Positive Impact Research Market - Thesis
Positive Impact Research Market (PIRM) is an initiative launched by the Università della Svizzera italiana, serving as a platform for interaction between academia and professional organisations. PIRM’s scope is to connect USI students, researchers and lecturers with professional organisations (companies, start-ups, NGOs and public institutions) that are involved or interested in addressing concrete sustainable development challenges (as defined by the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs of the UN 2030 Agenda) through Bachelor's and Master's thesis or chapters of Doctoral theses.
PIRM is part of the institutional project CAMPUS – Collaborative Action for Multidisciplinary Progress and Understanding of Sustainability, co-funded by swissuniversities; and is carried out in collaboration with Impact Hub Ticino and Social Business Earth.
Objectives:
In addition to making the University's services available for the economic, social and cultural development of the local area and community, PIRM has two objectives:
• For students of the Academy of architecture and the Faculties of Communication, Culture and Society, Economics and Informatics: to offer the opportunity to write their Bachelor's, Master's thesis or Theoretical Paper (for the Academy of Architecture), or a chapter of their Doctoral thesis on an applied research topic, responding to the concrete challenges or needs of a professional organisation and making a concrete contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• For professional organisations: to receive a contribution from students who, drawing on their academic experience, engage with the practical application of the methods and concepts learned in their theses.
Here is the information for:
How to participate:
1. Proposal and selection:
- Based on its own challenges or needs related to sustainable development (economic, social or environmental), the professional organisation can register on the CareerGate digital portal to submit one or more research thesis proposals. The proposal must: contribute positively to at least one aspect of sustainable development and at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda; and its solution must be consistent with the fields of study of the USI Faculties of Communication, Culture and Society, Economics, Informatics or the Academy of Architecture.
- Students choose a single research proposal that interests them, write an abstract and find a professor willing to be their supervisor and sign a letter of recommendation.
- Once the professor approves the abstract and signs the letter of recommendation, the student applies to the professional organisation via email.
2. Thesis development:
- The professional organisation evaluates the applications received and selects one to entrust with its research proposal. After receiving a positive response, the selected student and the external partner organisation sign the Agreement.
- The student develops the thesis. If necessary for the purposes of the thesis, the external partner has the right to arrange one or more interim meetings to discuss the research results.
3. Delivery and results:
- The final result is an academically validated research thesis, accompanied by a concise and practical Feedback Report, designed for use by the professional organisation.
- It is preferable to plan and organise the final meeting between the student, the supervisor and the external partner well in advance, during which the results of the work carried out will be presented and discussed.
At USI, prior to the PIRM project, students have chosen to devote their dissertations to an in-depth study of the theme of sustainability in its various dimensions: environmental, social and economic.
In order to provide an overview of the richness and variety of the research conducted in this field, the following list presents some significant examples of theses written in recent years, illustrating the diversity of the themes explored and the approaches used.