These rules and guidelines must be considered as specific additions to the general PhD course regulations at the IMT School for Advanced Studies. Further information (e.g., concerning the Coordinator, the Academic Board, the list of courses, and the list of seminars) is published on the IMT School website.
Each student is assigned a supervisor upon admission to the PhD program. The Academic Board may also evaluate the possibility of co-supervision.
During the first year, the PhD program provides four weeks of courses in Lucca (typically at the beginning of the year) organized as follows:
The first three weeks are dedicated to Introductory Courses. These courses aim to provide basic techniques, methods, and skills needed for cybersecurity research.
The fourth week is devoted to Advanced Courses: These courses focus on specific research topics of interest to the students. They are of shorter duration and may be designed for students who have selected specific curricula.
Additional Advanced Courses are offered later by the universities participating in the PhD Consortium. Any student registered for the PhD program can follow these courses online or in person.
In the first year, every student must follow all the Introductory Courses and any courses suggested by her/his supervisor. The examination format for each course (preparation of an essay, seminar, take-home assignments, formal examination, …) is decided by the course lecturer(s).
During the first year, students must select a multidisciplinary project on a research topic to be carried out in teams. The coordinator will provide a list of available projects: additional project proposals can be provided by the students. Ideally, each team will consist of students from different curricula. The project results will be presented during a 1st Year Final Workshop.
At the end of the first year, each student must prepare a proposal for her/his doctoral thesis, to be submitted to the school by September 30th. The thesis proposal, expected to be around 30 pages, should contain:
Presentation of both the research area and the research group within which the research will be carried out
Description of the state-of-the-art
Discussion of open problems in the area, of specific problems to be addressed, and of how the hypothesized solutions will advance the state-of-the-art
Methods and tools planned to be used
Possible cooperation with other PhD candidates
References to relevant documents.
For each thesis proposal, the Academic Board nominates a thesis committee composed of two experts not belonging to the candidate/supervisor institution. The committee evaluates the proposal based on scientific relevance, novelty, and feasibility, attends the student's presentation during the 1st Year Final Workshop, and provides an assessment.
The ultimate goal of the thesis proposal is to convince the committee that the student has sufficient knowledge of the field and has identified open problems that need exploration.
Admission to the second year, decided by the Academic Board, is based on performance in the courses, on the results of the multidisciplinary project, and on the evaluation of the thesis proposal.
Before the end of the 1st year, a final workshop is held in Lucca. The workshop is structured in two parts:
Presentation of the results of the selected multidisciplinary projects by the various teams
Presentation of the "thesis proposal" by the students.
At the end of the 2nd year, each student must prepare a 2nd year advancement document and submit it to the school by October 31st. The document, expected to be around 10 pages long, should contain:
Description of the research activities carried out, including:
Main achievements and progress of the research
List of written papers with descriptions of the student's contributions
Collaboration with other students and research groups
Research plan for the following year
List of teaching/tutoring activities (if any)
List of courses/schools attended (if any)
List of conferences/symposia/workshops attended (if any)
Description of periods spent abroad (if any)
Each 2nd-year advancement document is evaluated by the same committee that examined the thesis proposal. The evaluation will be crucial for the Academic Board to decide if the student is admitted to the final year.
Towards the end of the third year, preparation for the final defense follows this timeline:
By September 30: The advisor informs the coordinator that the student is completing the final dissertation, encloses the thesis abstract, and proposes two reviewers who have accepted to evaluate the dissertation.
By October 10: The student presents their work in an internal seminar and submits the preliminary version of the thesis to both the PhD office and the advisor, who then forwards it to the two reviewers.
By December 31: The advisor receives the reports from the reviewers. In case of positive reports, the coordinator proposes both the final examination committee and the examination date.
The final examination consists of a presentation of about 40 minutes by the student, followed by questions from the examination committee.