Programme

Upon admission, the Academic Board considers students cv's and research interests, possibily suggesting some individual study aimed at strengthening the background knowledge.

The foundation programme of the first year foresees a core set of compulsory courses covering advanced mathematics and probability theory, inferential statistics, and statistical modeling. A set of specialized modules is also activated, covering a range of more advanced topics. Planning of specialized courses takes into account, whenever it is possible, broad individual research interests of the students enrolled. As for the latter point, students may also be encouraged to follow specialized courses or Summer Courses at other Departments, Universities or Institutions, in Italy or abroad. Individual activities of students in core courses may also be designed to fulfill their needs in specific areas or to focus on special topics related to their research interests. One side objective of courses during the first year is to train students to team work, seminar presentations and paper preparation. Lectures in the first year courses are delivered in English by leading international researchers and experts, including academic staff from all of the partner Universities.

Research activity during the second and third year represents the distinctive character of the PhD programme and it is aimed at achieving independent research abilities. As admission of candidates is not project-related and criteria emphasize aptitude towards independent research, doctoral students have a certain freedom in the definition of their research theme. Students can either join local research groups or start an independent research project. The Department of Statistical Sciences can offer an adequate research environment in this respect.

Intermediate results are to be presented as a department seminar at the end of the second year, together with a detailed plan of research to be carried out during the third year. During this year, the candidates complete their research work and present reports of their progress in a series of meetings with the Faculty.

Final research results are to be presented as a thesis containing relevant original scientific results in the field of Statistics and its applications. The Dissertation is the most difficult and challenging experience of the Ph.D. programme. It should show the candidate's ability to develop an original and valuable research topic. It may be written in Italian or English, as a collection of papers or as a monograph. It has to be discussed both in front of the Academic Board and Teaching Staff and, conditional on a positive evaluation by the Board, in front of a thesis defence jury which consists of Italian and foreign experts on the thesis topic.

During the second and third year, the Course strongly encourages PhD students to spend a research period abroad, at Universities or other highly qualified research institutions, exploiting international collaborations of the Course faculty.

Initial Mentoring: Upon arrival, PhD students will be assigned a faculty mentor. This faculty mentor at this stage is not expected to be the student’s PhD advisor nor even have research interests that closely align with the student. The job of this faculty mentor is primarily to advise the student on how to find a thesis advisor and in selecting appropriate courses. Students should meet with their faculty mentors twice a semester. This faculty member will be the designated faculty mentor for the student during roughly their first year, at which point students will find a qualifying supervisor who will take over the role of mentoring the student.

Research-focused mentoring: Once students have found a thesis supervisor, that person will naturally be the faculty member most directly overseeing the student’s progression. If agreed between the student and the supervisor, a co-supervisor could be enrolled, typically the person mentoring the student during study visit or projects' develpoment.

There is a need for well-trained statisticians who are able to apply advanced methods of analysis to complex data. These skills are in short supply and PhD Statistics graduates leave in a good position to obtain high profile jobs in: the academic sector; central governments; offices for National Statistics; local governments; private research sector. They are also positioned to take leadership roles within the health care, pharmaceutical, or biomedical industries and to play an important role in safeguarding public health and improving lives and society through quantitative research.
 
Our PhD graduates have taken tenure-track faculty positions at academic institutions, including research universities and liberal arts colleges, as well as non-academic positions in industry or government.