Note that 1 CFU of research and laboratory activity can be roughly quantified as 20 hours.
At the beginning of the first year, the doctoral student is required to select an Advisor among the members of the PhD Board and a broad topic of interest for his/her research activity. He/she is presented to the whole PhD Board during the month of December.
The first few months of activity are dedicated to exploring the area of interest, becoming confident with the state of the art, starting to acquire the skills required to carry out a research activity in the selected area. After this initial period, the doctoral student will prepare a plan for his/her annual activity together with the Advisor by filling the first year Doctoral Program Form (DPF). The proposed Plan will be submitted for approval by the whole PhD Board.
Based on the selected area of interest, the PhD Board assigns to every doctoral student a PhD Advisory committee that is formed by two members of the PhD board plus a third member who can also be an external expert. The activities of the doctoral student are monitored during each year by his/her PhD advisory committee through periodic meetings that end with a written short note with suggestions and/or warnings for the student. The student is required to ask for the date of the meeting to his/her advisory board when getting close to the planned meeting times.
By the end of the first academic year, the doctoral student is required to write a report of the activity carried out, by completing the first year Doctoral Report Form (DRF). At the same time, he/she will be asked to prepare the activity plan for the second academic year, by completing the second year Doctoral Program Form (DPF).
The temporal planning of the first year of Doctoral study is sketched below.
The plan for the first year of activity must be presented by the candidate not later than February 28th.
A minimum of two meetings with the PhD advisory committee are planned during the first year: - during the first two weeks of June (Intermediate Meeting) - during the first two weeks of September (Preparatory Meeting)
By October 1st, the doctoral student must submit: (i) a report of the activity carried out during the first academic year, by filling the first-year Doctoral Report Form (DRF) (ii) the activity plan for the second academic year, by filling the second-year Doctoral Program Form (DPF)
For an updated list of the Advanced Courses offered in the academic year 2023-2024, please refer to Section "Offered PhD Courses".