Concerning the rules to be admitted to the next Ph.D. year and to the Ph.D. final exam, the Ph.D. The Teaching Board recalls that, among the Ph.D. objectives, and listed as the first point, is the “number and quality of scientific publications” produced (and co-produced) by the Ph.D. Student. Consequently, it is very important to create a proper structure that can be of constant help and incitement for scientific production.

In more detail concerning the rules to be admitted to the next Ph.D. year and, at the end of the third year, to the Ph.D. final exam:

1. The Research Advisor, who is not mandatory, will act together with the Ph.D. Tutor to solicit the Ph.D. Students about his/her scientific production and to give constant support both to evidence positive aspects and to advise about possible critical points. The Research Advisor, chosen by the Teaching Board on request of the Ph.D. The tutor and/or the Coordinator must be an expert in the scientific field, and possibly, but not mandatorily, a Member of the Ph.D. Teaching Board.

2. The tutor and Research Advisor (if any) will jointly meet the Ph.D. student periodically (at least twice a year, to have an indication) to check learning and scientific activity, highlight the obtained results, suggest possible corrections, and track future directions. As a consequence of these periodic meetings, Tutor and Research Advisor will produce minutes to be submitted to the Ph.D. Coordinator and Teaching Board.

3. D. Students will be requested to produce a report to send to Tutor, Research Advisor (if any), Coordinator, and Teaching Board in the final months of each year (e.g. it should be in September being the conclusion of each Ph.D. year on October, 31^st), structured as follows and covering all activities from the beginning of the Ph.D. (i.e. the report at the 3^rdyear will cover the overall Ph.D.):
   • Description of the Research Activity (maximum 4 pages)

   • Educational and Training Activity (including the official certificates of the exams)
     • Followed Courses and Seminars

     • Followed Schools

   • Your Publications (structured into Journals, magazines, book chapters, conferences)

   • Followed Conferences and Workshops (both presenting and not presenting papers)

   • The experience developed outside the University of Genoa during your Ph.D. (either abroad or in Italy but not at the University of Genoa) specifying:
     • Activity developed (very short)

     • Period of time

     • Hosting institution/industry

   • Participation in Research Projects
     • Project Title and Description (concise)

     • Developed Activity in the Project

   • Awards and scientific recognitions

4. After presenting the mentioned report, Ph.D. students will be requested to present their research activity to the Coordinator, Tutor (who must produce consequent minutes better specified in the following; in this view, this presentation may be one of the two annual meetings required between Tutor and Student), and, possibly, Research Advisor and Teaching Board.

5. As a consequence of the previous points the decision about admission to the next year and to the final exam will be taken by the Teaching Board on the basis of:
   • Report sent by the Ph.D. Student; performed presentation; and consequent Tutor minutes, which must evidence (either by using more words or also synthetically, through evaluations such as: very good, good, fair, sufficient, insufficient,…): Ph.D. Student contribution to the research; autonomy level; originally developed ideas; provided interest; interaction skills; and overall obtained level.

   • The scientific production of the Ph.D. Student, which should have the following minimal features: I) one scientific paper proposed for publication in an international journal/magazine/book chapter/conference, agreed with Tutor and, if present, Research Advisor, possibly also considering the Italian evaluation level of publications, at the end of the second Ph.D. year, to be admitted to the third year; II) one scientific paper published/accepted on international journal/magazine/book chapter/conference, agreed with Tutor and, if present, Research Advisor, possibly also considering the Italian evaluation level of publications, at the end of the third Ph.D. year, to be admitted to the final exam.

6. Concerning the final exam, at the end of the third year, the deadline to deliver the final version of your thesis is fixed indicatively for October 31^st(the strict deadline will be communicated to the candidates). Your thesis, the report of your overall activity (see previous point 3), and the Tutor/Research Advisor minutes (see previous point 5a) will be evaluated by two external reviewers, not belonging to the University of Genoa and not participating in your Ph.D., indicatively by the end of the year. The reviewers will express an analytical written judgment on the thesis and will propose admission to the public discussion (to the final exam) through an acceptance/minor revision or will propose to postpone the exam for a period of not more than six months if they believe the thesis requires significant additions or corrections through a major revision. In case you should request the additional title of Doctor Europaeus you need to make a request to me by the end of September of the last year. The request can be processed only if you have spent, with the authorization of the Teaching Board, at least 3 months of your Ph.D. in a research institution of the European Community outside Italy, obviously for research reasons, and if it is not the main location of your Ph.D.. In case you are admitted to the final exam (i.e. the opinion of the Ph.D. Teaching Board and of the two reviewers is positive) you have about one month time (indicatively from the end of December to the end of January) to implement modifications to the thesis as suggested by the reviewers. The final deadline to deliver the final amended version is typically the end of January. Anyway, all reported dates will be confirmed year by year. Please look at the documents at the website https://unige.it/en/usg/en/Ph.D.-programmes and, in case of doubts, ask dottorato@segreterie.unige.it. The final version of the thesis must be sent to the Coordinator and to the components of the final exam evaluation board that the Coordinator will communicate. The final exam should take place before the end of February.