First year
The main purpose of the first year is to acquire the necessary background in order to start doing research activity. During the first year, the student chooses a research topic among those represented in the Department. In particular, the doctoral student immediately begins to participate in the Department's seminar program.
In February the students present the research project to the Ph.D. Council which assign a Supervisor of his/her research activity. As a rule, this advisor should be a member of the Department of Chemistry, but this is not mandatory.
According to the student's background and scientific interests the students chose the courses of the doctoral program, to follow. By the end of the third year, the student must have achieved a minimum of 12 CFU, related to the PhD courses for which a verification is planned. Each academic year, on the basis of the didactic requirements of the incoming PhD students, these courses are selected by the Council among those offered by the Phd Program.
The PhD students may complete their didactic formation through other activities, such as:
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Other courses of the Vito Volterra Doctoral School, or other PhDs or second cycle degree programmes in Sapienza or in other Universities.
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Participation to Ph.D. Schools, delivering a certificate of the skills acquired.
Qualifying examinations are held in October by the Council; passing the examination allows the student to proceed to the second year of the doctoral program. The qualifying exam consists of a presentation of the student's chosen area of research. The function of the Council during qualifying is to verify the student's acquisition of the competences necessary to succeed in the research program he/she has chosen.
Failure on the qualifying exam eliminates the student from the doctoral program.
Second year
The second year of the program is dedicated to the completion of the background of the student and to actual work on the Ph.D. thesis. By the end of October, the doctoral student present a detailed description of progress on his/her thesis to the Council. Passing the examination allows the student to proceed to the third year of the doctoral program. A negative judgment on the part of the Council also eliminates a student from the doctoral program.
Third year
The third year is devoted to the completion of the thesis. At the end of the third year, by the end of September, the student should submit his/her final version of the thesis to the Ph.D. Coordinator. The Ph.D. Thesis will be send by the Coordinator to two external reviewers that provide their recommendation about the admissibility of the thesis by the end of October. In November the final examination in which the doctoral student presents his/her thesis work to members of the PhD Council is held. The Council prepares a final report to be sent to the defense Committee in addition to the referees’ reports.
The thesis defense is to be held in December and is done in the presence of a Committee named by the Department of Chemistry.
If one of the referees does not recommend admission to the final defense or suggests a major revision of the thesis, the student has at most six extra months to improve the thesis.
In this case a new revised version should be submitted by the end of May and sent to the referee that required the revision. The new recommendation of the referee must be provided by the end of June.
The latest time at which the revised thesis can be defended is September 30th.
For detailed information see the final PhD dissertation Section.