General Guidelines
The PhD is the highest level of specialized education recognised worldwide. In Italy, the selection of the PhD Candidates involves a competitive examination advertised in a yearly call. The call is generally issued in Spring. The lenght of our PhD Programme is 4 years and full scholarships are available for selected candidates.
Applications for PhD positions are open to students of all age and nationalities who obtained a second level degree (Master’s Degree level), which grants access to PhD studies.
It is only possible to submit an application to PhD Programs in reply to a Call for applications.
General information on PhD programs at the University of Turin is available on the website of the Doctoral School.
The specific rules that apply to all PhD programs of the University of Torino are available here.
The Vilfredo Pareto Doctoral Program in Economics is organized as follows:
Every Academic Year
1. Students must fill and keep up to date contact information (address, e-mail, telephone numbers) with the program’s office.
2. Twice yearly, enrolled students must prepare reports of all activities and of research progresses made during the previous six months. They must send the reports, by mid June and by mid December, to their Coordinator and supervisor(s). Supervisors will add their own assessment about the student’s performance and send the resulting document to the Program Coordinator. The Coordinator and the Faculty use this information in order to approve continued financial support and to decide whether to recommend that the student’s admission to the following year of the program.
3. Students must attend organizational meetings convened by the Coordinator. The student’s research should be discussed regularly with supervisor(s) and other faculty members. Each student should schedule appointments with the Coordinator to discuss progress whenever appropriate, and at least once per month.
4. Students who have not requested and obtained permission to attend a course program away from Turin must reside in the Turin metropolitan area. They are entitled to use the computer and office facilities of the doctoral program at Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin. They are expected to participate in the program’s activities, where attendance will be monitored.
5. Students are encouraged to work as teaching and research assistants. All these activities, as well as other paid or unpaid commitments, must however be ex-ante disclosed to the Coordinator. The Coordinator will discuss the compatibility of these activities with the doctoral program with the student and with the Faculty. Formal permission is necessary for some activities to be compatible with continued financial support.
6. Doctoral students generally attend first year courses. Student who fail to complete the first year graduate courses can be excluded from the doctoral program. Students who already hold postgraduate qualifications equivalent to a master’s degree may be admitted directly to the second year’s course program or receive some courses exemption.
7. In Spring of year 2, students present their research project to the Faculty in a presentation lasting 20′. Faculty members will attend and offer comments and suggestions.
8. By July 15th of the second year, students must file a brief thesis project with an indication of the topic and of the intended theoretical and/or empirical approach. The project must have been discussed with the appropriate faculty, and each student will discuss supervision arrangements with the Coordinator. A thesis supervisor (and, in exceptional cases, a co-supervisor) will be confirmed by the Faculty. A satisfactory presentation of suitable research is a necessary condition for admission to the third year.
Third Year
10. In Spring of the year 3, students deliver a presentation on their research progresses to the Faculty in a presentation lasting 40′. Faculty members will attend and offer comments and suggestions.
Fourth Year
11. In addition to the bi-annual reports (see art. 2 “Every Academic Year”), students must prepare an ad-hoc document including all the activities of the three years that will be sent to external reviewers. The deadline for sending the material is set for October, 1st at noon time.
Completion
12. The doctoral thesis (“tesi di dottorato”) must be completed and delivered to the supervisor and the Coordinator by the 1st of October (tentatively) of the student’s fourth year (possibly a single pdf file, with the different papers put in sequence). Lastly, Supervisor(s) will be required to provide a reasoned report and assessment in support of the student’s work that will circulate to the teaching committee.
14. The dissertation and the supervisor’s report are submitted to the Faculty. At a meeting convened on or before December 5th, the Faculty decides whether to admit the student to a final examination by a Committee of one internal and two external professors, proposed by the Faculty and appointed by the Rector of the University. If admitted, a revised final draft of the dissertation, addressing points raised by the supervisor and the Coordinator and by the Faculty, will be delivered in due time to the Committee appointed by the Rector.
15. Copies of the final draft are sent to the Committee’s members, who discuss it with the candidate at a special session convened early in the following calendar year. If the thesis is approved by the Committee, the student is granted the Doctorate (“Dottore di Ricerca”) degree from the University.
Dissertation
16. An acceptable dissertation consists of three essays, formatted as scientific papers, at least one of which should be of sufficient quality and originality for potential publication in a reputable refereed journal. It may also be organized in chapters and contain suitable material for a research monograph. In either case the dissertation should:
i) Identify the relevant issues and survey existing knowledge.
ii) Highlight the student’s own theoretical or empirical contribution.
iii) Clearly identify unresolved issues and directions for further research.
Any joint work must be clearly identified as such. At least one paper of the thesis must be single authored.