Study Programme - XXI Cycle
PhD Programme XXIst Cycle - Updated timetable for the Final Examination - Click for more info!
Distribution of credits on the 3 Years
1st year
- Lectures of type a), b), c), d), e), f), g) or h) – 32 CP
- First-year Ph.D. final examination – 28 CP
2nd year
- Lectures of type a), b), c), d), e), f), g) or h) – 32 CP
- Second-year Ph.D. final examination – 28 CP
3rd year
- Entrance examination for the discussion of Ph.D. title acquisition – 28 CP
- Discussion of Ph.D. thesis – 32 CP
Type and Credits of Lectures
a) Lectures offered by the BSc and MSc Degree Courses - 4 credits
- Computational Logic
- Intelligent Agents
- Mobile Services
- Multimedia and Hypermedia Systems
- Requirement Engineering
- Software Testing
- System Security
b) Lectures specific to the Ph.D. program - 4 credits
- Dynamic Informations
- Foundations of KRDB
- KRDB Technologies
- Management of Software Evolution
- Operations in Software Engineering
c) Monographic lectures and classes based on a bibliography, planned together with the candidate’s faculty supervisor, with regular presentations by the student in the context of Faculty Seminars - 8 credits
- Talk in Software Engineering 1
- Talk in Software Engineering 2
- Talk in Knowledge Representation 1
- Talk in Knowledge Representation 2
- Talk in Databases and Information Systems 1
- Talk in Databases and Information Systems 2
d) Instructional meetings based on projects agreed upon with the candidate’s faculty supervisor - 16 credits
- Research Project in Databases and Information Systems 1
- Research Project in Databases and Information Systems 2
- Research Project in Knowledge Representation 1
- Research Project in Knowledge Representation 2
- Research Project in Software Engineering 1
- Research Project in Software Engineering 2
e) Lectures based on participation in Faculty Research Seminars held by internal and external speakers - 4 credits
- Advanced Seminars in Software Engineering
- Advanced Seminars in Knowledge Representations
- Advanced Seminars in Databases and Information Systems
f) Activities carried out within the scope of the Ph.D. courses of partner universities
- The type and number of points of credit of this activity are determined by arrangement with the partner universities
g) Participation in specialised national and international Summer School programmes - 20 credits
The Summer School programmes which may be attended by Ph.D. students for credit include, among others:
- European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information
- Markdoberdorf Advanced Study Institute of the NATO Science Committee and the Institut für Informatik Technische Universität München
- Summer School on Foundations of Computing Science
- LASER Summer School in Software Engineering
h) Publications - 12 credits
- Scientifically relevant publications in journals and at conferences in the scientific disciplinary areas
Downloadable Exam Records - Needed for registration of credits
a) Lectures offered by the BSc and MSc Degree Courses - 4 credits
b) Lectures specific to the PhD Program - 4 credits
c) Monographic lectures and classes based on a bibliography, planned together with the candidate’s faculty supervisor, with regular presentations by the student in the context of Faculty Seminars - 8 credits
d) Lectures based on projects agreed upon with the candidate’s faculty supervisor - 16 credits
e) Lectures based on participation in Faculty Research Seminars held by internal and external speakerss - 4 credits
f) Activities carried out within the scope of the Ph.D. courses of partner universities
g) Participation in specialised national and international Summer School programmes - 20 credits
h) Publications - 12 credits
Study Program
Organisation of the Course of Study
The Ph.D. program lasts three (3) years, and its official language is English.
The Ph.D. program requires the completion of 180 credits (60 per year) overall.
Ph.D. students must be committed full-time to activities related to the Ph.D. program.
The first year is mainly dedicated to the deepening of each Ph.D. student’s basic knowledge. This is achieved through attendance of lectures and classes, offered together with the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science courses, which cover the subjects that are relevant to the research area of the Ph.D. program, as well as specific Ph.D. lectures and classes, in which new techniques and the results of current research in specific research areas are presented. The goal of these lectures and classes is to help the student to choose a topic of research on which to build her/his thesis.
Within two months of the completion of the selection procedure, each Ph.D. candidate is assigned a faculty supervisor: either one of the academic faculty personnel or researchers with short-term contracts, who must possess a Ph.D. degree.
The supervisor and the Ph.D. candidate compile a proposal for the course of study, containing the following elements:
- the specific aspects of the research topic to which the Ph.D. candidate will devote himself and, according to these, a possible secondary supervisor is named;
- a plan for completing the required 180 credits to acquire the Ph.D. title based on the general criteria of the program.
The college of professors finally evaluates this proposal, either approving it or making suggestions for possible changes.
At the end of the first year, the Ph.D. candidate presents a written report of his the research work he has completed, in accordance with the current version of the Free University of Bolzano’s regulations concerning Ph.D. research programmes, article 26, as well as a suggestion about the research area of the Ph.D. work.
The candidate then performs the final exam for the first year before the board of professors in a public meeting, consisting of a general discussion of the Ph.D. topics and a discussion regarding the suggestion of research area.
Based on the written report and the final examination, the board of professors decides whether or not to grant permission to advance to the second academic year of the Ph.D. program, and assigns the planned credits.
The remaining two years are focussed on research activity, in particular:
a) active participation in research projects, especially those carried out by the faculty,
b) participation to conferences, schools and seminars; presentation of research results both at conferences and in publications,
c) preparation of the Ph.D. thesis.
The highest priority of the faculty of Computer Science is the formation of cooperative relationships with the world’s top universities in the Ph.D. candidate’s research field, with the goal of promoting efficient internationalisation of their Ph.D. courses.
Therefore, the college of professors promotes the performance of the Ph.D. work by organising visits (of up to 18 months) to national and international research centres, as well as by various kinds of cooperative support. To this end, co-operation with the universities of Aalborg, Klagenfurt, Saarbrücken, Salamanca, Vilnius, Reykjavik and Zürich is already active.
At the end of the second year, the Ph.D. candidate presents to the college of professors a written report of the current research work in accordance with article 26 of the Free University of Bolzano’s current regulations concerning Ph.D. research programmes, including the following:
- a proposal for the Ph.D. thesis;
- the list of the works presented or published, with copies attached.
The candidate then takes the final exam for the second year before the board of professors in a public meeting, consisting of a general discussion of the Ph.D. topics and a discussion regarding the suggestion of the research area.
Based on the written report and the final examination, the board of professors decides whether or not to grant permission to advance to the third academic year of the Ph.D. program, and assigns the planned credits.
Two months before the end of the final year of study, the Ph.D. candidate must submit a request for permission to take the final examination, together with a first draft of the Ph.D. thesis, which must already have been approved by the candidate’s faculty supervisor.
This Ph.D. thesis must be original and innovative, following the rules of the art of written research work. This is discussed by the college of professors in a public meeting.
Based on the Ph.D. thesis and this discussion, the college of professors decides whether or not to grant permission to take the final exam and receive the Ph.D. degree, and assigns the planned credits.
One month before the end of the last year, the candidate must submit a final version of the Ph.D. thesis, previously authorized by the candidate’s faculty supervisor.
At the end of the last year, the candidate takes the final examination to achieve the Ph.D. title.
This exam is held before an exam commission, in accordance with article 29 and the following applicable articles of the current regulations concerning Ph.D. research programmes of the Free University of Bolzano.
Based on the final examination, the exam commission delivers an evaluation, decides whether the candidate has passed the examination, and assigns the intended credits. The title of “Dottore di Ricerca” (Philosophiæ Doctor) is awarded after the candidate has passed the final examination.
Lectures and Research Activity
Considering that the Ph.D. represents the preparation for a broad and multifaceted scientific research work, several kinds of training activities are planned, among which:
a) lectures offered by the Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Degree Courses of the Free University of Bolzano;
b) lectures specific to the Ph.D. program;
c) monographic lectures and classes based on a bibliography, planned together with the candidate’s faculty supervisor, with regular presentations by the student in the context of Faculty Seminars;
d) lectures based on projects agreed upon with the candidate’s faculty supervisor;
e) lectures based on participation in Faculty Research Seminars held by internal and external speakers;
f) activities carried out within the scope of the Ph.D. courses of partner universities;
g) participation in specialised national and international Summer School programmes;
h) publications.
Lectures and courses of type a) for 4 credits:
- Computational Logic
- Intelligent Agents
- Mobile Services
- Multimedia and Hypermedia Systems
- Requirement Engineering
- Software Testing
- System Security
Lectures and courses of type b) for 4 credits:
- Dynamic Informations
- Foundations of KRDB
- KRDB Technologies
- Management of Software Evolution
- Operations in Software Engineering
Lectures and courses of type c) for 8 credits:
- Talk in Software Engineering 1
- Talk in Software Engineering 2
- Talk in Knowledge Representation 1
- Talk in Knowledge Representation 2
- Talk in Databases and Information Systems 1
- Talk in Databases and Information Systems 2
Lectures and courses of type d) for 16 credits:
- Research Project in Databases and Information Systems 1
- Research Project in Databases and Information Systems 2
- Research Project in Knowledge Representation 1
- Research Project in Knowledge Representation 2
- Research Project in Software Engineering 1
- Research Project in Software Engineering 2
Lectures and courses of type e) for 4 credits:
- Advanced Seminars in Software Engineering
- Advanced Seminars in Knowledge Representations
- Advanced Seminars in Databases and Information Systems
Activities of type f):
The type and number of points of credit of this activity are determined by arrangement with the partner universities.
Activities of type g) for 20 credits:
The Summer School programmes which may be attended by Ph.D. students for credit include, among others:
- European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information
- Markdoberdorf Advanced Study Institute of the NATO Science Committee and the Institut für Informatik Technische Universität München
- Summer School on Foundations of Computing Science
- LASER Summer School in Software Engineering
Activities of type h) for 12 credits:
- Scientifically relevant publications in journals and at conferences in the scientific disciplinary areas (INF/01 und ING-INF/05)
All lectures, classes and activities listed above are in the scientific discipline areas INF/01 and ING-INF/05.
Moreover, the students receive credits for the following activities, if they are evaluated positively:
- First-year Ph.D. final examination (28 credits)
- Second-year Ph.D. final examination (28 credits)
- Entrance examination for the discussion of Ph.D. title acquisition (28 credits)
- Discussion of Ph.D. thesis (32 credits)