The PhD

The vision of the Doctoral Programs has three main foundations: Interdisciplinary training, scientific rigor, and internationalization.

INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINING

All PhD students, in addition to developing their research projects under the supervision of their advisors and any co-advisors, will follow a common pathway consisting of cross-disciplinary teaching activities specifically organized for this purpose. These include soft skills, scientific writing and statistic courses with final exam. In addition, annual multidisciplinary workshops are organized, led by the PhD students themselves and jointly arranged with equivalent PhD programs at the Universities of Foggia and Udine. On these occasions, faculty members from the participating universities and/or invited keynote speakers of high scientific standing will open the sessions with transdisciplinary keynote lectures. During the PhD course students are required to attend seminars, chosen from those invited by the Coordinator, organized by UNICT, or others of their choice.

SCIENTIFIC RIGOR

Each PhD candidate will be assigned a supervisor (Tutor) belonging to at least one of the two participating institutions (University of Catania and the Federal University of Viçosa), as well as one or more co-supervisors affiliated with high-profile Italian or international scientific institutions. In addition, an student specific-advisory board composed of two researchers or professors—external to the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania—will be appointed; they will also be responsible for reviewing the annual reports of the first and second years. Among the various requirements for obtaining the degree are: the preparation of an annual report, which is submitted to the advisory board for approval in order to progress to the following year; a period of research activity abroad (see the section on internationalization); presentations at national and international conferences; and the publication of at least one scientific paper in high-impact journals ranked in the top two quartiles of Scopus or Web of Science. The thesis manuscript, written in English, is subject to review by two additional professors/researchers from institutions other than those involved in the program. In appointing thesis reviewers, priority is given to the requirements established for obtaining the titles of Doctor Europaeus and International Doctor. 

INTERNATIONALIZATION

The official language of the PhD program is English. All PhD candidates with scholarships, regardless of the type of funding, are required to undertake a period of study and research abroad lasting between six and eighteen months. The foreign institutions where candidates will carry out their activities are selected based on the specific scientific objectives identified by the candidate together with their supervisors and co-supervisors, giving priority to institutions with which mobility and/or research agreements are already in place and where obtaining joint or double degrees (co-tutelle) is facilitated. Among the institutions partnered with the University of Catania, particular prominence is given to the Federal University of Viçosa, as an associated university, as well as the universities within the RE-EUNICE alliance, of which the University of Catania is a member, and all those institutions participating in Erasmus+ study agreements and Erasmus KA projects.

Due to its interdisciplinary nature covering all sectors of Area 07, the Ph.D. course aims at training professional figures qualified for both pure and applied research in the domain of agriculture, food and environment, capable of: