This page provides information on the graduation procedure useful for both the Ph.D. students and their supervisors. The rulings are with reference to the regulation of the PhD programs at the University of Pisa.
The graduation procedure is with reference to the end date “T” of the Ph.D. studies, including prorogation period if granted. Typically T is 3 years from the beginning of the Ph.D. studies (unless suspensions occurred, e.g., due to maternity or serious illness). For example, if a Ph.D. student started on 1/11/2024 then T = 31/10/2027. In case a prorogation of 3 months has been granted, then T = 31/1/2028.
Application for graduation at the end of the Ph.D. studies
At least 15 days before the end date “T”, 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 if the supervisors require the extension of the delivery of the Ph.D. thesis (next subsection).
After the end date “T”, the status remain the one of a PhD student for most of the rights and duties (credentials, expenditures, missions, insurance). From now on, the PhD student will be called the PhD candidate.
Recommendation of the supervisors and suggestion of reviewers
At least 15 days before the end date “T”, the supervisors send an email to secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it cc-ing the Ph.D. student with either:
- a brief motivated request of up to 2 additional months for the PhD student to finalize/integrate the manuscript before presenting it for review. Such an extension is not a prorogation of the end of the PhD studies, but precisely an extension for submitting the Ph.D. thesis. Such an extension is not possible if the PhD student were granted a prorogation of more than 10 months;
- or, a brief attestation of eligibility of the manuscript for the review process and final defence, and including the suggestion of two reviewers:
- reviewers must not be from University of Pisa, not from the host institution (“sede operativa”), not from the PhD Board, not from the panel evaluating the PhD proposal or the advancement from 2nd to 3rd year, and not a coauthor of the Ph.D. student nor a supervisor of the Ph.D. student during a visiting period;
- at least one reviewer must be a University professor or tenure track assistant professor;
- preferably, at least one reviewer must be from an non-Italian institution;
- additional constraints in case the PhD candidate wants to obtain the doctor europaeus certification (e.g., the two reviewers must both be from an non-Italian institution).
Ph.D. thesis content, format and submission
A doctoral thesis is not a “bunch” of papers (not even published papers), but it must have its own story-line, with consistent research objectives, clear positioning in the scientific literature, uniform notation, natural flow of topics in its chapters. It may be necessary to make a choice among the topics of the works carried out during the Ph.D. studies to decide what to include in the thesis and possibly how to better connect them.
The format of the manuscript shall be consistent with the following LaTeX template.
The manuscript shall be sent in PDF to secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it by the end date “T” or, if granted, by the end of the extension period (see previous subsection). For large files, please store the file in the cloud (GDrive, OneDrive, etc.) and send a link to it.
Reviewing process
After receiving the manuscript, the coordinator will ask the reviewers to read and evaluate the manuscript. Reviewers have approximatively one month for assessing the originality, relevance and impact of the results achieved, the quality of the exposition and the thoroughness of the bibliographical information of the thesis as well as any additional comment or remarks they want to point out for improving the manuscript or for informing the final defence committee. Reviewers recommend either admission to the defence or a revision of the thesis within a maximum period of 6 months.
The coordinator also asks the supervisors to write a brief evaluation report using this template to be sent within one month.
Admission to the defence
Based on the reports of the reviewers, the PhD Board deliberate the admission of the PhD candidate to the defence or, will determine a second review round. In the latter case, the Ph.D. candidate is assigned a period of maximum 6 months for revising the thesis before submitting it again. After the second round of review, the Ph.D. candidate is admitted to the defence in any case.
Final Ph.D. thesis submission
The reviewers’ reports will be shared with the PhD candidate, who has the opportunity to implement the suggested changes.
At least three weeks before the defence date, the Ph.D. candidate shall:
- upload the final Ph.D. thesis in PDF to the ETD system of the theses at the University of Pisa. Strictly follow the instructions and timeline for the final dissertation submission.
- NOTE: A “report of activities” has to be uploaded as well: please merge your three yearly reports of activities into a single PDF using this template, also including any update occurred since your 3rd year report.
- send the final Ph.D. thesis in PDF and the “report of activities” (see above) to the secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it, which will forward it to the defence committee. For large files, please store the file in the cloud (GDrive, OneDrive, etc.) and send a link to it.
- (only if explicitly required by the coordinator) also send to the secretariat-ai-society@phd-ai.it;coordinator-ai-society@phd-ai.it a brief summary of the changes in the manuscript implemented due to recommendations of the reviewers. The summary will be forwarded to the defence committee.
Defence
The defence committee is nominated according to the regulations of the University of Pisa. The defence date will be set within three months from receiving the reviewers’ reports.
The defence committee approves or rejects the defence of the Ph.D. candidate with a motivated written decision. The eligibility to a second defence shall be excluded. The defence may also take place in videoconference session.
The thesis final assessment can be one of: sufficient, good or excellent. In case of contributions of exceptional scientific relevance, the awarding of the honors may be assigned by an unanimous vote of the defence committee.
After the defence
From the Alice portal, the Ph.D. laureate can download the certification of the PhD title.
The doctoral offices of the University of Pisa will provide an activity report signed by the coordinator of the Ph.D. program, including the Doctor Europaeus certification if applicable.
Unless an embargo period has been specified by the PhD candidate, the PhD thesis will be included in the ETD system of the theses at the University of Pisa.