How do I… ?

You will be given an official email address (usually name.surname@phd.unipi.it) where you will receive all official communications. The assignment of Supervisors takes place in November (or December in case there is a reassignment of PhD positions left vacant by preceding candidates in the ranking list): each doctoral student is asked to introduce themselves and officially present their research proposal to the Faculty Council, which assigns a Supervisor to the doctoral student on the basis of the specific research skills of the lecturers involved in the PhD Programme. The brief, ten-minute presentation shall include the most basic data: name; previous education; research areas; research project.

If you did not find an answer to your question in the general and internal regulations or in the relevant sections of the website, you can contact the Virtual Desk (if you have any doubts about procedures and bureaucratic aspects), your representatives (names and contacts can be found here) or the Programme Coordinator and Vice-Coordinator (names and contacts can be found here).

The representatives of doctoral students at present are Marta Capossela and Ludovica Cerini. Marta Capossela is also a member of the Doctoral Board.

The representative on the Board of the Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics is Chiara Cernicchiaro.

The representative in the Senate is Francesca Pezzella.

First-year doctoral students are required to:

• introduce themselves and present their projects to the Faculty Council after enrolment. On that occasion, they will be assigned a Supervisor.
• attend the Doctoral Days (February), at least the day relevant to their curriculum;
• attend conferences (March-May) and curricular seminars (June-July);
• attend two modules chosen from the Cross-Cutting Learning Programmes;
• attend the English for Research Publication and Presentation Purposes language course organised by the University Language Centre (CLI) and fully paid by the University. All the information about this course is available on the CLI website. Possible exemptions (e.g. for those in possession of an equivalent language certificate) must be assessed on a case-by-case basis with the Coordinator and CLI.
• present the progress of their research in an interim review (10 minutes + 10 for discussion);
• submit a seminar report and research status report for admission to the following year and attend the end-of-year interview.

Second-year doctoral students are required to:

• attend the Doctoral Days (February), at least the day to relevant to their curriculum;
• attend conferences (March-May) and curricular seminars (June-July);
• attend two modules chosen from the Cross-Cutting Learning Programmes;
• present the progress of their research in an interim review (20 minutes + 10 for discussion);
• submit a seminar report and research status report for admission to the following year and attend the end-of-year interview.

Third-year doctoral students are required to:

• attend the Doctoral Days (February), at least the day relevant to their curriculum, and participate in the thematic round table session;
• attend conferences (March-May) and curricular seminars (June-July);
• submit a report on the three-year research period for admission to the final examination and attend the end-of-year interview.

They can follow modules of the Cross-Cutting Learning Programmes if they so wish.

All doctoral students can participate in the Seminario Tridottorale (Joint PhD Seminar) by delivering a presentation or as auditors if they so wish.

Detailed information on the calendar of the activities is available in the dedicated section of the website.

You are required to attend the activities scheduled for your curriculum. If you are unable to attend one or more events, you need to provide justification for your absence.

Yes. For all intents and purposes, Cotutelle doctoral students are part of the DiLLeS PhD Programme and required to fulfil the same academic obligations as their local colleagues, including interim presentations and the steps for admission to the following year.

Doctoral students are required to fulfil the same academic obligations as their local colleagues. However, in particular cases, the Coordinator, after consulting with the Supervisor, may allow remote participation. The recommendation is to always consult with your Supervisor.

First- and second-year doctoral students are required to present the progress of their research. The former will have 10 minutes for their presentation, plus 10 minutes for discussion; the presentation shall illustrate – and duly motivate – any variations as compared to the original project or focus on problematic aspects in the research. Second-year students will have 20 minutes to present the progress made in their research work and 10 minutes for discussion. You should always discuss presentations with your Supervisor.

Third-year doctoral students are exempted from interim presentations.

Detailed information on the requirements for admission to the following year can be found in the Annual Review section.

The form to be used for the end-of-programme activities report (for third-year doctoral students) is available here.

The seminar report should be sent to the lecturers responsible for the curricular seminar you choose to follow. You are not allowed to write the report on the subject of a seminar held by your Supervisor.

The end-of-year report (for 1st- and 2nd-year students) and the end-of-programme activities report (for 3rd-year students) must be submitted, by the deadline set by the Faculty Council, to your Supervisor, to Prof. Marco Sabbatini (literary curriculum) or Prof. Alessandro Lenci (linguistic curriculum), to the Coordinator, Prof. Enrico Di Pastena, and to the Secretary, Prof. Gloria Cappelli.

Interim reviews for admission to the following year are usually scheduled for the second half of October, whereas the date for submitting reports is usually set a few weeks before the scheduled interview date.

Doctoral students who follow a tailored programme (PONs, career reactivations) and third-year doctoral students in cycles that have been granted an extension due to the Covid-19 pandemic will have different deadlines.

Admission to the final examination for third-year doctoral students is prior to the decision on whether their thesis is suitable (see the answer to the question What does the final examination entail). Basically, it always involves a ten-minute presentation of your work, followed by the Tutor’s opinion.

Third-year students are not required to submit a seminar report but must complete the three-year research activity report.

Third-year doctoral students are required to sit the final examination, as per Art. 19 of the University Regulations on PhD Programmes. Detailed information is available here on how to apply for the final examination and here for the presentation and discussion of the doctoral thesis. The end-of-course activities report form and other indications are available on the page dedicated to the final examination on the PhD website.

Here is the whole process summarized in a nutshell (but remember to double check the information in the above-mentioned regulations):

In case of extensions due to the COVID19 emergency, all dates should be shifted according to the extension period granted

By 31 October you are required to submit your application through the ALICE Portal to the University offices (you will be asked to provide the title of your thesis and the name and surname of your Supervisor; the scientific-disciplinary sector of reference; your telephone number and e-mail address for urgent communications). In addition, you are required to fill in the evaluation questionnaire (Survey on PhDs. Evaluation of the study and research experience and future prospects), and deliver the receipt to the Unità Dottorati di Ricerca via ticket (through the Virtual Desk); certified email (at protocollo@pec.unipi.it) or paper mail (Unità “Dottorati di Ricerca”, Edificio E, largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, Pisa 56127, attaching a photocopy of your ID). In addition, you will need to deliver an updated report and your thesis, in pdf format, to the Supervisor and the Coordinator, and a copy to the Secretary.

Within 20 days, after obtaining the Supervisor’s opinion and reasoned assessment, a decision is made as to whether the thesis is suitable for submission to external reviewers. These shall be proposed to the Faculty Council by the Supervisor. In the first case, the Faculty Council also decides to send the thesis to the two assessors appointed on that occasion. If the thesis is unsuitable, the Faculty Council may postpone its evaluation and grant a maximum extension of two months. Therefore, by 20 January at the latest (if there are no extensions), the thesis shall be submitted again to the Supervisor, who cannot allow any further extensions.

Within one month of receiving the thesis, the reviewers should propose, by means of forms sent to the Coordinator, admission to the discussion or another extension for a maximum of six months for the necessary corrections and additions.

At this point, the Faculty Council sets the date of the discussion within three months of the admission proposal.

Once the date of the discussion has been set, you are required to upload your thesis and a final report to ETD at least three days before that date.  The final report cannot be the same submitted at the end of the third year. It must only include a list of the activities and publications completed over the three years. After this, you shall submit to the offices (by ticket on the Virtual Desk or by email to protocollo@pec.unipi.it or by post to the address Unità “Dottorati di Ricerca”, Edificio E, largo Bruno Pontecorvo 3, Pisa 56127, attaching a photocopy of your ID) the title page (which you can download after uploading the thesis to ETD) signed by you and your Supervisor. Of course, the thesis shall be handed in at least one month in advance to the members of the committee in order to give them enough time for reading. The discussion will be conducted by a committee of at least three members and a maximum of five, chosen from among professors and researchers who are specifically qualified in the themes addressed in the thesis (IV, Art. 20, paragraph 1 of the University Regulations on PhD Programmes).

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The language of the PhD Programme is Italian. Certain activities are occasionally offered in the foreign languages represented within the Faculty Council, all of which enjoy equal status. However, official communications occur in Italian, which doctoral students should know at an advanced level as it is the working language of the Programme.

Research funds are available to all doctoral students, with or without funding.

Second- and third-year doctoral students are entitled to a fund, regulated by Article 9, paragraph 3 of Ministerial Decree 45/2013, which awards them a budget equal to 10% of the gross amount of their scholarship. For 2022 it amounts to € 1,534.33. The funds expire on the date of completion of the PhD Programme, i.e. on 31 October of the third year, except if extensions are granted to make up for time lost due to exceptional situations (such as the Covid-19 pandemic). Any unused amounts as of 31 October of the second year can be carried over and used during the third year, but not beyond the end of the third year.

Doctoral students with no funding (excluding supernumerary ones) are also entitled to such additional budget. Cotutelle (incoming) doctoral students are not entitled to any additional budget.

For full details on reimbursement, see the answer to the question How can I claim reimbursement for my research activities?

Doctoral students with funding may also apply for a 50% increase in their grant for up to 18 months for stays abroad authorized by the Faculty Council. Further information is available on the PhD Programme dedicated page.

The University launches a procedure – usually annually – for awarding prizes for scientific initiatives organised by doctoral students (e.g. conferences). The announcement and all the latest information can be found here.

Given that any activity outside the PhD Programme is to be authorized by the Faculty Council, doctoral students – with or without funding – can access funding facilities made available by DSU Toscana and other forms of support, such as the Youth Support Fund (Fondo Sostegno Giovani), which pays, with a maximum of one annual or two six-monthly assignments, for tutoring, supplementary teaching, preparatory and remedial activities. Doctoral students may not, in any case, carry out more than 40 hours of supplementary, subsidiary, preparatory or remedial teaching activities at the University each year.

For all the material you need, you can visit the libraries of our University (official Portal). You can do your bibliographic research using:

• The official catalogue, which also allows you to check the sources held by other university libraries in Tuscany.
• The database Portal.

If none of these tools helped you, you can try the options below:

• interlibrary loan for physical items (ILL request from the OneSearch Portal).
• interlibrary loan for book parts or journal articles (via Nilde).
• submit a purchase proposal to your library (via the specific form).

The DiLLeS PhD Programme offers a number of tools and devices on loan, namely Dell Inspiron 15 Monitor 32″, 5 Wacom Intuos M tablets, a Fujitsu planetary scanner. All instructions and information on how to apply for borrowing these items can be found here: procedura, calendario per il 2022-23.

The FILELI Department provides its doctoral students (i.e. students of Discipline Linguistiche e Letterature Straniere, Scienze dell’Antichità e Archeologia and Studi Italianistici) with shared spaces, in particular rooms 1026-7; 1028; 1029; 1030 at Palazzo Matteucci (map of classrooms, in blue); room 2015 at Palazzo Scala (map of classrooms, in blue); rooms 2004; 3004; 4001 at Palazzo Venera (map of classrooms, in blue).

Not all rooms are available for doctoral students yet: currently only rooms 1026-7; 1028 and 1030 can be used. Further updates will be published as soon as possible

In order to access classrooms, you need to have your Green Pass checked at the entrance, even if you have already handed in your self-certification.

First of all, you need to be authorized by the Faculty Council (see How do I apply for authorization?) and upload the form on the dedicated Portal (see How can I claim reimbursement for my research activities?). Make sure you keep all the necessary supporting documentation of the expenses incurred during your mission and follow the procedure indicated in the question How can I claim reimbursement for my research activities?

If your activity is eligible for reimbursement from PhD Programme funds (Year 1) or personal funds (Years 2 and 3), you can apply to the Department’s administration. Below you will find instructions for some of the reimbursable expenses.

1. Missions. These reimbursement claims, authorized by the Coordinator, shall be entered on the Portal at least seven days before your date of departure. During or after the mission, you will need to upload on the Portal the supporting receipts of the expenses for which you are requesting reimbursement.
   Portal for doctoral students with funding
   If you do not know how to do this, you can consult the illustrated guide on how to enter missions on the Portal. This guide is purely indicative: for specific requirements that differ from the example, please refer to the mission regulations, which remain the only valid reference.
   Portals for doctoral students with no funding: before and after the mission
   If you do not know how to do this, you can consult the illustrated guide on how to enter missions on the Portal. This guide is purely indicative: for specific requirements that differ from the example, please refer to the mission regulations, which remain the only valid reference.
2. Research activities abroad. In order to carry out research activities abroad, doctoral students may also apply for a contribution from the Internationalization funds.
3. Registration for conferences/summer schools. At the same time as a mission, even without reimbursement of other expenses, and subject to obtaining authorization from the Coordinator (you will simply need an email from him/her authorizing you), the registration fee for a conference or summer school related to your research can be paid for or reimbursed by your PhD Programme provided that the relevant invoice is made out to your Department with the indication of your name (Art. 7, paragraph 1 of the mission regulations document). For information please contact Dr Annamaria Manetti. The details of the invoice addressee are: Dipartimento di Filologia, letteratura e linguistica; Palazzo Matteucci, 2; 56126 Pisa PI; P.I. 00286820501; C.F. 80003670504.
4. Scanning manuscripts/archival documents. Subject to authorization from the Coordinator (you will simply need an email with all the relevant data in which he/she authorizes you), the cost of scanning manuscripts or archival documents can be paid for or reimbursed by your PhD Programme, provided that the relevant invoice is made out to your Department and your name is indicated. For information please contact Dr Annamaria Manetti.
5. Language courses. Subject to authorization from the Coordinator (you will only need an email with all the relevant data in which he/she authorizes you) the cost of attending language courses related to your research can be paid for or reimbursed by your PhD Programme, provided that the relevant invoice is made out to your Department and your name is indicated. For information, please contact Dr Annamaria Manetti. If the institution (e.g. an association) cannot issue an electronic invoice, you should request a payment note, with a revenue stamp, made out to your Department, with the indication of your name and the details of the language course in the subject line. The details of the addressee are: Dipartimento di Filologia, letteratura e linguistica; Palazzo Matteucci, piazza Evangelista Torricelli, 2; 56126 Pisa PI; P.I. 00286820501; C.F. 80003670504.

In order to obtain authorization (e.g. to carry out the activities financed by the Youth Support Fund) you will need to email a formal request to the Coordinator, stating the reason why such authorization is required.

As for missions, you need to fill this form in order to be authorized by the Coordinator, who will sign it and send it back to you. Please note: Nome progetto means the name of the fund. So, if you are in your first year: Fondo di funzionamento annuale [a.y.] Dottorato in [Programme title]. If you are in your second or third year, please indicate: [your surname and first name] 10P Dottorato in [Programme title] [your doctoral year] [“CB” if you have funding; “NB” if you have no funding]. At this point, you will need to upload the form, together with a copy of your ID, as an attachment on the Portale Missioni, as explained in the dedicated guide (see the question How can I claim reimbursement for my research activities?).

As for work activities (including school teaching, even for short periods) you will need to send a formal request for authorization to the Coordinator and in cc to Unità Dottorati di Ricerca and the Director of the Department, specifying the details of the activity you wish to carry out. Once it has been ascertained that the assignment in question is not an obstacle to the smooth running of your PhD activity, the Coordinator will submit the request to the next available Faculty Council for deliberation.

In order to be able to work during your PhD, you need to obtain authorization. See the answer to the question How do I apply for authorization?

However, please note that Art. 14, paragraph 1 of the University Regulations on PhD Programmes specifies that attending the Programme entails an exclusive, full-time commitment, as set out in the provisions in force. You can only carry out work activities that have been duly and justifiably authorized in advance by the Faculty Council, which verifies their compatibility. Compatible work activities mean that they must be related to the themes of the PhD and allow you to reconcile them with your study and research commitments.

In the case of doctoral students with no funding, the Coordinator should in any case assess any incompatibility arising from the work activity without this leading to behaviour that infringes protected rights, in particular the right to education.

Teaching

Doctoral students may not hold university teaching posts.

They may, however, carry out supplementary and/or ancillary/propaedeutic/remedial teaching activities (e.g. FSG, seminars) within the limit allowed by the regulations in force (a maximum of 40 hours in total per academic year). These activities are to be formally assigned. For these activities, you need to seek authorization from the Faculty Council by sending a request to the Coordinator with copy to the Secretary.

In the case of supply teacher jobs, first you need to seek authorization from the Unità Dottorati di Ricerca via the virtual desk (see the question on how to obtain authorization). The work activity must be in line with the themes of the PhD Programme and fully compatible with the study and research activities and obligations involved. The DiLLeS Board has decided (20.11.2020) that the Coordinator, following the favourable opinion expressed by the Unità Dottorati and the Supervisor, may grant authorization for supply teaching jobs for a maximum of 18 hours per week and for a maximum period of 75 days. The teaching assignment may not be extended or repeated during the same school year, except in cases where the failure to grant an extension may be detrimental to the right to education.

Doctoral students with funding are not eligible for research fellowship grants. Doctoral students with no funding are required to follow the procedure for seeking authorization as indicated in the specific application form.

In any case, attending the PhD Programme entails an exclusive, full-time commitment, as set out in the provisions in force. You can only carry out work activities that have been duly and justifiably authorized in advance by the Faculty Council, which verifies their compatibility.

A student may attend only one higher education course (aka “Master” in the Italian education system) during the PhD Programme, subject to the favourable opinion of the Faculty Council on the scientific compatibility between such course and the PhD Programme. If the two are deemed incompatible, the doctoral student shall have to opt for either of them (Art. 14, University Regulations on PhD Programmes).

In any case, attending the PhD Programme entails an exclusive, full-time commitment, as set out in the provisions in force.

For missions, see the question How can I claim reimbursement for my research activities? In any case, you always need authorization from the Faculty Council.

For scholarship holders, Ministerial Decree 45/2013 guarantees a grant increase for visiting periods abroad corresponding to a maximum of 50% of the monthly grant. Such increase is granted for periods not exceeding 18 months, and each period should be no less than 15 consecutive days. All the information and necessary forms (before and after the stay) are available on this page.

An internationalization fund is available for all doctoral students, whether with funding or not, to carry out activities abroad. All the information and the necessary form are available on this page.

Proposals for Cotutelle theses with foreign universities are to be examined and approved by the Faculty Council. The Cotutelle agreement cannot be initiated during the final year of the programme (3rd year) and, in addition to the agreement and the aforementioned approval of the Faculty Council, it should envisage: enrolment in a PhD programme at the University of Pisa (or, for incoming doctoral students, a foreign one); that the doctoral student is up to date with fees; that the doctoral student is required to carry out research at both universities in alternate periods.

The Cotutelle application shall be drawn up by the Supervisor according to the facsimile available on the University website. Applying lecturers and doctoral students can find all the necessary information on this page.

The lecturer can contact the relevant office at the following email address: cotutele@unipi.it; a DiLLeS doctoral student wishing to participate in a Cotutelle programme should open a ticket at the Virtual Desk.

In order to be a member of an Examination Committee and thus be able to question candidates, you must be appointed as an expert in the subject. You can apply for this appointment by contacting the lecturer in charge of the relevant subject. If your request is accepted, the lecturer will submit the appointment proposal to the Department Council.
For more precise information, please consult the relevant regulations.

In order to be able to take one or more examinations (maximum 25 credits for each academic year), doctoral students may enrol in individual courses, subject to authorization from the Faculty Council. All the information, such as fees and deadlines, can be found on the dedicated page.

The election of the two representatives to the Course Councils takes place every two years, in odd-numbered years. Information about how to stand as a candidate and voting procedures is available on the Official University Notice Board at election time. If you have any doubts, you can ask the representatives currently in charge.

Supervisors give a brief assessment of the research status of the PhD candidate they are supervising at the year-end presentations. They must therefore be present at the interviews. If they are unable attend for justified reasons, they may send their assessment to the Coordinator in writing. In any case, it is the Faculty Council that expresses and decides collectively whether doctoral students can be admitted to the following year on the basis of their annual activity reports and presentations.

Supervisors give a brief assessment of the research status of the PhD candidate they are supervising at the year-end presentations. They must therefore be present at the interviews. If they are unable attend for justified reasons, they may send their assessment to the Coordinator in writing. In any case, it is the Faculty Council that expresses and decides collectively whether doctoral students can be admitted to the following year on the basis of their annual activity reports and presentations.

If the third-year doctoral student is deemed eligible for the final examination and the dissertation is judged suitable for submission to the assessors, the Supervisor shall receive it by the 31st of the month in which the PhD cycle ends and within 15 days he/she shall propose to the Faculty Council, via the Coordinator, that it be sent to the external assessors or that an extension be granted (max. 60 days).

At the same time, the Supervisor shall also propose two assessors, indicating their affiliations, roles, disciplinary scientific sectors and email addresses. The Faculty Council will decide on the appointment. Assessors cannot be members of the DiLLeS Faculty Council.

The Supervisor will also send the extract of the minutes indicating the appointment, the pdf of the thesis and the Evaluation Form to the external assessors.

The Supervisor proposes to the Faculty Council the names of the members and substitute members of the Examination Committee, and sends the Coordinator and the Secretary their names, affiliations, roles, sectors and email addresses. He/she also proposes the date, time and place of the discussion.

The Coordinator submits the proposal to the Faculty Council, which deliberates on the matter. The Faculty Council’s resolution is then sent to the Department Director who issues the actual decree of appointment.

External assessors may be part of the Examination Committee. The Committee must be formed in accordance with Art. 20 of the University Regulations on PhD Programmes:

“The Committee is composed of at least 3 and no more than 5 members, chosen from among professors and researchers of Italian and foreign universities or belonging to research institutions active in disciplinary fields pertaining to the scientific areas of the PhD Programme, and specifically qualified in the issues addressed in the thesis. The Committee may be supplemented by no more than two experts belonging to public or private research institutions, including foreign ones, or possessing particular documented expertise on the subject of the thesis.”

Members of the DiLLeS Council may be part of the Examination Committee, including the Supervisor.

Faculty Council members are required to attend the meetings of the Faculty Council. If they are unable to attend, they are required to justify their absence by sending a message to the Coordinator with copy to the Secretary.

Please note that Art. 6, paragraph 9 of the University Regulations on PhD Programmes states that “if a member is absent without justification for three consecutive meetings or is absent from such meetings for one academic year, he/she shall forfeit his/her membership of the Faculty Council”.

See the answer to the question How does the Cotutelle system work?

The members of the Faculty Council may propose names of Italian and foreign colleagues for curricular conferences within the deadline set annually for the teaching programme. From among the proposals received, the Faculty Council chooses 5 conferences for the language curriculum and 5 for the literature curriculum, which will be held in March, April and May.

The proposers shall make arrangements with the guest and submit the proposed name, title and date of the conference together with the proposal. They will also take care of booking the classroom and of all the bureaucratic procedures for the reception and reimbursement of the guest.

Doctoral students are required to attend all the conferences scheduled for their curriculum.

Council members may request the sponsorship of the DiLLeS PhD Programme for events they organise also outside the standard period for curricular conferences, but such events cannot be considered part of the officially deliberated calendar of the activities. Doctoral students will be informed and invited to participate as an opportunity for personal growth and training, but participation will be voluntary and optional.

To apply for DiLLeS sponsorship, simply send a request to the Coordinator, providing details of the event. The Faculty Council will decide whether the event is suitable for sponsorship.

Only official events in the calendar of the activities are posted on the PhD website. However, in the case of events that may be of interest to doctoral students, you can send a message to the Coordinator and Secretary with all the relevant information. If they deem it appropriate, the information will be made available to the public.