Cosmology, space science & space technology (SPACE)

Space is becoming an increasingly important resource both for meeting new scientific and technological challenges and for its applications in various fields of modern society. The doctoral course “Cosmology, Space Science & Space Technology” aims to join an international framework in which it is necessary to develop cutting-edge scientific and technological skills. In this framework, Cosmology can be understood as the unifying aspect of Space Science and Technology, declined in all their meanings, not the least of which is the philosophical one of why human beings are interested in Space. As such, Cosmology in the title is intended to manifest the effective cohesive action that this doctorate proposes among the equally important areas of theoretical and applied study for Space mentioned in the rest of the title. It is good to remember that Giordano Bruno, the first “cosmologist” in the modern sense, had already intuited this unified vision.

This Ph.D. aims to combine fundamental research, such as that in astrophysics and cosmology, with application-oriented research that has Space as the locus for the most current technologies. To this end, the Ph.D. aims to develop skills involving multidisciplinary and complementary paths of study in astronomy and astrophysics, fundamental physics and cosmology, aerospace engineering and aerodynamics, materials science for extraterrestrial environments, extraterrestrial telecommunications, and applied mathematics for celestial mechanics and Earth monitoring. After a first year devoted to establishing a common knowledge base, the doctoral students’ research will focus on the following pillars: cosmology and astrophysics, space instrumentation, astroparticle physics, microgravity and fluid physics, remote sensing, general relativity, multi-messenger astronomy, planetary exploration, celestial mechanics, swarms and formation in flight, propulsion and reentry, in-orbit maintenance, debris detection and removal, and materials science in extraterrestrial environments.

Consistent with these premises, the Ph.D. course in “Cosmology, Space Science & Space Technology,” in addition to offering training based on an interdisciplinary approach to space science and technology in their broadest sense, is also open to contributions from other disciplines such as, for example, Data Analysis, computational physics, and software and algorithm development in space.

The project aims to enhance existing expertise at the University of Naples “Federico II” (UniNA) in doctoral programs in the areas of Physics, Engineering and Mathematics studies. It intends to contribute to the internationalization of such programs both educationally, through studies that cross national boundaries, and by initiating and consolidating collaborations with Italian and foreign academic and research institutions. In this regard, the doctoral course has collaboration agreements with national research institutions such as the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), the Italian Space Agency (ASI), the National Research Council (CNR) as well as with prestigious European institutions, such as the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), and others of which examples are mentioned below. It is worth mentioning that UniNA, in general, and many of its departments, in particular, already have framework conventions and bilateral agreements with said Italian and foreign research institutions.