FAQ

1. Instructions for Requesting Recognition of PhD Training Credits
To request the recognition of 1 doctoral credit, PhD students must document a total of 25 hours of work, including both attendance and independent study.

For example, attending a full-day seminar as an auditor entitles the student to request a maximum of 1 credit, provided they specify in the notes that they completed 6 or 9 hours of attendance, with the remaining hours covered by individual study, reaching the required 25-hour total.

Credits are assigned based on the official table available at the following page:
👉 https://phd.unibo.it/[…]/didactic-offer
PhD students must:

- indicate the division between attendance hours and self-study hours in the “Notes” section;

- include a concise but accurate description of the activity (e.g., title and contents of the seminar) in the “Description” field, both in Italian and English;

- upload participation certificates and, where available, the programme or syllabus of the attended seminar or course; It is recommended to upload all materials that may help document the event in which one has participated. In the absence of an official certificate of attendance, it is also acceptable to include a copy of the event’s webpage, the programme, registration emails, posters, or equivalent documents.

- ensure the number of hours matches the credits requested, based on a multiple or submultiple of 25 hours (e.g., 50 hours for 2 credits, 12.5 hours for 0.5 credits);

- optionally provide a more detailed summary of the activities in the notes field, for example, a detailed description of the activities carried out.

All PhD candidates are required to complete the list of training activities undertaken to obtain their final degree. However, only candidates from the 40th cycle (included) onwards are required to formally request the recognition of doctoral credits for such activities.

Doctoral candidates from cycles prior to the 40th are only required to complete the requests by indicating 0 as the number of credits requested.

For tutoring activities, 1 doctoral credit corresponds to 10 hours in class + 15 hours of autonomous work. For example, 30 hours of classroom tutoring plus 45 hours of individual work equals 3 credits (total: 75 hours).


2. Is there a minimum number of Doctoral Credits to be satisfied at the end of the year?
No, it is not required a minimum number of credits per year but rather a “recommended threshold” to be satisfied by the PhD student at the end of the PhD program.


For more information please send an e-mail to the Delegation for Educational Activities: federico.fallavollita@unibo.it, lamberto.tronchin@unibo.it

1. How can I access the research budget? What expenses can be included in the research budget?
The research budget is managed entirely by the Department. Each PhD year, 10% of the annual grant amount is paid out as a research budget. The management and allocation of these funds are the responsibility of the fund manager.

1. What are the rights of Ph.D. Candidates?
A general guide (also translated into English) has been made available on the intranet. Please bear in mind that some information depends on parties other than the University of Bologna, e.g. Italian INPS.

For further information, please send an email to the Delegation for Relations with Doctoral Students: pierpaolo.ascari@unibo.it, angela.santangelo@unibo.it, leila.signorelli@unibo.it

• Ph.D. Handbook 2022

1. How do I activate a Ph.D. co-supervision?
Information on the possibility of activating a co-supervision is available on the Intranet

For further information, please send an email to the Delegation for the Third Mission and Relations with Companies: ernesto.antonini@unibo.it, michele.zannoni@unibo.it

• Guidelines for Ph.D. Co-supervision

1. What is the required dissertation format in this PhD?
The format of the thesis required by the Doctorate in Architecture and Design Cultures is a monograph of at least 300,000 characters with appropriate illustrative appendices and graphic elaborations by the Ph.D. Candidate, if considered appropriate. The thesis must be unpublished and must have the character of scientific originality. The texts may be in Italian with an abstract in English or in English with an abstract in Italian.

2. Is it possible to replace the final thesis with a collection of articles published in journals or conferences?
No, it is not possible to replace the monograph with a collection of articles published in journals or conferences. The contents of these scientific products must be appropriately cited and may be reworked within the monograph.

For further information please email the Delegation for Relations with Doctoral Students: pierpaolo.ascari@unibo.it, angela.santangelo@unibo.it, leila.signorelli@unibo.it

1. What do I have to deliver for the transition to the second year?
A document on the progress of research (min. 40,000 characters), in Italian or English, via the Doctoral Students platform (https://dottorandi.unibo.it/)

2. What is required for passage to the third year?
A text of about 80,000 characters on the state of progress of research, to be uploaded onto the Doctoral Students platform (https://dottorandi.unibo.it/).

3. What must I deliver at the end of the third year?
The complete doctoral thesis, which must also be uploaded onto the Doctoral Candidates platform (https://dottorandi.unibo.it/) (see also FAQ Doctoral Thesis Format).

4. When must documents be delivered for the passage of year?
By October each year, according to the official calendar.

5. What are sub-colleges and how do they work?
They are thematic research groups in which doctoral students and lecturers discuss research progress. The composition of the Sub-Colleges is flexible and can therefore be changed over time. Each sub-collegium organises itself independently, including co-supervisors who are not members of the college. Each Sub-College identifies a contact person who coordinates and defines the date of the Progress Seminar. Each Sub-College identifies and invites at least one external discussant.

6. What are the joint seminars in the second and third year?
Presentations of 20-25 minutes on the partial results of the research, in the form of a report to a conference followed by a collegial discussion. It should be emphasised that, in contrast to the papers presented during the sub-colleges, on this occasion the doctoral student is not asked to present a state of research progress but a part of the research itself.

7. How are joint seminars organised?
Doctoral students coordinate in multidisciplinary groups, invite members of the College and external discussants. The composition of the multidisciplinary groups must favour the integration of several disciplines, therefore mono-disciplinary participation is strongly discouraged.

8. Participation of Ph.D. candidates at the Sub-Colleges.
The Sub-College meetings are multidisciplinary occasions for both Ph.D. candidates and the Ph.D. Board members. The expected benefits are manifold, such as: receiving research inputs from related and/or unrelated disciplines in a constructive manner; observing the progress of each thesis as a guide and inspiration for first- and second-year doctoral students in terms of research structure and robustness. Last but not least, participation in the Sub-College meetings is considered a requirement for doctoral students and, at the same time, an opportunity for socializing and generating research ideas among doctoral students. Any inability to attend meetings must be duly justified to the Sub-College. Doctoral students attending the final year of the PhD programme are exempt from participating in all Sub-Colleges and are not required to justify their absence.

9. What is the working language spoken in the Sub-Colleges?
The PhD program in Architecture and Design Cultures is bilingual, encompassing both Italian and English. Therefore, PhD students are free to present their work in Italian or English within the Sub-Colleges. There are some best practices to consider, both on the part of PhD students and the Sub-College, to make the debate more inclusive and proactive. For example, a good practice for doctoral students would be to create slides in English, while the chairs of the Sub-Colleges should open the debate by reporting summaries and key elements in English.  

8. Is participation in joint seminars compulsory?
Yes, all PhD students are required to attend all Seminars in person. The Seminars take place in presence and include the participation of the PhD students, their Supervisors, the invited members of the College and one or more discussants (the latter may also participate remotely).

9. Is it possible to participate in the seminars in mixed mode?
Only external discussants and for members of the Doctoral College who do not take part in the seminar but who wish to attend and for members of the College who are based abroad.

10. Who co-ordinates the seminar calendar and organisation?
The Board of the College of Lectures.

1. Must participation in conferences or academic events be reported for the recognition of Doctoral Credits?
Yes, participation in Conferences or other types of scientific and academic events must be reported in due advance to the Doctoral Course Coordinator.

2. What is required to communicate participation?
The letter of invitation, the programme of the event (if available at the time of the request) and the applicant's request to convert the number of hours of participation into Doctoral Credits are required, in accordance with the Doctoral Credits Table approved by the Teachers' Board and available on the website.

For more information please send an e-mail to the Delegation for Educational Activities: federico.fallavollita@unibo.it, lamberto.tronchin@unibo.it

The project must be agreed with the Supervisor and approved by the Ph.D. Board. The request for the grant increase (even in advance) must be submitted by following the instructions on the Intranet (see link below), using the forms downloadable from the same page.

For further information, please send an email to the Delegation for Internationalization and Relations with Other Doctoral Programs: daniele.pascale2@unibo.it, annalisa.trentin@unibo.it

• Ph.D. visiting period abroad - formalities

1. Is it mandatory to undertake the period abroad/in a company/public administration?
The mandatory period in a company or abroad is only part of PhDs financed with a PNRR Ministerial Grant.

For further information, please send an email to the Delegation for the Third Mission and Relations with Companies: ernesto.antonini@unibo.it, michele.zannoni@unibo.it

1) Why is it essential to complete one's personal web page?
Completing your personal web page with the essential information is a mandatory requirement in order to be able to pass to the next year.

2)Why is it necessary to enter one's publications on IRIS?
This is also a prerequisite, both for the transition to the following year and for updating the University's scientific production.

For further information, please send an email to the Delegation for the Third Mission and Relations with Companies: ernesto.antonini@unibo.it , michele.zannoni@unibo.it

For further information on Research Quality and Open Science, please send an email to the Department of Architecture's Research and Open Science Delegate: angela.santangelo@unibo.it

• IRIS Research Catalogue
• How to upload full texts in IRIS

  Youtube Tutorial

• SBA guidelines to upload publications in Open Access

  (when possible)

What is academic leave?
Academic leave is a period during which the doctoral student may request a temporary suspension of his/her research activities, for personal, health or other urgent needs. As the doctoral fellowship is a financial support and not a traditional employment relationship, there is no commitment of hours or days but rather adherence to a work plan agreed with one's supervisor. However, there may be deadlines to be met, experiments to be followed, and in these cases the demands may even be more stringent.

For more information please email the Delegation for Relations with Doctoral Students: pierpaolo.ascari@unibo.it, angela.santangelo@unibo.it, leila.signorelli@unibo.it

-How many external examiners need to be identified and by when?
External examiners must be appointed at the time of admission to the final examination (in the case of the ordinary session, approximately in October).

-Can external examiners be professors from foreign universities that hosted the doctoral student during their visiting period?
Two experts in the field must be appointed, at least one of whom must be from an academic background. Two substitutes must also be appointed in case the appointed experts renounce. It is recommended that the professor/professional from outside the University who awards the degree has not had any previous contact with the doctoral student.

-How many members must the final committee have?
The final committee must consist of three to five members.
 
-Who selects the members of the final committee?
The final committee is appointed, like the external reviewers, by the Board of Lecturers. The final committee may be appointed to discuss the theses of several doctoral students, provided that at least two-thirds are external to Unibo and at least one-third are from academia.