The doctoral programme offers a broad range of educational activities designed to support the academic development of PhD candidates. The seminar offerings are particularly rich and include contributions from prominent international scholars in the field of computer science.
The activities provided include dedicated courses delivered specifically to PhD students—mainly focusing on cross-cutting topics and soft skills—as well as advanced thematic seminars in which international experts teach short courses on emerging subjects of shared interest. Taken together, these initiatives help students explore diverse areas within computer science. PhD candidates are also given the opportunity to attend summer and winter schools, as well as major conferences in their research areas, as part of their training. Finally, it is worth noting that students consistently achieve significant research outcomes, such as the acceptance of papers at national and international scientific conferences, many of which are top-tier (rank A+/A++), and they receive both financial and logistical support to participate.
Courses Specifically Offered for Academic Year 2024–2025
Courses on cross-cutting topics and soft skills are offered to students across all three years:
TBA
Who: Prof. Walter Quattrociocchi and Prof. Matteo Cinelli
When: March/April/May 2026
Where: Department of Computer Science
Description: this short series of micro-classes will cover cutting-edge themes such as: Applications of Complex Systems · From Typicality to Criticality in Complex Systems · Data-Driven Models of Complex Systems · Micro, Meso and Macro level Dynamics
Grant Writing
Who: Prof. Emanuele Rodolà
When: April/May 2026
Where: Department of Computer Science
Description: the module will cover research grant proposal preparation, submission and reporting.
The wild world of publications: a guide on how to survive. Good practices and useful tips for researchers
Who: Prof. Marco Marini
When: April/May 2026
Description: this module demystifies the complex world of academic publishing, equipping PhD researchers with essential navigation skills. It covers how major publishers (Elsevier, Springer Nature, ACM, IEEE, etc.) operate and details various conference components, including main tracks, workshops and posters. Emphasis is placed on strategic journal/conference selection based on factors such as acceptance rate, scope match, topic relevance, audience reach and open access options, moving beyond simplistic metrics like Impact Factors. Key good practices include: meticulous adherence to formatting guidelines, careful investigation of venues (especially regarding potential predatory risks), targeting submissions strategically for the best fit, respecting peer review feedback, mastering formatting requirements, and building relationships within reputable academic communities.
Graph algorithms for real real-life problems
Who: Prof. Tiziana Calamoneri
When: June/July 2026
Description: for a long time, graphs and problems related to them were considered tools just for solving puzzles and games. Nevertheless, they are extremely useful for efficiently solving a number of real-life problems nowadays. This module provides a brief survey of interesting applications that leverage existing graph algorithm literature to design innovative solutions.
"Writing, Benchmarking, and Reproducibility of Research Papers"
Who: Prof. Daniele De Sensi
When: Spring/Summer 2026
Where: Department of Computer Science
Duration: 2 hours
Assessment: Critical analysis of a paper
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.
"Challenges in Large-Scale High-Performance Computing"
Who: Prof. Daniele De Sensi
When: Spring/Summer 2026
Where: Department of Computer Science
Duration: 4-6 hours
Assessment: Critical analysis of a paper
Description: This course 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.
Further modules will be announced soon.
Specialised Educational Pathways in Computer Science
The PhD programme in Computer Science organizes numerous seminars within highly specialised and advanced educational tracks on various hot topics, in collaboration with leading national and international scholars in the field.
The full list of delivered seminars is available in the dedicated section.
Other Training Activities
PhD candidates engage daily in development, reporting, and documentation tasks within both external and internal projects of the Department. Notably, some have had the opportunity to gain experience in industrial or governmental environments, thereby strengthening their skills in managing non-academic systems.
Among teaching-related activities, PhD students often have the opportunity to supervise and guide Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis students, both during project development and during the preparation of the written dissertation. This activity allows them to obtain recognition as “Co-supervisor”.