Final Examination and Final Paper

The doctoral thesis must:

• be written in Italian or English, or in another language with the approval of the Board of Lecturers;
• be accompanied by an abstract in Italian or English;
• ehave attached a report by the doctoral student on the activities carried out during the doctoral program and any publications.

The dissertation is evaluated by at least two highly qualified faculty members (evaluators), including those from foreign institutions, external to the entities that competed for the award of the doctoral degree.

The evaluators make a written analytical judgment on the thesis and propose its admission for public discussion or its postponement for a period not exceeding six months if they deem significant additions or corrections to be necessary. After this period, the thesis is in any case admitted for public discussion, accompanied by a new written opinion by the same evaluators, rendered in the light of any corrections or additions made.

The public discussion shall be held before a committee composed of:

• by three members, at least two of whom do not belong to the college itself, chosen from among university professors and researchers, Italian or foreign, specifically qualified in the topics of the doctorate;
• may be supplemented by no more than two experts belonging to public and private research facilities, including foreign ones, or with particular documented expertise in the doctoral topics.

At the end of the discussion, the thesis, by reasoned collegial written judgment, is approved or rejected. In case the thesis is rejected, it will no longer be possible to discuss it.

The committee, by unanimous vote, has the right to award honors in the presence of results of particular scientific significance.

Within thirty days after the discussion, the university shall deposit the thesis, also in electronic format, in the ministerial database and at the National Central Libraries in Rome and Florence. Subject to the College's authorization, parts of the thesis may be made unavailable in connection with the use of data protected by industrial secrecy under the relevant regulations. Likewise, it is also possible to obtain an "embargo" period, usually 6 months but extendable to up to a year, in which the entire paper remains inaccessible to the public for reasons of intellectual property protection. Obviously, the request must be supported by appropriate supporting documentation (e.g., patent application).

Deadlines
In order to be admitted to take the final examination for the degree of Ph.D., doctoral students are obligatorily required to do the following:

• complete the application for admission to the final examination using the appropriate form on the University website at: https://web.unisa.it/didattica/dottorati/segreteria/modulistica;
• fill out the AlmaLaurea questionnaire. To this end, if ever not registered to AlmaLaurea services, it is necessary to first access the registration procedure at the link: https://www3.almalaurea.it/cgi-bin/lau/laureandi/registrazione/index_atenei_al, and acquire the relevant access credentials;
• pay the stamp duty in the total amount of € 32.00;
• deliver to the Postgraduate Training Office by the date set by the University (usually December 14) the title page of the thesis, complete with the signatures of the Coordinator and Tutor, if any, the application for admission to the final exam and the receipt of the AlmaLaurea questionnaire.