The B&F track program is a three years program with a structure that is based on 180 credits (ECTS) distributed in research activities (120 credits), learning (50 credits), and other activities (10 credits).

First year
During the first year the PhD students are involved in learning activities such research methodology classes, seminars, summer schools, and other initiatives oriented to develop research skills. In the second half of the first year the PhD student has to identify a research question, with the support of a senior researcher that will play the role of Supervisor. At the end of the year a full research proposal has to be submitted to an evaluation committee. The proposal include the title of the thesis, and a full review of the literature that supports the proposal and stress the potential of the research project to advance the frontier of knowledge on a specific area of interest. The proposal includes the research methodology proposed to answer to the research question(s) and - in case of empirical analysis - discuss about the data that are supposed to be used (e.g. availability of the data, structure, arguments behind the decision to use these data, etc.).
The evaluation of the research proposal takes into account the ability of the PhD Student to organize a research proposal, the quality of the proposal, and the potential quality of the output. In case of a positive evaluation the PhD Student is admitted to the second year of the program. Whenever the research proposal will not be positively judged, the PhD Student will not be allowed to continue his/her Phd program.

Second year
The second year is dedicated to the implementation of the research proposal. During this year the PhD Student can attend further learning events (e.g. seminars, summer schools, etc.) and will participate to academic conferences in order to improve his/her knowledge about the research topic of the thesis. During the second year the PhD Student can spend as a visiting scholar a period in other universities or research centres in Italy or abroad. In the second half of the year the first outcomes of the research are expected (e.g. working papers, conference papers, etc.).

Third year
In the third year of the PhD program the PhD Students complete their research project, presenting the output of their research in academic events (e.g. seminars, conferences, etc.) and submit their outputs for publications in academic journals. At the end of the third year, the thesis has to be defended in front of a commission in a final exam.

During all the three years, the PhD Students have to present the state of the art of their research, stressing the improvements and new results achieved, in front of the Faculty and Scientific committee members in a "D-day". Three D-days every year are scheduled (Spring D-day, Summer D-day, Autumn D-day).