The doctoral program builds upon the distinguished philological tradition that has long thrived at the Scuola Normale, which has seen periods of outstanding prominence in both Romance and Italian philology.

By fostering collaboration with leading institutions, the program seeks to integrate this heritage with cutting-edge scholarly approaches made possible by digital methodologies. It aims to enhance the study of manuscript traditions while advancing the analysis, critical editing, and interpretation of literary texts.

Engaging with the most advanced frontiers of the humanities, where the digital revolution is reshaping research paradigms, the program focuses on the textual traditions of medieval Europe’s vernacular languages (11th–15th centuries). Its objective is to cultivate a new generation of scholars equipped to bridge the gap between fundamental philological expertise, now increasingly marginalized in the international academic sphere, and the evolving opportunities of the digital landscape.

The program operates in close synergy with digital humanities laboratories within its network of partner universities and draws upon the invaluable expertise of CNR/OVI in managing the corpus of early Italian texts. Notably, the OVI research unit at the Scuola Normale will provide doctoral students with continuous engagement with the Italian section of the DARIAH Consortium (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities), ensuring active participation in the global research community.

The collaboration between the Scuola Normale Superiore and other leading universities, many already connected through the PNRR PE5 Changes project, which shares the same scientific objectives as this doctoral initiative, along with the contributions of CNR-OVI and the Fondazione Franceschini, both renowned centers of textual scholarship at the highest European level, ensures the program’s strong impact and long-term viability on both national and international scales.