New Call for Applications for the 2025/2026 Academic Year of the PhD in “Reggio Childhood Studies”

Only a few days remain to apply for admission to the 41st cycle (academic year 2025/2026) of the PhD program in Reggio Childhood Studies – From Early Childhood to Lifelong Learning. The program is promoted by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia – Department of Education and Human Sciences (DESU), in collaboration with Fondazione Reggio Children – Centro Loris Malaguzzi ETS, as an industrial partner.
Applications must be submitted by June 30, 2025, at 3:30 p.m (CET).

Now in its seventh edition, the PhD stands out for its strongly interdisciplinary and international approach and carries the name of the city, referencing the renowned educational experience of Reggio Emilia. It is also the first industrial and international PhD program launched by DESU.

Eight Scholarships and a Unique Research Environment

For 2025/2026, eight positions are available, all covered by scholarships funded by Unimore, Fondazione Reggio Children, and the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) through the “Departments of Excellence 2023–2027” program, with a specific focus on the field of visual literacy.
The program is residential and community-based, thanks to physical presence at the research spaces of Fondazione Reggio Children, in particular the Caffarri building, which hosts a permanent study room and offers a daily environment for dialogue, research, and co-design.

“The industrial PhD in Reggio Childhood Studies, co-funded by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and Fondazione Reggio Children, along with other supporters, is the only industrial doctoral program in the humanities at the national level and is distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach,” explains coordinator Professor Carla Bagnoli. “This PhD program represents an innovation in the Italian academic landscape, as it integrates academic research with a practical industrial context, creating a residential community in which participants share workspaces and schedules within the former Caffarri building. It is the first doctoral program in the humanities inspired by the internationally recognized Reggio Emilia educational approach and extends its principles to other disciplinary fields. With an international faculty and high-level, multidisciplinary training, it was recently recognized by ANVUR.”

In 2024, as part of a broader recognition of Unimore as a top-tier university (Fascia A), the program received a positive evaluation from ANVUR – the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research – which acknowledged the program’s design quality, social and scientific impact, international openness, and multidisciplinary character.

Cristian Fabbi, Director of Fondazione Reggio Children, notes that “the creation of this PhD was made possible thanks to the fundamental contribution of Carla Rinaldi, who strongly advocated for it.” “The Reggio Childhood Studies PhD program, promoted by DESU Unimore and Fondazione Reggio Children,” continues Fabbi, “represents the encounter between academic research and the capacity of children to ask questions that open up new and unexplored horizons—this, too, is a form of research. It is also a space of international exchange, where Italian and foreign doctoral students engage with the context and history of a city that Howard Gardner once described as an ‘ethical community.”

An International PhD Open to All Master’s Degrees 

The program, open to graduates of any Master’s degree, aims to train new professional profiles capable of addressing the epistemological, social, and ethical challenges of contemporary education. Since 2019, the PhD has welcomed 55 students and graduated 22 PhDs, six of whom will graduate in May 2025. Currently, there are 27 doctoral candidates enrolled. The program has a strong and well-established international network. In addition to Unimore, academic partners include the University of Milano-Bicocca, Politecnico di Milano, the Universities of Padua, Bologna, and Urbino, and the Accademia di Brera. International partners include MIT, Harvard, the Universities of Amsterdam and Toronto, with seven non-EU members on the faculty board. Approximately 25% of the students come from abroad, including countries such as Brazil, China, the United States, Kenya, France, Iran, and New Zealand.

The program focuses on highly relevant topics such as educational and learning theories, active citizenship, inclusive pedagogies, visual literacy, languages and media, aesthetics, intercultural dialogue, and the transformation of educational contexts. It is characterized by its residential and community-based nature: doctoral students share spaces, time, and practices within the “industrial” context of Fondazione Reggio Children, which hosts and supports the research in a participatory, open, and everyday dimension. 

Click here for the full call for applications.

For more information on the program, please visit the PhD program website.

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