Bocconi University 
Milano, Italy Project Description
Milano, 06/10/2026 prot. n. 226913 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE AWARD OF 1 POST-DOC RESEARCHER FIXED-TERM EMPLOYEE CONTRACT, PURSUANT TO ART. 22, PARAGRAPH 3 OF LAW N.240/2010 AMENDED BY LAW N. 79 OF 29TH JUNE 2022, FOR THE SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINARY GROUPS 02/PHYS-02 THEORETICAL PHYSICS OF FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS, MODELS, MATHEMATICAL METHODS AND APPLICATIONS AND 01/INFO-01 INFORMATICS , AT THE DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTING SCIENCES OF UNIVERSITA’ COMMERCIALE “LUIGI BOCCONI” OF MILAN. Article 1 Call for Competition To promote the education and improvement of junior scholars, Università Commerciale “Luigi Bocconi” of Milan, announces a competition by exams and academic titles for the award, by means of an appropriate contract, pursuant to art. 22 of Law 240/2010, amended by Law n. 79 of 29th June 2022, and using the relative University Regulations emanated with the Rectoral Decree n° 106 of 21st December 2022, of 1 Post-doc Researcher Position with the following characteristics: Duration: 24 months (renewable for a further 24 months) Possible starting date: 1st January 2027 At the Department of Computing Sciences of Bocconi University Scientific Disciplinary Groups: 02/PHYS-02 THEORETICAL PHYSICS OF FUNDAMENTAL INTERACTIONS, MODELS, MATHEMATICAL METHODS AND APPLICATIONS and 01/INFO-01 INFORMATICS Scientific Disciplinary Sectors: PHYS-02/A Theoretical Physics of Fundamental Interactions, Models, Mathematical Methods and Applications and INFO-01/A Informatics Project: “Training at the Edge: Dynamical Learning Rules for Neuromorphic Processors” Financed by: Tech Europe Foundation (TEF) Professor of reference: prof. Riccardo Zecchina Research Project The project aims to develop and validate spatially and temporally local learning rules for recurrent neural networks, grounded in the geometry of learned stable states and compatible with the constraints of lowpower neuromorphic processors. The research includes extending the theoretical framework to continuous-valued and finite-precision units; evaluating scalability and performance in online, continual, and few-shot learning; investigating the binarization of weights and activations; and validating the approach on physical hardware. The expected outcome is a documented, reproducible open-source implementation. Responsibilities in the Project: The contract holder will carry out the theoretical and experimental activities of the four work packages, in coordination with the Principal Investigator and collaborators. They will be responsible for developing and implementing the learning rules, conducting and documenting experiments, analysing the results, and
preparing the software for open-source release. The objectives will also include a critical comparison with the state of the art. WP1 – Theoretical analysis. Study recurrent architectures and the geometry of stable states; derive local learning rules for continuous-valued or finite-precision units and characterise their convergence through analysis and simulations. WP2 – Experimental evaluation. Develop reproducible benchmarks at scale and in online, continual, and fewshot learning settings, measuring accuracy, energy consumption per training and inference step, and memory footprint. WP3 – Quantisation. Investigate binary weights and activations and mixed-precision configurations, characterising the trade-offs between accuracy, energy consumption, and memory usage. WP4 – Hardware and software. Adapt the algorithms to the constraints of asynchronous communication and device variability; validate them on emulators and neuromorphic processors; oversee the open-source release and documentation.
Article 2 Admission requirements In order to participate in the competition, Candidates for the position as Post-Doc Researcher must be scholars with a PhD or equivalent qualification, obtained in Italy or abroad, or in the process of completing their PhD within six months from the date of publication of this call, with the exclusion of Professors and researchers who already hold a position with tenure, even if they have ceased service. The following are not eligible to participate in the selection procedures: permanent staff employed by universities, public research centers and institutions whose scientific specialization diploma has been recognized as equivalent to the title of research doctor pursuant to Article 74, fourth paragraph, of the Presidential Decree of 11th July 1980, no. 382; those who have benefited from contracts pursuant to Article 24 of Law 240 of 2010; those who have a degree of kinship or affinity, up to the fourth degree, with a Professor affiliated with the Department that proposed the activation of the contract, with the Rector or the Managing Director. These statutory pre-requisites must be in place at the deadline for the presentation of applications determined by the present announcement. Applicants will obtain a conditional acceptance. At any time, the administration can arrange, with reason, exclusion from the selection procedure due to the lack of necessary pre-requisites.
Article 3 Applications Applicants should apply by submitting the complete package via our on-line application system, which can be found at jobmarket.unibocconi.eu by 23:59 of 8th November 2026 (Italian time). Each candidate’s application must clearly indicate: • • • •
surname and name date and place of birth citizenship residence
• •
contact address PhD degree or expected completion date
- The application must include the following documents, which must be attached to the application:
- professional C.V., in pdf format, including a list of any titles/qualifications and publications; or — if no
- publications are available — a link to the PhD thesis;
- any publication, or document that the candidate intends to submit for evaluation, in pdf format, up to a
- maximum of 10 scientific publications;
- any patents and/or Proofs of Concept (POCs);
- a statement of purpose;
- a list of high-profile academic referees, up to a maximum of three, to whom letters of recommendation may
- be requested.
- For any problem related to uploading files, the candidate can contact faculty@unibocconi.it.
Article 4 Evaluation Committee The Evaluation Committee for this competition, appointed by the Rector in agreement with the Dean of the Faculty and upon proposal of the Director of the relevant unit, is composed of three members, including the Principal Investigator of the Research Project, the Director of the Department or their delegate, and a faculty member/research fellow. At least one member of the Evaluation Committee must belong to the same Scientific Disciplinary Group announced in the call or to a related disciplinary group. The competition will be carried out by an evaluation of titles and examination as well as an interview. For hiring via the National and International job market, the evaluation of the applications will be carried out by the Evaluation Committee, who will draw up a short list of candidates. Each shortlisted candidate will be interviewed in person or via conference call according to International Job Market practices to assess their research abilities and interest in covering the Post-doc researcher position proposed by the Bocconi University. At the end of the selection process the Evaluation Committee, will write an overall evaluation for each candidate, forming a table of eligible candidates which will be published on the University website. For eligible candidates, Bocconi University, following the proposal of the Department, has the possibility to make an offer which must explain: the contract type, teaching load required, responsibility in the Project, proposed salary, which cannot be less than the minimum wage. It must also indicate the deadline by which the candidate must communicate their acceptance of the offer. If the candidate accepts the offer, Bocconi University will draw up a fixed term, private law contract.
Article 5 Rights and Duties of the Post-Doc Researcher The contract will last for 24 months, indicatively starting on 1st January 2027.
This is an excerpt; the full call is in the official documents below.
Call details
- Institution: Bocconi University
- Discipline sector: 02/PHYS-02
- Call type: Post-doc Researchers
- Call code: ID 999
- Applications open: 06-10-2026
- Application deadline: 08-11-2026