the event of a favourable outcome, the candidate is admitted to the following year; in the event of an unfavourable outcome, the candidate repeats the year and forfeits the scholarship. At the end of the second year, candidates are required to include in their annual report a detailed thesis outline indicating the percentage of completion for each individual chapter. Six months before the end of the programme, the Board appoints two reviewers for each PhD candidate, who must submit an evaluation form by the 10th day of the final month. By the 15th day of the same month, having evaluated the annual report and the evaluation form, the Board approves or denies admission to the final examination. For their research activities, PhD candidates will have access to two dedicated study rooms, IT equipment, and reserved workstations in the Department Library. PhD candidates are required to undertake a period of study abroad ranging from a minimum of three months to a maximum of 18 months. This requirement does not apply to non-funded PhD candidates. PhD candidates are required to communicate the progress of their research at least every four months to their supervisor and any co-supervisor, for the purpose of monitoring the scientific results achieved and the strategies adopted to achieve them. Attached is the list of research projects for the following cycles:
41st cycle
Cavallaro Marco
University Scholarship: “Archipelagos of Words: Narrative, Identity, and the Enhancement of Insular Cultural Heritage Through Literature”
Giudice Doriana
University Scholarship
Voices, Iron, and Wood: Towards a Historical-Performative Reconstruction of Nino Insanguine's Puppetry
Castellino Paola
Non-funded position
“Between Science and Cultural Heritage: Methodological Development of Best Practices in Authenticity Testing of Out-of-Context Ceramics”
Vindigni Gianluca
Regional Scholarship
Visual Philology and Enabling Immersive Technologies for the Enhancement of the Mosaics of Monreale Cathedral: Scripture Between Text, Image, and Digital Innovation
Barbagallo Irene
Regional Scholarship
PA.ST.xC. (Heritage and History for the Community)
40th cycle
PhD Student
Scholarship and Thesis Title
TOMARCHIO
MARIA CHIARA
Spoke 6 Grant Reinterpreting Contexts and Constructing Histories: The Case of the Achillean Thermal Baths of Roman Catina
MARINO
SIMONE
University Scholarship No. 1 Artificial Intelligence as a Musical Co-creator: Analysis and Ontology of the Interaction Between Human Performers and Generative Systems
BORDIERI
SOFIA
Spoke 2 Grant No. 2 Landscapes and Visual Imaginaries in Giovanni Pastrone’s Cabiria (1914)
LEONARDI
VANESSA
University Scholarship No. 2 Stage Archives: Arrangement and Description of the Gianni Salvo Archival and Book Collection
MALPASSO
FEDERICA
Spoke 2 Grant No. 1 Giovanni Pastrone’s Cabiria (1914): Documentary Heritage and Exhibition Strategies
MONTE
GIUSEPPE
Unfunded Position Forms of Inhabitation in Central-Western Sicily: A Geodatabase of Hellenistic-Roman Private Architecture
GALVAGNO
LORENZO
Co-funded Scholarship under Ministerial Decree 630 (funded by Società Agricola Viridaria s.a.s.)
Syracuse and the Effects of Industrialisation: A Digital Approach to Its Historical Memory
DE LUCA
GIULIANA
Grant funded under Ministerial Decree 629 (Investment 4.1 – Cultural Heritage) Rosa Balistreri’s Performative Authorship: Between Folk Tradition and Digital Innovat
FATHI
SEYED SALAM
University Grant No. 3 The Intersection of Islamic and Byzantine Art: Kufic Script in Mediterranean Byzantine Works (10th–13th Centuries AD)
FRENNA
SERGIO
University Grant The Art of Power in Sicily: Arms Collections at the Civic Museum of Ursino Castle
40th Cycle – Region of Sicily
PhD Student
Project Title
ADORNO
GRAZIANA
Grant 1 (Type B)
Title: IMARX (X-ray Imaging for the Study, Conservation, and Enhancement of Pictorial Heritage in Archaeology and Art History)
ATTANZIO
FRANCESCA
Grant No. 4 (Type A)
Title: Transformation of Production Processes Through KETs in the Field of Product and Building Component Design
DI STEFANO
SIMONA
Grant No. 3 (Type A)
Title: Experience in Scene
TUDISCO
SHARON DEBORAH
Grant 2 (Type B)
Title: New Technologies for Creative Storytelling of the Opera dei Pupi
39th Cycle
Dottorando
Thesis Title
Aquini Davide Giulio
Computer Science Applied to the Knowledge, Reconstruction, and Communication of Cultural Heritage: The Case of Ancient Mediterranean Jewellery in the Second Millennium BC
Bertuna Marta Anna
Towards a History of Festivals as Best Practice in the Safeguarding and Enhancement of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Cataldo Concetta
Mediterranean Villae Maritimae: Typology, Chronology, and Architectural Solutions
Castignani Veronica
Fortifications and Territory in the Greek West: Understanding and Mapping Fortified Landscapes in Hellenistic Northern Epirus
Costanzo Carlotta
European Cultural Routes in Sicily: A Development Model
Leanza Francesco
Byzantine Viewshed: Construction and Perception of Frontier Landscapes in Byzantine Sicily (6th–10th Centuries): A Heritage to Restore
Lugnan Marco Antonio Maria
Manuscript Fragments in Reuse at the State Archives of Catania: Description and Catalogue
Moroni Pietro
Liturgical-Musical Fragments at the State Archives of Enna: Study, Safeguarding, and Enhancement of a Submerged Material and Intangible Heritage
Arena Antonina
The Multistratified Site of Contrada Gerace (Enna) and the Legacy of the Villa Between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
Leucci
Arcifa
Bulgarini Sofia
Archaeometric Analytical Procedures for Historical-Archaeological Reconstructions: The Role of Pure Sciences in the Humanities
Politi
Caliò
Corrente Giovanna
Prehistoric Mining Archaeology in Sicily: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Reconstructing the Mining and Settlement Landscape of the Hyblaean Region from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age
Barone
Militello
Di Costa Alessandro
The Southern Landscape Between Analogue Archives and Digital Resources: Towards an Archaeology of Tornatore’s Film Sets
Rimini