The PhD program offers a wide range of training activities designed to support the academic development of PhD students. The seminar offering is particularly rich and includes contributions from prominent international scholars in the field of computer science.
The proposed activities include courses specifically dedicated to PhD students, mainly focused on transversal topics and soft skills, as well as advanced thematic seminars where international experts hold short courses on emerging topics of common interest. As a whole, these initiatives foster the exploration of different areas of computer science. PhD students also have the opportunity to participate in summer and winter schools, as well as the main conferences in their respective research fields, as part of their educational path. Finally, it is important to underline how students consistently achieve significant research results, such as the acceptance of papers at national and international scientific conferences, many of which are top-tier (rank A+/A++), and how they receive both financial and logistical support to attend them.
Courses specifically offered for the Academic Year 2025–2026For students of all three years, courses on transversal topics and soft skills are proposed:
“The wild world of publications: a guide on how to survive. Good practices and useful tips for researchers”
Teacher: Prof. Marco Marini
When:March 3rd 2026 9 AM-1 PM
Where: in-person in room S1, building E, viale Regina Elena 295; remotely at https://meet.google.com/hbj-puvt-pmf
Description: This seminar covers essential strategies for academic publishing, including deciding what to publish, selecting target journals and conferences, adhering to submission guidelines, navigating peer review and revisions, and handling post-acceptance tasks like proofs and ethics. The content emphasizes metrics (e.g., SJR, H-index, JIF), database comparisons (Scopus vs. Web of Science), and best practices for efficient, ethical publication within timelines. A useful how-to for beginners and a double-check for experts.
CINECA & NVIDIA PhD Course: "High-Performance Distributed Computing and Inference Optimizations"
Teachers: Andrea Pilzer (Nvidia), Sergio Orlandini (Cineca)
When:April 14th and 15th 2026, full day
Where:tba
Description:14/04 9:30-12:30, Introduction to high performance and distributed computing.
14/04 14:00-17:00, Leonardo cluster 101 [hands-on], from login to running distributed training.
15/04 9:30-12:30 & 14:00-17:00, Optimize your model for faster inference. Overview of inference optimizations and practical exercises of quantization, KV-cache compression for LLMs and diffusion models with NVIDIA Model-Optimizer on Leonardo
"Experimental Design and Statistical Analyses"
Teacher: Prof. Beatrice Biancardi
When:April 16th 2026, 2 PM-5 PM
Where: room S1, building E and
https://meet.google.com/ovp-kjro-ocgDescription: this seminar is aimed at people with little or no experience using statistical analyses in research.
It introduces the methodology and tools to conduct experimental studies.
Students will discover the different steps of experimental methodology: formulating hypotheses, defining the experimental design (independent and dependent variables), hypothesis testing and basic statistical analyses (descriptive and inferential statistics). By the end of the course, participants will be able to critically evaluate and design effective research questions, linking experimental design concepts to subsequent statistical analyses. The course will also allow participants to make informed decisions on which statistical tests are most appropriate to their research questions. The course will provide a solid grounding for further development of applied statistical competencies.
The course will include a theory lecture and a hands-on session with practical examples.
"Benchmarking and Reproducibility of Research Papers"
Teacher: Prof. Daniele De Sensi
When: May 14h 2026, 11 AM-1 PM
Where: room S1, bulding E, viale regina Elena 295
Assessment: research paper review
Description: this seminar presents some guidelines for writing a research paper. We will start discussing how to organize and present research ideas. We then analyze good and bad practices in benchmarking and results presentation with practical and interactive examples. We discuss some common mistakes that might impact the results’ meaningfulness and interpretability. Last, we conclude by discussing how to guarantee the reproducibility of research results.
"Grant Writing"
Teacher: Prof. Emanuele Rodolà
When: May 26 2026, 2 PM - 5 PM
Where: https://meet.google.com/wvs-xzpa-gby
Description: This module provides an overview of the process of designing, preparing, and managing research proposals for competitive grants. It will cover the main stages of grant writing, from defining scientific objectives to structuring the proposal, as well as aspects related to the submission, evaluation, and reporting of funded projects. Real-world case studies will also be presented as concrete examples.
"Research Writing and Publication in Computer Science and Engineering"
Teacher: Prof. Zeynep Kiziltan
When: June 8th and 9th 2026
Where: room G0, building G, viale Regina Elena 295
Description: these seminars are designed to familiarize early-career researchers with research writing and publication in computer science and engineering. While they are intended primarily for early-stage doctoral students who are new to scientific publishing, they are also valuable for doctoral students at more advanced stages, as well as postdoctoral researchers wishing to strengthen their publication skills. The seminar series aims to provide practical guidance on writing research papers and navigating the publication process in today’s highly competitive scientific environment. It covers key aspects of the publication cycle, including the foundations of scientific publishing, paper structure and content, the writing process, and the submission, peer review, and publication processes.
"Graph algorithms for real real-life problems"
Teacher: Prof. Tiziana Calamoneri
When: June 18th 2026, 9.30 AM-1 PM
Where: T1, building E
Description: the module will provide an overview of real-world applications that use graph algorithms to design innovative solutions.
"Challenges in Large-Scale High-Performance Computing"
Teacher: Prof. Daniele De Sensi
When: July 16th 3PM-5PM and 17th 9M-11AM, 2026
Where: Room S1, Building E
Assessment: research paper review
Description: this seminar will critically analyze the design of interconnection networks for large-scale datacenters and HPC systems, focusing on the trade-offs between topology metrics (e.g., diameter, bisection bandwidth) and the resulting network contention and latency for massive communication patterns. We will discuss collective operations, at the backbone of every large-scale application, and how their performance is affected by network topology.
TBA
Teachers: Prof. Walter Quattrociocchi e Prof. Matteo Cinelli
When: July/September 2026
Where: Computer Science Department
Description: questa breve serie di micro-lezioni tratterà temi all’avanguardia: Applications of Complex Systems · From Typicality to Criticality in Complex Systems · Data-Driven Models of Complex Systems · Micro, Meso and Macro level Dynamics
Educational Paths for Advanced Training in Computer ScienceThe PhD program in Computer Science organizes numerous seminars within highly specialized and advanced educational paths on various hot topics, in collaboration with leading national and international professors in the field.
The complete list of the offered seminars is available in the dedicated section.
Other Training ActivitiesPhD students are engaged on a daily basis in development, reporting, and documentation production activities within projects both external and internal to the Department. It is significant to note that some of them have also had the opportunity to gain experience in industrial or governmental contexts, strengthening their skills in managing non-strictly academic systems.
Among the teaching activities, PhD students often have the opportunity to supervise and guide bachelor's and master's students in the development of their projects and in the drafting of their final thesis. This activity allows them to obtain the recognition of "Co-supervisor".