FAQ

What is the PhD in Electronics, Computer Science and Telecommunications about?

See the Research Doctorate page at the DEIS web site.

I am interested in this PhD, how do I apply?

You can start a PhD after passing a public competition; foreign students can also participate to a competion where publications are the sole criterion. The competion announcement is published on the UNIBO Doctorate web site; this usually happens during August/September; applications can submitted for a 30sh days period.
State issued scholarships are available (around 1000 euros per month); their number changes from year to year and is specified in the announcement. Industry supplied scholarships on specific resaearch topics are available as well; again their number is specified in the announcement. A certain number of students can also start the PhD without any funding: in this case the PhD student himself is supposed to have some other kind of economic support.
For detail in the application procedure see the UNIBO Doctorate web site.
After passing the competition, winners can choose a research topics among a set proposed by the Scientific Committee, or propose a new topic by theirselves, with an objective and a program draft for three years. Each sudent is given a Tutor, who is part of the Scientific Committee.
The PhD activities actually start on the 1st of the following January.

Where can I get general information about PhD administration in Bologna?

To know more about:

How to make an application for the competition
How to get information and receive communications for PhD students
How to consult laws and rules about the PhD
How to get the forms for the last examination and conclude the PhD
How to know the topics of the last admission examinations

see the Doctorate web site of the University of Bologna.
You can get other information at the DEIS PhD web site and in this document.

How can I use my personal space on the Doctorate web site?

Each PhD student has a personal page accessible through the institutional e-mail address credentials which are provided by CESIA as a result of a request to the PhD office at the time of the enrollment to the first year course, or by sending an e-mail to udottricerca@unibo.it, attaching the "scanned" ID Card. When e-mail activation occurrs, the student is asked to provide her or his e-mail address to Loretta Luccarini so that the personal web page on the DEIS PhD web site is activated.

Who can I ask for information, if the FAQs are not enough?

Ask the Coordinator for general questions; ask the DEIS Research Doctorate office for administrative questions.
Contacts for the Research Doctorate office: Loretta Luccarini
opening times: Mon-Fri, 10.00-12.00
DEIS - Second floor
Tel: +39 051 2093007 Fax: +39 051 2093195
E-mail: loretta.luccarini@unibo.it

How is the PhD organization structured?

There are two main components: the Coordinator and the Scientific Committee.

Who is and what is the role of the Coordinator?

The Coordinator is a professor at the University of Bologna; his duty is to direct a Research Doctorate course and he is elected by the Scientific Committee. The mandate lasts three years and the same Coordinator can be re-elected.
Currently, the Coordinator is Prof. Paola Mello.
In case it is needed, the Coordinator is substituted by the vice-Coordinator, currently Prof. Luca Benini. Since next September Prof. Luca Benini will be the new Coordinator.

In relation to activities involving PhD students, the duties of the Coordinator are as follows:

to coordinate and to organize the formative and administrative activities of the Research Doctorate;
to chair the Scientific Committee;
to give/deny authorization to PhD student for teaching activities and periods of research out of the PhD main site, on the basis of programmed activities;
to give/deny authorization to PhD student for teaching activities and periods of research abroad lasting no more than six months, on the basis of programmed activities;
to appoint a vice-Coordinator to be substituted in case of unavailability;
to carry out the duties delegated by the Scientific Committee; to conclude conventions, contracts collaborations.

What is the Scientific Committee and who are the members?

The Scientific Committee is made of no less than ten professors, either full, associate or assistant. In case the Doctorate is proposed by a single Department, at least two thirds of the Committee must be afferent to the reference Department. Professors from foreign Universities or Research Institutes can be part of the Scientific Committee as well, if they are not part of other Scientific Committees and they belong to research areas covered by the Doctorate.

What are the duties of the Scientific Committee?

The duties of the Scientific Committee are as follows:

to choose Tutors and co-Tutors to supervise the research activity of each PhD student;
to define the conditions for the admission exams;
to give/deny authorization to PhD students for research period abroad lasting more than six months;
to evaluate and judge the equivalence requests for educational qualifactions and degrees got abroad, on the sole purpose of giving admission to the Doctorate course the candidate is interested in;
to evaluate and judge the activities of each PhD student regarding the advance to the next PhD year and/or admission to the final exam;
to take cate of the relashionhips with other Universities in Italy and abroad and other private or public institutes, in order to improve formative and research activities of the PhD students;
to foster, also through the institution of speficic conventions, the mobility of PhD students;
to assign teaching activities within the Doctorate;
to propose candidates for the Examination Committees

Who are currently the members of the Scientific Committee?

Consult the phd page in the DEIS web site.

What are the roles, duties and responsabilities of Tutors and co-Tutors?

The Scientific Committee assigns a Tutor within the Scientific Committee itself to each PhD student. Moreover, the Scientific Committee can assign one or more co-Tutors to the student, even from other industrial or research organizations, exteranal to the Department. The Tutor (with the co-Tutor's help) has the duty to guide and assist the student in the definition of the syllabus, as stated by the Scientific Committee; the Tutor is the main person of responsability and reference to the Scientific Committee of the research activity turned to the preparation of the final dissertation, which is the main objective of the Doctorate studies. Usually the Tutor is the thesis Supervisor, the person who is the main reference for the scientifical aspects developed. Under certains circumstances, the Supervisor role can be taken by a co-Tutor. The Supervisor needs anyway to be a professor or researcher from the Department, within the scientifical area of the Doctorate, and the Scientific Committee has to approve his designation. The co-Tutors who are external to the Scientific Committee can be invited to take part, without having voting rights, to the meeting which involve them. The co-Tutor role has beed introduced in the last years, to officially recognize the effort of many collegues or external researchers who actively co-operate with the Tutors in guiding the PhDs' work.

What is the usual schedule for the Scientific Committee meetings?

The Committee meets 4/5 times per year. All Committee components are notified via email of the exact meeting dates about a week earlier; a carbon copy email is sent to all Tutors, co-Tutors and PhD students as well.

How do I access PhD year 2 and 3?

At the end of each year, when asked by the Coordinator, each PhD student has to:

Update the personal web page on the DEIS PhD web site and in particular:
- upload a report of all activities performed during the year
- ask her/his Tutor to prepare and upload on the PhD web site an assessment regarding the student activities performed during the past year
- ask her/his Tutor to prepare and upload the plan of the activities for the following year (except for the third year students allowed to access the final examination).
Ask her/his Tutor to sign the attendance certificate. The cerificate form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Attendance Certificate Form" (Modulo attestato di frequenza), or by following the direct link.
Fill in the "exam booklet" (libretto di Dottorato) the section about the past year (activity report, attended seminars).
Hand in the signed booklet and the attendance certificate to the DEIS Research Doctorate office (to Loretta Luccarini, in particular).
Pay the tuition fee for the following year by means of the bank giro slip she/he will receive by standard mail.
Hand the payment receipt (the payment can be performed on-line) and the "exam booklet" (libretto di Dottorato) for its update to the Central Research Doctorate office (Via delle Belle Arti n.42).

How is the PhD evaluated?

Passing from one PhD year to the following depends on the Scientific Committee assessment about the development of the students' research abilities and on the obtained scientific results. At the end of each year, the Scientific Committee therefore evaluates the proposed and performed formative activities, in order to provide the students with a proper base and specific education.

The means to assess the evaluation depend on the specific formative activities.

At the end of the first year, when the student has to get into the topic he chose to research, the evaluation is given by the Scientific Committee on the base of a report given by the student's Tutor. The evaluation is about the ability to get into the research topic and the knowledge of the state of the art of the field; the growth in personal autonomy and in the research ability, regardless of the obtained results.

At the end of the second year the student has to keep a 20-30 minutes public seminar to show the results obtained during the first two years. The evaluation is given by the Scientific Committee after having listened to the seminar, taking into account the Tutor's report and the relevant scientific publications, if any.

At the end of the third year the student keeps a final seminar, summarizing her/his work during the three years and documenting the scientific publications achieved (papers published on journals or conference proceedings, seminars kept if any). This final seminar is the basis for the presentation that the student will keep at the final examination, to get the PhD qualification.

On the basis of such final seminar the Scientific Committee produces an overall evaluation of the student, taking into account the student Tutor's opinion. For the students enrolled in the XXIV Doctorate cycle and following, a preliminar version of the PhD thesis has to be submitted to at least two experts of the research field (possibly foreign experts, excluding the student's Tutor), such that their review and advice can guide the final revision of the thesis.

The PhD student has to select and contact the reviewers within reasonable dates in order to be able to take into account their advice; this implies that the available time for writing the thesis (at least in its preliminar version) is shortened to the beginning of December. It's important to mention the fact that two external reviewers are needed for the student graduating as "Doctor Europaeus"; such reviewers have to be European, and cannot be Italian.
Since the XXII cycle the PhD students have to carry out certified (i.e. with examination) didactic activities which should lead to 180 credits on the three years (1 credit = 1 hour). Six months at least, up to a maximum of 18 months, of research activities abroad are mandatory for PhD students with the scolarship.

The PhD students are encouraged to present partial results of their research work within the context of specialistic conferences, both national and international, in order to better develop and structure their work and ease their integration within the scientific community. Last, if the student works within either universitary or industrial research laboratories for a significant amount of time, the final evaluation takes into account the opinions of the external Tutors who coordinate the student's research work.

What are the guidelines to follow for the thesis external reviewers?

For the students enrolled in the XXIV Doctorate cycle and following the thesis has to be submitted to two external reviewers (possibly foreign experts) who are asked to give an evaluation, together with constructive advice, on a preliminar version submitted at the beginning of December. A tentative review form follows; the form has to be considered as a suggestion and it is not compulsory for the reviewers to follow it.

Title:
PhD Student name:
Reviewer name:
Affiliation:

Evaluation Report

Originality of the scientific contribution

Presentation of the state of the art and quality of the references

Technical soundness

Quality/value/impact of obtained results

Presentation quality, readability, and manuscript organization

Overall recommendation
Suggested Improvements
Detailed Comments

The form can be downloaded at this address in electronic format.

What are the rules to compile and submit the PhD thesis?

The rules to compile and submit the PhD thesis are available on the UNIBO Doctorate web site. The thesis title-page schema is available in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section of the DEIS PhD web site. Such a schema contains all the information which have to appear on the final thesis title-page.

The thesis can be written either in Italian or in another language (preferably English), to ease its international spreading.

The students who want to graduate as "Doctor Europaeus" and the students with a PhD in cooperation have to write the thesis in a language other than Italian.
For the students enrolled in the XXIV Doctorate cycle and following, a preliminar version of the PhD thesis has to be submitted to at least two experts of the research field (possibly foreign experts), such that their review and advice can guide the final revision of the thesis.
In all the circumstances listed above a preliminary revision of the manuscript has to be provided at the beginning of december to the external reviewers, such that, after getting their comments, the manuscript can be written in its final revision and handed to the Administration offices in the due times.

The student has to communicate in advance the theis title, otherwise the Supervisor has the chance of making an explicit request for changing it to the Scientific Committee.

To grant an easy access to the PhD thesis, all the theses since the XVIII Doctorate cycle are available on the DEIS PhD web site; they will be soon available on the PhD School web site as well. During the previous years the theses were available as electronic documents in the personal web pages of the PhD students, within the research group web sites. The PDF version of the thesis has to be handed to the administrative office together with the printed version for students enrolled in the XX cycle and following, to be published on-line.

How can I quit the PhD?

A quitting form is available in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section of the DEIS PhD web site, or at this direct link. The form has to be filled, signed, validated with a 14.62 euro stamp showing that the necessary duties have been paid and handed to the Central Research Doctorate Office in via Belle Arti 42 from the student, together with the exam booklet and the personal badge. Last, if the student has a state issued scolarhip assigned, the Coordinator has to make a statement certifying the attendance of the student and stating the renunciation date.

How to apply for the Marco Polo programme?

The Marco Polo competition announcements can be used to fund the research period abroad of a PhD student, lasting from 3 up to 6 months. Two Marco Polo competition announcements are issued per year. The Marco Polo project web page, holding all the information about the project, is available here.

Who is required to spend some research time abroad?

Sinche the XXII PhD cycle, all the students with scolarship are required to spend research time abroad at some university or foreign research center, for at least 6 months, which don't have to be necessarily contiguous. Each month of stay is assimilated to 10 hours/credits up to a maximum of 60. To have such a research time abroad recognized, the student has to:

Provide the authorization request form for the research period abroad, signed by the student's Tutor; the form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo richiesta Tutor autorizzazione periodo di formazione all'estero o in italia", or by following the direct link.
Provide documentation of acceptance by the host organization.
Provide the authorization request form for the research period abroad, signed by the Coordinator; the form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo richiesta autorizzazione periodo di formazione all'estero o in italia", or by following the direct link.

How can I cooparate with foreign institution during the PhD?

By means of the the PhD in cooperation or by satisfying the requirements for getting the "Doctor Europaeus" qualification.

What is the European Doctorate?

Under suggestion of the Scientific Committee, the Scientific Council of the School of doctoral studies can ask the acknowledgement of the PhD qualification as European Doctorate, which takes the form of a conjoined certification called "Doctor Europaeus". Such a certification is an addition to the Italian PhD qualification.

How can I get the European Doctorate?

The following conditions have to be satisfied:

two external reviewers from European foreign universities have to file a review of the preliminar version of the PhD thesis. This review will be the basis for the Scientific Committee when granting the student the authorization to discuss the thesis;
at least one member of the scientific committee granting the PhD qualification has to be from a European University different from the University where the Doctorate is sustained;
the thesis discussion, at least in part, takes place in a second European language;
the PhD thesis has been carried out for at least a semester in a University or insitution within another European country.

What are the implications related to the "PhD" qualification?

The PhD students achieving the acknowledgement of the PhD qualification as European Doctorate, will get a conjoined certification called "Doctor Europaeus". Such a certification is an addition to the Italian PhD qualification. Moreover, the European Union logo will be attached to the PhD papyrus.

What is the procedure to get the "Doctor Europaeus" title?

The "Doctor Europaeus" qualification can be requested from the PhD students having carried out an original thesis work, having spent at least 6 months in a European research institution. There are some requirements to fulfill. In particular:

two external European reviewers, from another European country and not from Italy (obviously, excluding the Italian student's Tutor) have to file a review of the preliminar version of the PhD thesis. Therefore the student's Tutor has to notify the Scientific Committee and suggest the reviewers' names.
The PhD students have to send their complete thesis manuscript to the reviewers at the beginning of december, so that the reviewers can correct it and send their comments within the first half of january.This is to leave the PhD students the time to commit the modifications and hand in the final version in the middle of march (as usual), but also to give the Scientific Committee the opportunity to deliberate (at the end of january) on the proposal, taking the reviewers' advice into account.

What is the PhD in cooperation?

The PhD in cooperation is a conjoined agreement with Universities or foreign insitutions regarding the production of thesis in cooperation programs. It takes form in the fact that the thesis is devoloped together by a lecturer of the University of Bologna and a lecturer of the cooperating University.

How do I start a PhD in cooperation?

To set a cooperation, an agreement has to be stipulated between the University of Bologna and the foreign University. The terms of the agreements are specified accordingly to the following dispositions:

the enrollment in the home University implies the regular enrollment in the cooperating University as well, without any extra fee;
the cooperating University makes available for the PhD student the research and educational structures which are needed, granting to the cooperating student the same service as for local students;
both Universities grant coverage against accidents to the PhD student;
two thesis supervisors have to be appointed, one for the Italian part, one for the cooperating University; they have to follow the research activity of the PhD student and evaluate, writing a report, the PhD thesis. A positive evaluation from both of them is needed for the student to be admitted to the final examination;
the PhD student has to carry on the study and research activities in both the Universities' structures, for approximately the same time;
the final examination is made of the thesis discussion to the judging Scientific Committee, appointed by the Chancellors of both Universities. The Scientific Committee is composed by an even number of members greater than two, included the two thesis supervisors;
both institutions agree on granting the Research PhD qualification, or an equivalent qualification, for the same PhD thesis, given a positive feedback from the judging Scientific Committee, i.e. granting a conjoined qualification;
the financial burdens related to the PhD student mobility have to be communicated to both Universities.

When do I start a PhD in cooperation?

The choice of making a PhD in cooperation out of a regular PhD is usually taken during the first year of studies. The Scientific Committee can activate the PhD in cooperation for PhD students enrolled in the second year of studies as well, when there are documented reasons. In that case the Scientific Committee is given the opportunity to extend one year the date of the discussion of the final thesis, whether the PhD student has to enroll at the first year in the cooperating University.

How do I advance to the next year?

Before the 31st of december of every year, the Scientific Committee evaluates the activities of the PhD students in cooperation, together with the regular PhD students' activities.

What are the implications related to the "PhD" qualification?

The PhD qualification is integrated with the sentence "Tesi in co-tutela con l'Università di ..." (Thesis in cooperation with the University of ...).

As a PhD student, can I/have I to take any course?

A PhD student has to collect at least 180 credits, corresponding to 180 hours, during the three years, passing the exams. The hours can be counted from courses offered by the Doctorate Course or School, by the University of Bologna (for free), by other University (paying what's requested by the given University's rules), by other Doctorate Schools or in other ways.
Since academic year 2010, the credits/hours which can be collected from language courses can be at most 30 and can be collected only for courses attended during the first PhD year. Moreover the research period abroad approved by the Scientific Committee can be evaluated as a didactic activity, counting 10 hours per month of staying abroad, with a maximum of 60 credits/hours.

How can I get information about seminars?

The Coordinator will forward emails regarding seminars of interest for the the PhD students to them. Students will also receive invitations to seminars from Professors in the same department at the email address @unibo.it.

Seminar notifies will also be published in the bulletin board of the DEIS web site and at the following link.

How do I collect and validate credits?

Credits are acknowledged by the Scientific Committee on request of the PhD student having attended a universitary course, a school, or any other educational initiative with an evaluation in the end, which has to be positive. The form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo richiesta riconoscimento crediti", or by following the direct link.

How do I compute the number of credits I get?

There is no unique definition of credit. For our Doctorate, the Scientific Committee has decided that 1 credit is equal to 1 class hour.

I want to take a specific course (and get the corresponding credits): what do I have to do?

The attendance to any universitary course (the entire course, or part of it) within the University of Bologna is free, but the student has to request it to the lecturer first and to the Scientific Committee afterwards. The form for the request can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo autorizzazione a seguire corsi universitari", or by following the direct link.

Permission to attend a university must be requested at the College before following it, because the administration wants/needs to know it in order to enter the name of the candidate in the list of examinees. This praxis is not completely operational yet (the PhD students are not in the same database as regular students), but it' s better to proceed in this way also to allow the University to add the exam passed in the curriculum of the student, together with graduation and other informations.

The examination success has to be written on the PhD student's exam booklet by the lecturer who kept the exam. The exam grade is not taken into account; the PhD student simply has to pass the examination. The PhD student has to inform the Scientific Committee regarding the exam success, asking for the acknowledgement of the credits; this is done by handling a copy of the exam booklet containing the evaluation. The form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo richiesta riconoscimento crediti", or by following the direct link.

I want to take a specific school (and get the corresponding credits): what do I have to do?

As for the schools and other events having a final examination, no authorization has to be asked to the Scientific Committee beforehand. The schools, as conferences and other events, are part of the PhD student's activities which can be autonomous (given an agreement with the Tutor).

On the other hand, to get an acknowledgement of the credits, the PhD student has to handle a request after having attended the school and passed the final examination. The student has to provide a statement issued by the school itself, stating: the date of the school, title of seminars and speakers, duration in hours of lectures and a positive result of the final test. The form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo richiesta riconoscimento crediti", or by following the direct link.

Where do I have to apply for activity authorization?

The student must always apply for permission/authorization to the College Faculty to perform any activity: studying abroad, educational and professional activities, etc. The student has to fill out forms on the DEIS PhD web site and deliver them before the meeting of the Board in office to Loretta Luccarini.

Can I get a temporary job during the PhD?

To get a temporary job the PhD student has to request an authorization to her/his Tutor and to the Scientific Committee beforehand. The form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Autorizzazione prestazione lavorativa occasionale", or by following the direct link.

Can I do some teaching activity during the PhD?

To do teaching activity during the PhD, practical classes and seminars (within a small amount of hours, so that the quality of the research activity doesn't suffer from it) the PhD student has to request an authorization to her/his Tutor and to the Scientific Committee beforehand. The form can be found in the "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site, by clicking the entry "Modulo richiesta nullaosta per svolgimento attività didattica", or by following the direct link.

Where do I find application forms and other related stuff?

The "Download" (Materiale Scaricabile) section in the DEIS PhD web site appears only after the PhD student has logged in at this page.