This page includes useful information for the Ph.D. students on the timeline for their Ph.D. studies, including the advancements at the end of each academic year and the admission to the next year. The dates are with reference to the default starting date of 1st Nov. For Ph.D. students who started later on during the calendar year, please shift all dates accordingly.

Ph.D. timeline – First Year

Study plan and supervisor (20th December)

By 20th December of the first year, Ph.D. students have to submit their study plan following the rules and the forms at this page.

Ph.D. students can propose a supervisor and one or more co-supervisors already at this stage. At least one of them must be from academics. While a supervisor has not been appointed, the principal investigator of the project/institution funding the Ph.D. scholarship will act as the “default” supervisor. The default supervisor of the supernumerary Ph.D. students is the coordinator of the Ph.D. program.

Supervisor appointment (2nd May, first year)

The Ph.D. Board appoints to each Ph.D. student a supervisor and one or more co-supervisors. At least one of them must be from academics. The supervisor and the co-supervisors guide and monitor the research activity of the PhD student.

Ph.D. students can propose a supervisor and one or more co-supervisors already in December at the time of submitting the study plan, or at the latest by the 2nd May of the first year through this form. While a supervisor has not been appointed, the principal investigator of the project/institution funding the Ph.D. scholarship will act as the “default” supervisor. The default supervisor of the supernumerary Ph.D. students is the coordinator of the Ph.D. program.

Assessment panel (1st July, first year)

The supervisors propose to the Ph.D. Board the composition of the individual assessment panel of the Ph.D. student, that has an advising role for the yearly Ph.D. student advancement. The assessment panel is composed of:

• the supervisors and the co-supervior(s)
• at least 2 additional members to cover multi-disciplinary perspectives of the research of the Ph.D. student

respecting the constraint that at least 2 members of the panel shall be members of the Ph.D. Board, whose at least 1 is not a supervisor nor a co-supervisor.

Multidisciplinarity and diversity of institutions (or departments within a same institution) must be sufficiently represented in the composition of the panel.

The proposed composition of the panel shall be sent by the 1st July through this form.

Planning of the first-year assessment meeting (15th September, first year)

The Ph.D. students shall contact the assessment panel to fix a 1 hour meeting in the period 15 September – 15 October for the presentation of the Ph.D. proposal by the Ph.D. student.

PhD proposal delivery (15th September, first year)

The Ph.D. student prepares:

• a Ph.D. proposal, which consists of a paper of a maximum of 30 pages (excluding references) with the research questions to be investigated during the PhD studies, with their motivations and challenges, and with an overview of the state-of-the-art of the area of research;
• a 30 min + 10 min Q&A presentation of the PhD proposal in front of the assessment panel;
• an advancement report using this template, which must be signed by the supervisor. The list of published papers (not submitted or non-archival) must be inserted in the ARPI system. Credentials to access ARPI can be requested to arpi@unipi.it.

The Ph.D. proposal and the advancement report shall be sent to the assessment panel by email, and to the secretariat by filling this form by 15th September. The form also allows to upload the certifications of attendance/exam (see attendance statements) of courses attended/passed during the year.

First-year assessment meeting (15th September – 15th October, first year)

On the planned date for the first year assessment meeting, the Ph.D. student will present the Ph.D. proposal and the advancement report to the assessment panel. The meeting consists of 30 min presentation + 10 min Q&A + 20 min discussion among the assessment panel members.

At the end of the meeting, the assessment panel shall write an assessment report and send it to secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it. The deadline of 15th October is strict in order to allow the Ph.D. Board to deliberate about admission to the second year.

Admission to the second year (31st October, first year)

On the basis of the Ph.D. proposal, advancement report, and assessment report, the Ph.D. Board decide whether or not to admit the PhD student to the second year. Students who are not admitted are withdrawn from the Ph.D. program.

Ph.D. timeline – Second Year

Planning of the second-year assessment meeting (15th September, second year)

The supervisors shall contact the assessment panel to fix a 1 hour meeting in the period 15 September – 15 October for the presentation of the advancement report by the Ph.D. student.

Advancement report delivery (15th September, second year)

The PhD student prepares:

• a 30 min + 10 min Q&A presentation of the status of the research in front of the assessment panel;
• an advancement report using this template, which must be signed by the supervisor. The list of published papers (not submitted or non-archival) must be inserted in the ARPI system. Credentials to access ARPI can be requested to arpi@unipi.it.

The advancement report shall be sent to the assessment panel by email, and to the secretariat by filling this form by 15th September. The form also allows to upload the certifications of attendance/exam (see attendance statements) of courses attended/passed during the year.

Second year assessment meeting (15th September – 15th October, second year)

On the planned date for the second year assessment meeting, the Ph.D. student will present the status of the research and the advancement report to the assessment panel. The meeting consists of 30 min presentation + 10 min Q&A + 20 min discussion among the assessment panel members.

At the end of the meeting, the assessment panel shall write an assessment report and send it to secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it. The deadline of 15th October is strict in order to allow the Ph.D. Board to deliberate about admission to the third year.

Admission to the third year (31st October, second year)

On the basis of the advancement report, and of the assessment report, the Ph.D. Board decide whether or not to admit the PhD student to the third year. Students who are not admitted are withdrawn from the Ph.D. program.

Ph.D. timeline – Third Year

Prorogation of the presentation of the Ph.D. thesis (1st June, third year)

Applications to prorogation of the deadline for presenting the Ph.D. thesis (which is due at the end of the third year) shall be agreed by the PhD student and the supervisors. The Ph.D. student applies for prorogation by filling this form, requesting a prorogation period (max 12 months) and giving a brief motivation. Please fill the form (select zero months) also to clarify you will not ask for prorogation!

The prorogation period is not inclusive of the scholarship.

Applications for prorogation are submitted between April and May of the third year. After the approval of the prorogation period by the Ph.D. Board, the PhD student must connect to the Alice portal to set the prorogation period (see menu “Carriera” -> “Domanda di Proroga”). If the “Domanda di proroga” is not available (it closes end of June), please open a ticket at Sportello Virtuale and send a signed statement such as the following “I the underwriter <name> <surname>, matricola n. <matricola>, PhD students of the National PhD Program in AI (<cycle number> cycle), ask for an unpaid prorogation of <number of months> months for the following reason: <brief statements>. Yours faithfully, <date> and <signature>”.

Important: Ph.D. students can apply for prorogation at most once. Thus the number of months of required prorogation must be properly estimated.

After obtaining a prorogation, the prorogation period can be interrupted (hence proceeding with submitting the Ph.D. thesis) by opening a ticket at Sportello Virtuale and by informing the coordinators by email at secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it.

Advancement report delivery (1st October, third year)

The PhD student prepares:

• an advancement report using this template, which must be signed by the supervisor. The list of published papers (not submitted or non-archival) must be inserted in the ARPI system. Credentials to access ARPI can be requested to arpi@unipi.it.

The advancement report shall be sent to the secretariat by filling this form by 1st October. The form also allows to upload the certifications of attendance/exam (see attendance statements) of courses attended/passed during the year. The deadline of 1th October is strict in order to allow the Ph.D. Board to deliberate about the positive assessment of the third year studies. This deadline is valid also in case of a prorogation of the PhD studies has been granted.

Assessment of the third year studies (31st October, third year)

On the basis of the advancement report, the Ph.D. Board deliberate on the positive assessment of the third year studies. Students with a negative evaluation are withdrawn from the Ph.D. program.

Final exam application (31st October, third year)

Before the end of the third year, the Ph.D. student shall submit the “Final Exam Application” through the Alice website  (www.studenti.unipi.it). This includes the fulfilment of the mandatory questionnaire “Ph.D. Candidates Survey. Evaluation of the study and research experience and future perspectives”. Follow the instructions at this page. The Final Exam Application is mandatory even in case of a prorogation has been granted or an extension of the the delivery of the Ph.D. thesis has been granted.

Important: starting from 2025, the application requires to pay a stamp of 16 euros (“marca da bollo”, you can buy it at any tobacco shop). If the online form is closed, please fill the paper form at the instruction page above, attach the stamp, scan and send it by opening a ticket or by bridging it in person at ufficio dottorato (Palazzina ex albergo marzotto (dma) – Via Filippo Buonarroti, 1/c, 56127 Pisa).

Regarding the SSD: the application form requires to indicate the “settore scientifico-disciplinare” (SSD) of the thesis, which is a topic classification of the Italian university system. The National Ph.D. program in AI is accredited for the following SSDs that you can choose based on the topic of your thesis:

• for 37th and 38th cycle (old classification): INF/01 INFORMATICA; ING-INF/05 SISTEMI DI ELABORAZIONE DELLE INFORMAZIONI; SECS-S/01 STATISTICA; FIS/03 FISICA DELLA MATERIA; MAT/07 FISICA MATEMATICA; SPS/07 SOCIOLOGIA GENERALE; SPS/08 SOCIOLOGIA DEI PROCESSI CULTURALI E COMUNICATIVI; SECS-P/08 ECONOMIA E GESTIONE DELLE IMPRESE; SECS-P/10 ORGANIZZAZIONE AZIENDALE; MED/01 STATISTICA MEDICA; FIS/01 FISICA SPERIMENTALE; IUS/02 DIRITTO PRIVATO COMPARATO; M-PSI/01 PSICOLOGIA GENERALE; L-LIN/01 GLOTTOLOGIA E LINGUISTICA
• starting from 39th cycle (new classification): INFO-01/A INFORMATICA; IINF-05/A SISTEMI DI ELABORAZIONE DELLE INFORMAZIONI; STAT-01/A STATISTICA; PHYS-03/A FISICA SPERIMENTALE DELLA MATERIA E APPLICAZIONI; MATH-04/A FISICA MATEMATICA; GSPS-05/A SOCIOLOGIA GENERALE; GSPS-06/A SOCIOLOGIA DEI PROCESSI CULTURALI E COMUNICATIVI; ECON-07/A ECONOMIA E GESTIONE DELLE IMPRESE; ECON-08/A ORGANIZZAZIONE AZIENDALE; MEDS-24/A STATISTICA MEDICA; PHYS-01/A FISICA SPERIMENTALE
  DELLE INTERAZIONI FONDAMENTALI E APPLICAZIONI; GIUR-11/A DIRITTO PRIVATO COMPARATO; PSIC-01/A PSICOLOGIA GENERALE; GLOT-01/A GLOTTOLOGIA E LINGUISTICA.

If unsure what SSDs to indicate, please consult both your supervisor and the coordinator.

Admission to the PhD thesis defence procedure (31st October, third year, or end date of prorogation)

There is no assessment meeting at the end of the third year.

It is responsibility of the supervisors to evaluate the eligibility of the Ph.D. thesis  for the review process and final defence. See the web page on graduation.