The future Big Data specialists have just begun their journey with a Welcome Day.
Published on 16 April 2025
The FutureData4EU project has officially kicked off, aiming to train a new generation of highly qualified professionals and researchers in the emerging fields of data science.
The first 36 candidates have just begun their journey. These are the future Big Data specialists being trained in Emilia-Romagna’s Data Valley thanks to the FutureData4EU project.
Coordinated by the University of Bologna, FutureData4EU is a European MSCA COFUND initiative developed in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna Region and all the universities across the region: the University of Ferrara, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, the University of Parma, the Piacenza Campus of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, and the Piacenza branch of Politecnico di Milano.
The goal is to establish a true regional doctoral school capable of training a new generation of highly skilled professionals and researchers in the emerging domains of data science. Thanks to €9 million in co-funding, FutureData4EU is launching 53 doctoral positions across seven thematic areas, integrated into 47 PhD programmes hosted by departments within the six partner universities.
For 43 of these PhD candidates, their academic and professional journey officially began a few days ago with a Welcome Day held in the historic Sala VIII Centenario of the University of Bologna’s Rectorate.
Welcoming the new doctoral students were Marco Carricato, Delegate for Doctoral Programmes at the University of Bologna, and Daniele Bonacorsi, Programme Coordinator of FutureData4EU, along with the programme’s thematic area representatives, who introduced the research lines and collaboration opportunities.
The final 10 positions funded by the project are currently being finalized. The selected PhD candidates will officially begin their path as part of the 41st PhD cycle.
With 70% of the nation’s computing and data storage capacity, the Emilia-Romagna Region through its Data Valley is a strategic hub for supercomputing, essential to strengthening Europe’s global competitiveness. FutureData4EU reflects the region’s universities’ ongoing commitment to doctoral excellence and to building a European innovation ecosystem grounded in collaboration, internationalisation, and interdisciplinarity.