1st Year – Instructions for Use (September 2026)
For regulations and general information about the PhD Programme, please refer to the University webpages (https://www.unipi.it/en/education/courses/phd-programmes/; information for PhD students and PhD graduates: https://www.unipi.it/en/education/courses/phd-programmes/information-for-phd-and-phd-students/) and to the Department website (https://phd-dafe.agr.unipi.it), where you will find extensive information.
1. English Language
The official language of the Programme is English. Therefore, all official documents must be written in English, including research projects, reports and all presentations.
During the first year, PhD students are required to attend a compulsory English course. You will be contacted by the University Language Centre and will attend the course at its facilities.
During the second year, you will be required to attend an additional compulsory English course with a stronger focus on scientific communication.
2. PhD student Representatives on the PhD Board
Two PhD students are ex officio members of the PhD Board. Elections are held every two years, usually in early November.
Representatives should preferably be elected from among first- or second-year PhD students, so that the student positions on the Board do not become vacant and PhD students remain continuously represented.
3. Funds
PhD students are provided with research funds, amounting to approximately €1,600 per year, although the exact amount may vary from year to year. This is the so-called “10% contribution”, provided by the University, the Department or the supervisors, depending on the type of scholarship.
These funds may be used exclusively for:
- travel and participation in conferences;
- consumable materials, such as reagents, required for the doctoral research project.
All expenditures charged to these funds must be authorised by the PhD Coordinator.
Unused funds may be carried over to subsequent years.
For any information concerning these funds, please contact dottorato@agr.unipi.it, rather than the PhD Coordinator.
If you wish to attend a conference, travel for sampling activities, conduct field measurements, learn new laboratory protocols, or undertake a research stay abroad (see below), you must request travel authorisation in advance, as described in the following section.
If you need to purchase consumable materials, prior authorisation is also required. Please ask your supervisor for the relevant forms. The forms and procedures are the same as those used by academic staff, except that neither you nor your supervisor should sign the purchase order and accompanying documents. Instead, these documents must be sent to dottorato@agr.unipi.it so that they can be signed by the PhD Coordinator and assigned the appropriate fund code.
4. Travel and Missions
Any official travel for which reimbursement is requested from PhD Programme funds must first be authorised by the PhD Coordinator and subsequently by the Head of the Department.
Administrative procedures for travel for which no reimbursement is requested from PhD Programme funds are the responsibility of the supervisor, not the PhD Coordinator.
Travel authorisation must be requested through the University portal: https://start.unipi.it/missioni-fuori-sede/, where full instructions are available. Requests must be submitted at least five days before the planned departure date. The portal will automatically forward the request to the PhD Coordinator and the Head of the Department for final approval.
For particularly expensive travel or conference registration fees, it is possible to request an advance reimbursement or to ask the DiSAAA-a Administrative Office to issue a purchase order for registration. In such cases, the request must be submitted together with the travel authorisation request and at least one month before departure. The following details of the organisation receiving the payment must also be provided:
- legal name;
- full address;
- telephone number and/or email address;
- VAT number;
- IBAN.
Before travelling, PhD students must verify that their travel request has been formally authorised.
After the trip has been completed, reimbursement of expenses can be requested online. The following original documentation must nevertheless be submitted:
- receipts for meals and accommodation;
- travel tickets and boarding passes;
- certificate of attendance at the conference, course or other event; alternatively, a copy of the invitation letter issued by the organiser;
- receipts for electronic payments by credit card, debit card or prepaid card, which are mandatory for expenses incurred in Italy.
Please pay particular attention to eligible expenses and to the documentation required for reimbursement. Expenses that are not properly documented will not be reimbursed.
For example, invoices issued in the name of the Department but paid directly by the PhD student will not be reimbursed.
If you have any doubts about the type of supporting documentation required for an advance payment or reimbursement, you should contact the staff member responsible for travel administration before incurring the expense.
You are advised to keep copies of all documents submitted with your reimbursement request.
The reimbursement request must reach the Administrative Office within 30 days of the end of the trip.
If a trip has been completed without requesting reimbursement, or if the trip has been cancelled, please close the online procedure accordingly so that the request does not remain unnecessarily open and increase the administrative workload.
For information on maximum daily allowances for meals and accommodation, as well as other rules concerning official travel, please read carefully the University of Pisa PhD general regulation (link) and consult the documentation available at: https://start.unipi.it/missioni-fuori-sede/
5. Research Stay Abroad
PhD students are strongly encouraged, in agreement with their supervisors, to undertake a research stay abroad during the PhD Programme. Supervisors are expected to support the organisation of the stay and must countersign the relevant request.
A research stay of at least six months is recommended, preferably during the second year.
PhD students receiving a scholarship are entitled to an increase in their scholarship during periods spent abroad:
They may also receive at least partial support for travel costs, provided that a travel authorisation request is submitted in advance.
In all cases, a research stay abroad must be formally authorised by the PhD Board. You must therefore submit a request to the PhD Coordinator at least one month before departure, including:
- a letter of acceptance from the host university or research institution;
- start and end dates of the stay;
- name of the host research institution;
- name of the local supervisor;
- a brief explanation of the purpose of the stay.
Your supervisor must agree with the proposed stay and should therefore be copied into the email requesting authorisation.
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PhD students are strongly encouraged, in agreement with their supervisors, to undertake a research stay abroad during the PhD Programme. Supervisors are expected to support the organisation of the stay and must countersign the relevant request.
A research stay of at least six months is recommended, preferably during the second year.
PhD students receiving a scholarship are entitled to an increase in their scholarship during periods spent abroad:
They may also receive at least partial support for travel costs, provided that a travel authorisation request is submitted in advance.
In all cases, a research stay abroad must be formally authorised by the PhD Board. You must therefore submit a request to the PhD Coordinator at least one month before departure, including:
- a letter of acceptance from the host university or research institution;
- start and end dates of the stay;
- name of the host research institution;
- name of the local supervisor;
- a brief explanation of the purpose of the stay.
Your supervisor must agree with the proposed stay and should therefore be copied into the email requesting authorisation.
6. Internship in a Company
PhD students whose scholarship requires a compulsory internship in a company must also obtain formal authorisation from the PhD Board.
The request must be submitted to the PhD Coordinator at least one month before the start of the internship and must include:
- a letter of acceptance from the company;
- start and end dates of the internship;
- name of the company;
- name of the local supervisor;
- a brief explanation of the purpose of the internship.
Your supervisor must agree with the proposed internship and should therefore be copied into the request email.
7. Publications
To be admitted to the final PhD examination, PhD students must have published at least one paper related to their doctoral thesis topic in an indexed international scientific journal during the three-year Programme.
8. Extension of the PhD Period
Between 1 April and 30 June of the third year, PhD students may, in agreement with their supervisors, formally request an extension of the PhD period of up to 12 months (without salary).
The relevant procedure is described on the University website: https://www.unipi.it/en/education/courses/phd-programmes/information-for-phd-and-phd-students/phd-extension/
9. Final Examination
General rules concerning the final examination and the award of the PhD degree are available at:
By the end of the third year, for PhD students who have not requested an extension within the prescribed deadline (see previous section), or by the end of the extension period for PhD students who were granted an extension in the previous year, students must publicly present the results of their three years of research to the PhD Board in an in-person meeting.
Before the meeting, PhD students must make available to the Board:
- a draft of the doctoral thesis;
- the report on activities carried out during the third year, prepared according to the template used for annual progression.
Following approval by the PhD Board and a favourable opinion from the supervisors (evaluation template), third-year PhD students may proceed with finalising the thesis and submitting it to external reviewers, who are formally appointed by the PhD Board following suggestions from the supervisors.
Students may request an extension of one or two months to the deadline for submission of the thesis to the external reviewers, if additional time is required to complete the manuscript.
The thesis may be sent to the external reviewers by the PhD student or by the supervisors. In either case, phd_coordinator@agr.unipi.it must be copied into the email.
External reviewers have 30 days to complete their review and return the completed and signed review form. They must indicate whether:
- the thesis is suitable for admission to the final defence, which must take place within three months of receipt of the second external review; or
- substantial revision of the thesis is required.
In the latter case, the PhD student has six months to make the requested revisions and resubmit the thesis to the external reviewers.
Once favourable opinions have been received from both external reviewers, PhD students may, in agreement with their supervisors, proceed with finalising the thesis and organising the final examination.
The formal steps required for completion of the PhD are described at: https://www.unipi.it/en/education/courses/phd-programmes/information-for-phd-and-phd-students/phd-final-examination/
For the organisation of the final examination, the PhD student and the supervisors are responsible for:
- identifying the members of the examination committee;
- agreeing on the date of the examination;
- identifying the examination venue;
- choosing whether the examination will be held in person, remotely or in hybrid format;
- booking a physical room or creating a virtual meeting room;
- forwarding this information to the PhD Coordinator.
The Coordinator will then formally transmit this information, either through an urgent deliberation or a resolution of the PhD Board, to the Office of the Director of the Department, who is responsible for the official appointment of the examination committee.
The examination committee will send copies of the official examination records both to the University and to the PhD Coordinator.
Newly awarded PhD graduates must also send the Coordinator, within 30 days of the final examination, the final report prepared in MS Word using the official template.
The report will be checked, completed where necessary and signed by the Coordinator, who will then forward it to the University administration for formal closure of the student’s academic record and issuance of the PhD degree.
10. Doctor Europaeus
Under certain conditions concerning the location and duration of the research stay abroad, the external reviewers and the composition of the final examination committee, PhD candidates may apply for the Doctor Europaeus designation for their doctoral degree.
The relevant requirements and procedures are described on the University website:
11. Teaching Activities
If you are interested and your supervisor agrees, you may undertake up to 30 hours of teaching-related activities as a teaching assistant, for example by giving seminars or supporting practical classes.
These activities must in all cases be formally authorised by the PhD Board.
ACTIVITIES SCHEDULED FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF THE PHD PROGRAMME
Mid-December
PhD students will present their research project to the PhD Board. The presentation should last approximately 10 minutes and should be supported by PowerPoint slides.
The research project must be agreed with the supervisor.
The project must be written in English using the dedicated Word template and sent to the PhD Coordinator at least 4–5 days before the PhD Board meeting.
The project will either be approved or amendments will be requested.
During the same PhD Board meeting, which will normally be held in person, the two supervisors of each newly enrolled PhD student will also be formally appointed.
December to June
During this period, you will be required to attend a number of courses organised by the University for all PhD students. These constitute the so-called cross-disciplinary training activities.
Cross-disciplinary courses, including the compulsory English course, are generally held during the first part of the first year.
You should be contacted by the relevant University offices regarding registration procedures and dates. However, you are strongly advised to regularly check the University webpage: https://www.unipi.it/en/education/courses/cross-disciplinary-courses/ to ensure that you do not miss any required activities.
The PhD Programme also organises a compulsory Statistics course and a compulsory course on Publishing in International Journals. You will receive information about these courses directly from the lecturers.
During the year, additional seminars and short courses, which may be compulsory or optional, will also be organised. Information will be provided to you and published in the teaching calendar available on the PhD Programme website.
If you and your supervisor consider it necessary, you may also attend specific courses offered within Master’s degree programmes in order to fill gaps in your academic background.
Training activities are an essential component of the PhD Programme. Attendance is compulsory according to the criteria specified in the PhD Programme Regulations and on the following webpage: https://phd-dafe.agr.unipi.it/phd-programme-in-agriculture-food-and-environment/general-information-on-the-phd-programme/#attivita.
Completion of the required training activities is necessary for admission to the following year.
Any changes to the approved training programme must be requested in advance and authorised by the PhD Coordinator.
During the second year, you will be required to attend an additional compulsory English course with a stronger focus on scientific communication. You will be contacted directly by the University Language Centre.
End of October
At the end of October, PhD students must submit a written annual activity report.
The report must include:
- research activities carried out during the year;
- training activities completed;
- a brief work programme for the following year.
You will use the same document file originally used to prepare the research project.
The report must be countersigned by both supervisors and prepared using the same template previously used for the research project.
You will also present the report using PowerPoint slides according to the provided template during a PhD Board meeting attended by all first-, second- and third-year PhD students, each of whom will present their annual activities.
Based on the written report and oral presentation, the PhD Board will decide whether each PhD student may progress to the following year.
In the event of an unfavourable assessment, the student will be required to withdraw from the PhD Programme.