Dottorato di Ricerca

(under article 19 of the University Regulations for PhD Programme enacted by Rectoral decree on 17th May,2017, n.25549)

Presentation of the thesis to the PhD Course of the PhD course

1. To take the final exam^# and present the dissertation to PhD Programme, the PhD student shall submit an online application to the secretarial offices by the end of the third year
2. Within 15 days after the end of the academic year^# and upon the acquisition of the supervisor's opinion, the PhD programme Council deliberates, with motivated assessment, the dissertation submission to the appointed asessors. If the submitted dissertation is not suitable for submission to the assessors, the PhD programme Council may postpone this assessment granting additional time (maximum of two months) from the resolution.

^# N.B. In the case of doctoral students who have been authorized the extension or have to make up for interruption periods, the third year is deferred for the same period.

Final Dissertation Submission

1. The candidate is requested to submit the final version of the doctoral dissertation, along with the documentation herewith following, on the database of electronic theses (ETD) at http://etd.adm.unipi.it/  at least 3 days before the discussion. If the date of the  resolution is close to the final exam, the dissertation submission cannot take place after the day of the final exam. The dissertation shall:
   1. have a summary in Italian or English;
   2. be written in Italian, English, or another language with the permission of the PhD programme Council;
   3. annex a report on the activities carried out in the PhD programme and eventual publications. The PhD student must write the report; it is not possible attached the document issued by the Coordinator, pursuant to paragraph 10, article 19 of the university regulation;in fact this document must be issued after the final exam.
      Under the approval of the PhD programme Council, parts of the dissertation can be unavailable, if the use of data is protected by industrial secrecy according to current legislation on the subject, as well as in other cases provided for by the regulation for electronic dissertation.
2. A copy of the "Electronic Title Page" generated during the submission procedure on ETD, signed by the Supervisors indicated on the title page, must be submitted to the "Admission and PhD careers" Unit* at least 3 days before the disseration defence.
   The PhD student must email the title page generated by ETD, saved in PDF format, to the supervisor for signature. The PhD student's signature is not required. The supervisor's signature can be:
   • digital signature (highly recommended): the PhD student emails the electronic title page (PDF format) to the supervisor who digitally signs and saves it, and emails it back to the PhD student.
   • "digitized" signature: the PhD student emails the electronic title page (PDF format) to the supervisor who prints it, signs and scans it, and emails it back to the PhD student, along with a copy of a valid ID.
     After receiving the "Electronic Title Page", the staff will verify the files uploading on the ETD system and close the access.
     After the final exam day, the submission of the "Electronic Title Page" is not allowed.
     * To submit the Electronic Title Page please follow the instructions below:
     1. connect to Alice web portal (www.studenti.unipi.it)
     2. select from the menu on the right "Secretariat", “Career” and " Career Attachments"
     3. upload the "Electronic Title Page".
     For doctoral students enrolled before the academic year 2020/2021, the way to submit the Electronic Title Page continuous to be the following:
     a) by certified e-mail (pec) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
     b) by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
     

Dissertation Defence

1. Within three months from the defence eligibility in front of the evaluators (or after the referral period requested by the evaluators for the necessary additions and corrections), the PhD programme Council will set the defense session of the doctoral dissertation.
2. The defence is public and shall take place in front of a board which may approve or reject it with a motivated written decision. The eligibility to a second defense shall be excluded.
3. The defence may also take place in videoconference session.
4. The thesis final assessments are: sufficient, good or excellent. In the presence of particular scientific relevance results, the awarding of the honors with unanimous vote of the examination board shall be considered.

University Fees

The completion of the procedure is subject to the regularity of the fee payment status for the whole duration of the PhD Programme.

Please note Keep constant contact with the Coordinator or the supervisor to be informed about the date of the eligibility, from which the above deadlines shall start, as well as the methods and timing for submitting the Final Exam Board the dissertation uploaded on ETD.