SFIPOL promotes interdisciplinary research that embraces history, philosophy and social sciences, integrating different methodological approaches. Research projects range from social and political transformations to the evolution of critical thinking and institutions; from the medieval to contemporary history. Research includes topics such as authoritarianism, political and social conflict, material culture, identity and community, the history of power and institutions, philosophy of mind, ethics and bioethics, history of religions and digital philosophy. The programme has two curriculums with complementary, intertwining perspectives that allow students to explore historical dynamics, philosophical issues and socio-political issues in a diachronic and comparative framework. This combined approach allows students to analyse contemporary challenges in the light of their historical roots, stimulating innovation and dialogue between different traditions of thought, to develop new interpretative keys for social and cultural phenomena. 

Collaborations with academic institutions and research centres both at the national and international level, also offer PhD students the opportunity to participate in global research networks and to benefit from a formative experience enriched by periods of study abroad and specialist conferences.