The stages of the PhD training program are as follows:
1° year
January
1) choice of the thesis Director
2) choice of the Advisor inside the PhD Teaching Board.
3) submission of the Study Plan, a set of courses and relative examinations, to be agreed in advance withthe thesis Director and approved by the PhD Advisor (12 credits
July
4) The first year exams must be taken by 31 July
October
5) submission of the Project Plan : 1^ October, max 1-page + separated references. It must to be countersigned by the Thesis Director
The PhD Teaching Board will decide the admission of students to the second year, on the basis of the results of the completed examinations and of the project plan presented during the first year.
2° year
October
1) Updating of the thesis Project Plan1^ October, max 2-pages + separated references.
2) Seminar on the thesis Project Plan (in presence of the Advisor, the whole PhD Teaching Board and all the doctoral students).
3) Report of the thesis Director on the advancement of the thesis work (at least half page).The report should focus any problems that may preclude a regular drafting of the thesis within the deadline set out in the PhD Regulation (October 31s of the third year).
The PhD Teaching Board will decide the admission of students to the 3rd year, on the basis of the seminar held in October, the presented updated project and the Director’s report.
3° year
The University Regulations on research doctorates provide that candidates are admitted to the final exam by the Academic Board and submit to the evaluation and discussion of the thesis for the awarding of the research doctorate title in the first available exam session.
There are three sessions and they end with the final exam in:
- I session by January 30th
- II session by 30 May
- III session by 30 September
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ITER: Request of extension of the Doctoral Course
The request for extension of the Doctoral Program must be requested from the Coordinator and must be authorized by the Academic Board.
The extension request will be written in letter format addressed to the Coordinator, which will explain the reasons that led to the extension request and will be sent by email:
- to the Coordinator
- to the doctoral secretariat (dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it)
- in cc: to the Director of the thesis and contact person of the College
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The Role of the Thesis Director
As pointed out in the stages of the first year, the student has to choose the thesis Director by December. For each cycle of course the thesis Director can supervise only one PhD student, winner of a not thematic fellowship (provided by “Sapienza” or by any other Institution) of the current cycle competition. This rule can be waived by the PhD Teaching Board on request of the potential thesis Director, upon scientific documented reasons, the thesis director must guarantee a number of years of service at least equal to the duration of the doctorate
The Thesis Director
- guides the PhD student in the research work and the writing of the thesis;
- informs promptly the Coordinator if any situations may arise that could jeopardize the regular thesis work;
- approves the PhD Study Plan of the first year;
- helps the candidate to prepare the second-year-seminar, focusing in particular on the didactic aspects (the motivations and objectives of the project must be explained to the whole Teaching Board and all doctoral students in a comprehensible way). Furthermore, the thesis Director has to ensure his/her presence during the seminar presentation;
- at the end of the second year, for the admission procedure to the third year, sends to the PhD Teaching Board the report on the thesis progress focusing any problem that may preclude a regular writing of the thesis within the deadline set out in the PhD Regulation (third year, October 31s);
- at the end of the training, whithin October 31st, for the admission to the final exam, sends to the PhD Teaching Board the final evaluation of the work done by the student with explicit verification of the submission of the thesis to the External Evaluators;
- ensures his/her presence at the thesis defense against the Board appointed by the Rector;
- in case of a PhD student’s research trip, sends his/her approval to the PHD Coordinator with an email to the secretary, 15 days before the departure. The email should contain the information about the length, the purpose (inherent in the PhD thesis) and the funds to be used for the trip. The Coordinator will authorize the use of doctoral funds after checking the availability of the budget allocated yearly to the PhD students.
The Role of the Teaching Board Advisors
Starting from the first year, each PhD student will be assigned to one of the member of the Scientific Board who will act as Scientific Advisor of the student. His/her tasks are as follows:
- in December of the first year he/she approves the Study Plan of the PhD student;
- he/she ensures his/her presence at the seminar that the PhD student has to held in October of the second year;
- he/she suggests the External Evaluators and contacts them in order to verify their willingness to accept the role;
- he/she ensures his/her presence during the seminar that the PhD student has to held in front of the final exam Board.
Rules of participation to seminars and compilation of the Study Plan
Seminars
During the three years of studies the PhD students are required to attend all the general seminars held at the Department of Physics. They can be exempted if the seminars overlap one of the courses inserted in the Study Plan or is scheduled in conjunction with an authorized research trip of the student. In case of absence for an exceptional circumstance, the PhD students are required to justify themselves with an email addressed to the secretary office. Moreover, all the PhD students are required to attend the seminars held by the PhD students of the second and third years.
Study Plan
During the first year, the student needs to compile the Study Plan to be agreed with the thesis Director and to be approved by the Advisor of the PhD Scientific Board. The Study Plan consists in a set of courses that the student decides to follow during the first year (and successfully passes the relative examinations) for a total of 12 credits. It includes:
- courses which are organized specifically for the PhD studies in Physics at the Sapienza University. These courses may vary from year to year. They are announced during the month of November. They are listed in the relevant web page, and the teachers present their contents to the PhD students in a general meeting at the beginning of the year. The courses offered are of 3 credits or of 6 credits (equivalent to 20 or 40 hours of classroom teaching);
- a maximum of 3 credits can be obtained attending a (summer, winter, spring, autumn) "Schools of Physics", with a minimum duration of 5 days. To obtain the recognition of the credits, the PhD student has to present the certificate of participation for the whole duration of the School released by the School authorities;
- a maximum of 6 credits can be obtained attending courses of the "Laurea Specialistica Magistrale". In case part of a course is being held during the first semester, it becomes impossible to attend it during the first year and the student can attend it at the beginning of the second year. In this case he/she will be conditionally admitted to the second year, provided he/she passes the exam in question within the month of February;
- Courses of the PhD program in Physics of the University of Tor Vergata in Rome, of the University of Roma 3, and courses of the PhD studies which, together with the PhD studies in Physics, constitute the "Vito Volterra" PhD School of the Sapienza University (Astronomy, Analytical Chemistry, Chemistry, Mathematics, Material Science).
Finally, at least 3 credits have to be obtained attending a course (or a School) belonging to a field different from the one in which the PhD student intends to develop his/her thesis work. Alternatively, the PhD student with a thesis of theoretical natureneeds to obtain at least 3 credits from a course (or a School) of an experimental nature and the PhD student with a thesis of experimental nature needs to obtain 3 credits from a course of theoretical nature.
Subject to the authorization of the Coordinator, in justified particular situations (for example, in the event of a change of matter between the MSc and the doctorate), the rule for the compilation of the Study Plan above mentioned may be waived.
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ITER: Study plan - presentation and modifications
The study plan is presented by filling in a Google form whose link is created by the secretariat of the PhD in Physics and sent to all first-year PhD students.
The study plan is drawn up in agreement with the thesis director and the Advisor and is presented complete including the 12 required credits.
The study plan can be modified, always in agreement with the Thesis Director/Directress and the Adivsor the change request must be sent by email
- to the Coordinator
- in cc: to the Doctoral Secretariat, to the Thesis Director, to the College Coordinator
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Partecipation in Competition for the assignement of tutoring activity
Authorizations to carry out the tutoring must be requested before asking questions about the call in question. In particular, it must be sent within 48 hours from the deadline of the call.
- The PhD student attending the second and third year can carry out supplementary tutoring and teaching activities with the approval of the PhD Coordinator. The PhD student can carry out additional 40 hours of tutoring and teaching activities with the approval of the PhD Coordinator, of the thesis Director and of the Scientific Board Advisor. It is not allowed to carry out more than 80 total hours of tutoring in the current academic year.
- The PhD student attending the first year can carry out supplementary tutoring and teaching activities (max 40 hours/year). He/she needs in advance the approval of the PhD Coordinator, of the thesis Director and of the Scientific Board Advisor.
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ITER: Participation to calls for tutoring
To participate in tutoring calls, it is necessary to fill in a tutoring authorization request form which can be found in the forms section of the PhD page. The authorization request must be signed by the Thesis Director and by the Advisor:
- for first-year PhD students,
- for PhD students of the second and third year (if they have already carried out tutoring activities in the current academic year)
The completed authorization request form (and signed by the Thesis Director and Advisor for the cases indicated above) must be sent by email
- to the PhD secretariat (dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it) at least 10 days before the call deadline. This deadline is reduced on the basis of the timing with which the news relating to the call is disclosed.
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Approval of research trips
Any research trip of the PhD student needs the approval of the thesis Director at least 15 days prior the departure. The thesis Director will send an email to the Coordinator's office, dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it, with the following details: period and aim of the trip, information about the funds to be used. Before the departure, the student is required to hand in the Coordinator office the completed trip form. If the funds requested are different from the doctoral ones, the form must be signed by the owner of the funds to be used. In case the student asks for PhD funds, he/she should verify together with the Coordinator’s secretary if the amount needed, plus any amount previously used, doesn’t exceed the budget assigned to each student per year.
Once a week the Coordinator will sign the forms presented for the approval. Trips scheduled for summer or in conjunction with holiday time must to be presented to the secretary with greater advance. After the Coordinator has signed the form, it will be delivered to the Trip Office of the Department of Physics, along with the approval email of the thesis Director. The Trip Office has the task to supervise and run administratively the procedures.
For further information, please refer to the following Regulation: Regolamento Missioni dell' Ateneo (Disposizione n°1354/2019)
In order to ask the reimbursement for your research trip, please fill the reimbursement form [https://www.phys.uniroma1.it/fisica/sites/default/files/moduliweb/modulo_rimborsi.pdf] and send it, including a single pdf file with all your receipts, to
roberta.ambrosetti@uniroma1.it
dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it
Please check the guide for PhD students [https://phd.uniroma1.it/web/pagina.aspx?s=&i=3503&m=&l=EN&p=368&a= ] for detailed information on the receipts needed for the reimbursement.
Information for foreign students
We would like to welcome all our international students here at the department of Physics. Moving to a different country is challenging and thus, we would like to assist you with your transfer and during your stay as best as possible. Currently, we are still establishing an infrastructure within the department and amongst students to assist you with all your needs. However, there are some links that might help for the first concerns:
https://www.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/field_file_allegati/international_student_guide_3.pdf
https://www.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/field_file_allegati/irguide.pdf
https://www.uniroma1.it/it/pagina/hello-welcome-office
In case you experience any difficulties we would ask you to contact the students representatives of the department of physics. We try our best to help you with your concern, and in case we cannot, we’ll always find a person whom to contact.
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ITER: TO OPEN A MISSION
To open a mission there are three steps to follow
- approval of the thesis director (direct communication with the PhD student)
- compilation of the Google Form https://forms.gle/mz88251omYcJ2wGa7
- mission opening via the CINECA platform at the link:
https://uniroma1.u-web.cineca.it/
Below are the instructions for compiling the CINECA form:
1) Procedure if using doctoral funds:
To select the doctoral fund in physics, the following information must be entered:
Type of request:
FPR - Project funds
Project manager:
Sciarrino Fabio
Notes:
Physics Ph.D. Fund
Attached are example screenshots for this procedure ("screenshot_fondo_dottorato.jpg").
2) Procedure if using mixed funds:
If the mission will burden more than one fund, a different request must be filled in for each fund.
In addition, the "Co-financed mission" box must be ticked in all requests.
3) Procedure if using any fund other than the doctoral fund:
Type of request:
FPR - Project funds
Project manager:
***Name of project manager***
Notes:
***Fund name***
N.B.1: You must indicate the fund under "Notes" (not under "Project", as the form does not save the information in that box).
N.B.2: all Ph.D. students must complete the Google form https://forms.gle/mz88251omYcJ2wGa7 before filling in the form on the Cineca platform.
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ITER: Request for a 50% increase in the grant for missions abroad
In case of missions abroad, it is possible to request a 50% increase in the scholarship.
BEFORE DEPARTURE
The initial information will be requested by mail to the PhD secretariat. (dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it).
The documentation to be prepared before departure is as follows:
- prior authorization signed by the Coordinator before departure with a date prior to departure.
- mission opening
The request form "Elevazione della borsa per un periodo trascorso all'estero" for prior authorization can be found in the forms section of the PhD page on the Department website and must be sent by email
- to the PhD secretariat (dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it) whose data are used to prepare the prior authorization signed by the Coordinator
- in cc: to the Thesis Director and Advisor
RETURNING FROM THE MISSION
The documentation to be delivered to the Doctoral Office (ufficio.dottorato@uniroma1.it) with in cc of the Coordinator and the Secretariat of the Physics Doctorate (dottorato.fisica@uniroma1.it) upon return from the period abroad is as follows
- completed and signed Sapienza application form (available in the forms section)
- the prior authorization of the Coordinator.
- certificate of attendance from the host institution/university
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