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International and Intersectoral (Industrial) Innovative PhD Program
ACCESS (Advanced Catalytic Processes for using Renewable Energy Sources)

Academic Year:

2020–2021 – Cycle: XXXVI
2021–2022 – Cycle: XXXVII
2022–2023 – Cycle: XXXVIII
2023–2024 – Cycle: XXXIX
2024–2025 – Cycle: XL
2025–2026 – Cycle: XLI

Coordinator: Prof. Gabriele Centi, Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences

Duration: 3 years

Positions and Scholarships:

Cycle XXXVI: 3 positions with scholarship, including 2 funded by the ERC Synergy Project SCOPE; 1 additional position with scholarship funded by the Sicilian Region (Operational Program 2014/2020, European Social Fund); 2 positions funded by the PON Research and Innovation 2014–2020 “Industrial Doctorates”; 2 additional positions in collaboration with foreign universities.
Cycle XXXVII: 4 positions with scholarship, including 2 funded by the ERC Synergy Project SCOPE; 1 additional “GREEN” scholarship under the PON Research and Innovation 2014–2020 program; 1 additional position funded by the Sicilian Region; 2 additional positions at foreign universities.
Cycle XXXVIII: 7 positions with scholarship, including 2 co-funded by Versalis Spa (DM 352/2022), 1 PNRR doctoral scholarship (DM 351/2022), 2 funded by research grants under the ERC Synergy Project SCOPE, and 2 without scholarship.
Cycle XXXIX: 5 positions with scholarships funded by ENI Spa, 1 by Versalis Spa, 1 by ERICA I.S.B.L., 1 by W2M Waste to Methane Srl, 1 by Techfem Spa, 1 by Casale Spa, 1 by ITEA Spa, 1 PNRR-funded scholarship, 2 positions funded by research grants from the ERC Synergy Project SCOPE, and 4 without scholarship.
Cycle XL: 1 position funded by Versalis Spa, 1 by Techfem Spa, 3 by Casale Spa, 1 by UNIME, and 2 without scholarship.
Cycle XLI: 3 positions funded by UNIME, 1 by Casale Spa, 1 regional position under Notice 15/2024 PR FSE+ Sicily 2021–2027 (Type B – co-supervision) with CNR-IPCF, and 1 position without scholarship.

Course Start Dates:

Cycle XXXVI: November 1, 2020
Cycle XXXVII: October 1, 2021
Cycle XXXVIII: October 1, 2022
Cycle XXXIX: October 1, 2023
Cycle XL: October 1, 2024
Cycle XLI: October 1, 2025

Program Overview

The ACCESS PhD program, launched with the 36th cycle (and renewed for cycles 37 and 38), is carried out in cooperation with foreign universities and industrial partners. It is closely linked to the ERC Synergy Project SCOPE (Surface-COnfined fast-modulated Plasma for process and Energy intensification in small molecules conversion; Project No. 810182 funded by EU-H2020, total funding approx. €10M – duration 6 years from 02/04/2019). The project is coordinated by the University of Messina in collaboration with the University of Antwerp (Belgium) and Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands), both of which participated in the PhD program during cycles 36–38.

The SCOPE project funds two PhD scholarships and provides all PhD students with access to educational activities and mobility programs. The company NextChem was also part of the doctoral partnership. During cycles 37 and 38, additional positions were funded by other industrial partners and institutions.

Research Themes

The program focuses on topics such as:

Electrification of chemical processes
Catalysis
Decarbonization of industrial processes
Carbon circular economy and CO₂ reuse
Green hydrogen and hydrogen carriers
Chemical energy storage and energy vector production
Development of technologies for resilient industrial production
Direct solar-to-chemical energy conversion technologies (e.g., artificial leaves)

These topics are of high relevance at both European and Italian levels, particularly within the scope of the PNRR.

With cycle 39, the agreements with the Universities of Antwerp and Eindhoven and with NextChem concluded, and were replaced by 7 national and international companies co-funding at least one PhD scholarship each. These partners are highly qualified scientifically and culturally, with the necessary infrastructure and financial resources to support the program. They are actively engaged in research collaborations with Italian institutions and invest significantly in R&D.

ACCESS PhD Objectives

ACCESS aims to shape a new scientific profile for PhD students, addressing the social and industrial need to use renewable energy sources for chemical energy storage—a key missing link in current energy systems to enable seasonal storage and transportation from remote areas. Developing technologies in this field is critical to realizing low-carbon energy and chemical production. However, it requires training young researchers in new areas not typically covered in current educational programs.

Fundamental Scientific Challenges:

Using highly reactive species (e.g., photons, electrons) in slow chemical transformations
Achieving selectivity in reactions with similar energetic profiles
Enhancing electrode productivity while maintaining high efficiency and selectivity

This calls for merging catalysis with plasma, photo, or electron-based processes, despite limited understanding of key distinctions like electrocatalysis vs. electrochemistry.

Technological Challenges:

Operating effectively in the presence of typical industrial contaminants
Avoiding costly feed concentration steps (e.g., for CO₂)

A possible solution involves designing electrodes with integrated membranes that selectively concentrate reactants at the catalyst surface. This is an emerging field requiring new composite electrode designs, potentially using 3D printing and device-level engineering.

Expanding Applications:

Most research focuses on water splitting or CO₂ electro/photo conversion (often limited to 2e⁻ transformations like CO or formic acid).
The challenge is advancing to multi-electron and C–C bond forming reactions, creating real value chains from CO₂.
Direct synthesis of NH₃ (or urea from N₂ and H₂O + CO₂) is a promising area for carbon footprint reduction (up to 90%).
Biomass valorization via electro/photo processes is just beginning to be explored, including tandem redox processes such as direct adipic acid synthesis from glucose.

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