PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT

The Board of the Ph.D Programme in Biology appoints for each Ph.D student a supervisor and a co-supervisor, according to the University Regulations, who will follow the Ph.D student throughout the entire doctoral course.

Within three months of enrollment, each Ph.D student enrolled in the first year of the Ph.D. Programme in Biology is required to send his or her research project (Research project template) to the supervisor and co-supervisor and to present it, by oral presentation, to the Board of the Ph.D Programme in Biology and to all those enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Biology.

The supervisor and co-supervisor evaluate the project and communicate the evaluation to the Ph.D. student, to the President of the Didactic Committee and to the Head of the Teaching Unit.

In case of a positive evaluation, the Board of the Ph.D Programme approves the research project.

EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

With reference to educational activities, each Ph.D student is required to follow a teaching plan that will be a prerequisite for admission to the public discussion. During the three-year period, Ph.D students must take two or more courses, totaling at least 60 hours, from among those offered by the PhD Programme in Biology ("offerta didattuca esclusiva"). All information is available on the following page.

YEAR PASSAGE EXAMINATIONS

At the conclusion of each academic year and after obtaining the reasoned opinion of the supervisor, the Board of the Ph.D Programme verifies the completion of the educational and research activities planned for each Ph.D student, according to the following procedures, differentiated for doctoral students enrolled in different years of the course:

1. First year of the course: each Ph.D student submits the progress of his or her research in written form (using the appropriate template: Year report template) to the supervisor and co-supervisor and with an oral presentation to the Board of the Ph.D Programme by the end of the first year of the course. The supervisor and co-supervisor are required to send the evaluation report to the Ph.D. student, to the President of the Didactic Committee and to the Head of the Teaching Unit within three days of the oral presentation;
   
   
2. Second year of the course: each Ph.D student presents the progress of his or her research by writing a written report (using the appropriate template: Year report template) with discussion of the same in the presence of the supervisor and co-supervisor, who are required to send, within three days of the discussion, the evaluation report to the Ph.D. student, to the President of the Didactic Committee and to the Head of the Teaching Unit. In addition, freed from the timing of the year passage, a day dedicated to discussion and interaction between Ph.D students and faculty is scheduled, during which Ph.D students enrolled in the second year of the course present a poster on their research activities. This day, attended by all Ph.D students enrolled in the Biology Ph.D Program, is open to all professors in the Department;
   
   
3. Third year of the course: each Ph.D student submits the progress of his or her research in written form (using the appropriate template: Year report template) to the supervisor and co-supervisor and with an oral presentation to the Board of the Ph.D Programme by the end of the first year of the course. The supervisor and co-supervisor are required to send the evaluation report to the Ph.D. student, to the President of the Didactic Committee and to the Head of the Teaching Unit within three days of the oral presentation.

In case of inability to present his or her research in person, the Ph.D. student may make a reasoned request to the President of the Didactic Committee to be allowed to present his or her work electronically (conference call). All papers must be provided in English.

At the end of the evaluation process, the Board of the Ph.D Programme approves or disapproves the advancement to the next year for Ph.D students enrolled in the first and second year of the Course and admission to the final discussion for Ph.D students enrolled in the third year of the Course.

FINAL EXAMINATION AND ATTAINMENT OF TITLE

By the end of the final year, each Ph.D student must apply to the offices to take the final examination (all information is available on the following page) and must also send the thesis and Activity Report to the Coordinator of the Ph.D programme in Biology who, in turn, will submit it to the Board of the Ph.D Programme.

Within twenty days of the submission of the thesis by the Ph.D student and after obtaining the opinion of the supervisor, which is mandatory and non-binding, the Board of the Ph.D Programme resolves, with a reasoned assessment, the transmission of the thesis to two contextually appointed evaluators, and provides for the transmission to them of the thesis, together with the Ph.D student's report on the activities carried out during the doctoral course and any publications. By that date, the Ph.D student must appear, at a minimum, as (co-)-author of a paper submitted for publication (submitted) in an international indexed scientific journal related to the research topic.

For those who have not taken advantage of an extension of time, as per Article 16, paragraph 7, of the University Regulations on the Doctoral Program, exceeding ten months, if the thesis submitted is not suitable for submission to the evaluators, the Board of the Ph.D Programme may postpone such evaluation by granting additional time, maximum of two months from the resolution itself.

Each evaluator must render a written analytical judgment on the thesis within thirty days of its receipt; after this period, in the absence of specific communication, the evaluator lapses and the Board of the Ph.D Programme must identify another one.

The Evaluators shall propose admission for public discussion or postponement for a maximum period, not exceeding six months, for necessary additions and corrections.
If the postponement periods proposed by the evaluators are different, the doctoral student will be granted the longer postponement.
After this period has elapsed, the thesis, accompanied by a new written opinion rendered by the evaluators, shall in any case be admitted for discussion.

The Board of the Ph.D Programme must set the session for the discussion of the Ph.D thesis within three months of its admission for discussion by the evaluators, or after the period of postponement for necessary additions and corrections has elapsed. Only in the last case must the thesis be accompanied by a new written opinion of the evaluators.

The discussion may also take place by videoconference.