The Iuav School of Doctorate Studies is an international research institution that, drawing upon a wealth of studies accumulated over time, broadens the potential and circulates the cultural production of some of the oldest and most prestigious doctoral programmes in Italy, offering an open environment for in-depth study and collective exchange.

The School’s distinctiveness lies in clustering together research bodies working on issues of multidisciplinary concern. The School is the dynamic home to doctoral programmes in architectural composition, in the history of architecture and the city, in planning, in design, in the arts and in urban design, whose combined presence fosters a very special educational environment inside a university that is internationally recognized for its interdisciplinary work in architecture, history, the city and the arts.

The School’s Board of Directors is composed of internationally renowned scholars, Giovanni Anceschi, Donatella Calabi, Alberto Cecchetto, Giuseppe Ciorra, Pierluigi Crosta, Giovanna Curcio, Domenico Patassini, Bernardo Secchi and Luciano Semerani, who currently coordinates the Iuav doctoral programmes; the School’s director, Alberto Ferlenga; and two representatives from doctoral student body. The Board is responible for managing the school, developing its guidelines, planning shared activities, allocating annual fellowships, defining subject areas that may open to new research, and stipulating collaborative agreements with other research and educational structures. The faculties of the individual doctoral programmes are composed of a selected group of scholars from the Iuav as well as other Italian and foreign universities.

Overall, the School of Doctorate Studies brings together a community of 125 tenured professors, 99 experts from outside the university, 9 tutors and more than 200 doctoral candidates all of whom are actively engaged in research.

The highly particular structure and the excellent teaching staff of the Iuav School of Doctorate Studies have made it an important point of reference for research on issues regarding architecture and the territory. Its wealth of highly recognized scholarly works, its research output, its international network and its location in the prestigious complex of Palazzo Badoer, which provides the doctoral community with ample common and individual space, add to the School’s specificity, making it truly a unique institution in today’s world.

At the Iuav School of Doctorate Studies long-standing or more recently created doctoral programmes are bringing new energy to the research in their respective fields, through the in-depth study and reexamination of their core issues and by opening new frontiers exploring the emerging issues of the territories of our time.

Alberto Ferlenga