Phd in INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

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".

The activities of the doctoral student are monitored during the year by the doctoral student PhD advisory committee. The written short notes prepared by this committee after Intermediate Meeting and Preparatory Meeting report are available to the PhD board for his evaluation. In particular, the note of the Preparatory Meeting reports both on the coherence of the activity described in the first year DRF with respect to the first year DPF and on the proposed second-year DPF.

Admission to the second year is subject to approval by the PhD board. This approval is based on the following elements:  

Together with the admission to the second year, the PhD Board approves (with appropriate modifications, where needed) the second-year Doctoral Program Form containing the proposal of the subject of the PhD thesis.

The second-year Doctoral Program includes a total of 60 Credit Formation Units (CFU), assigned as illustrated in the Table above. In particular:  

  The activities of the doctoral student are monitored during the year by the doctoral student PhD Advisory committee.

Most often, stays abroad by the doctoral student occur during the second or third year. Any plan for visiting other institutions should appear in the Doctoral Program.

By the end of the second year, the doctoral student is required to write a report of the activity carried out, by completing the second-year Doctoral Report Form (DRF). At the same time, he/she will be asked to prepare the activity plan for the third academic year, by completing the third-year Doctoral Program Form (DPF).

The temporal planning of the second year of Doctoral study is sketched below.



The plan for the second year of activity was presented by the candidate and approved by the PhD Board before the beginning of the second year, so that the activity is already planned from the very beginning and can proceed without delays.

A minimum of two meetings with the PhD advisory committee are planned during the second year: - during the second half of February (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 second academic year,      by filling the second-year Doctoral Report Form (DRF) (ii) the activity plan for the third academic year,      by filling the third-year Doctoral Program Form (DPF)      

The activities of the doctoral student are monitored during the year by the doctoral student PhD Advisory committee. The written short notes prepared by this committee after Intermediate Meeting and Preparatory Meeting notes are available to the Ph.D. board for his evaluation. In particular, the note of the Preparatory Meeting reports both on the coherence of the activity described in the second-year DRF with respect to the second-year DPF and on the proposed third-year DPF.   Admission in the third year is subject to approval by the PhD board. This approval is based on the following elements: 

  Together with the admission to the third year, the PhD Board approves the third-year Doctoral Program Form (with appropriate modifications, where needed).  

The third-year Doctoral Program includes a total of 60 Credit Formation Units (CFU), assigned as illustrated in the Table above. In particular:  

The activities of the doctoral student are monitored during the year by the doctoral student PhD Advisory committee.

Stays abroad by the doctoral student can occur or be completed during the third year. Any plan for visiting other institutions should appear in the Doctoral Program.  

This research work will lead to the final PhD output, that is the PhD dissertation.

By the end of the second academic year, the doctoral student is required to write a report of the activity carried out, by completing the final-year Doctoral Report Form (DRF).

The temporal planning of the third year of Doctoral study is sketched below.    The plan for the third year of activity was presented by the candidate and approved by the PhD Board before the beginning of the third year, so that the activity is already planned and can proceed without delays.   A minimum of two meetings with the PhD advisory committee are planned during the third year: - during the second half of February (Intermediate Meeting) - during the first two weeks of September (Preparatory Meeting)   The PhD Thesis will be submitted for review not later than October 31st and sent to External Reviewers.   Before December 1st, a Final Meeting with the PhD Advisory committee is planned, that can be replaced with an open presentation of the content of the Thesis.   By December 1st, the doctoral student must also submit a report of the activity carried out during the third academic year, by filling the final-year Doctoral Report Form (DRF).  

The activities of the doctoral student are monitored during the year by the doctoral student PhD Advisory committee. The written short notes prepared by this committee after Intermediate Meeting and Preparatory Meeting report are available to the PhD Board for his evaluation. In particular, the note of the Preparatory Meeting reports both on the coherence of the activity described in the final-year DRF with respect to the third-year DPF.   The PhD Thesis must be submitted by the doctoral student not later than October 31st. By mid October the PhD Board assigns two External Reviewers to each doctoral student, among the national and international Professors. They will receive the PhD Thesis, as soon as they are made available by the students, and provide a review report on it.   Admission to the Thesis Defense (Final Exam) is subject to approval by the PhD board (second half of December). This approval is based on the following elements: