INTERNATIONAL PhD PROGRAM IN

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• INTERNATIONAL PhD PROGRAM IN
• IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY

Riccardo Alessandro, Full Professor of Biology
and Genetics Dep. Of Biopathology and Biomedical
and Forensic Biotechnologies
Palermo 18 03 2013
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PARTNERS OF THE PROGRAM
This Doctoral Program offers cutting edge
training in a variety of topics, covering
Immunology and Immunopathology, Immunology of
infectious diseases (particularly tuberculosis,
malaria and AIDS), Tumor immunobiology
(particularly tumor stem cells), Molecular and
Cellular Biology, Imaging, Pharmacology and
Pharmacogenomics.
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BOARD OF PROFESSORS
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Admission

• To be admitted to the PhD Programme, candidates
  must hold a university degree in the life
  sciences or medicine from an internationally
  recognized university or institution
• The access to the PhD Programme is regulated by a
  competitive examination
• The admission examination is taken in English
• The competition is focused on a suggested PhD
  proposal submitted by the candidate followed by
  an interview

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Proposal to PhD Project

• The manuscript should be in the form of a grant
  application
• Summary must be self-explanatory and
  intelligible without reference to the text.
• Hypothesis and specific objectives description
  of the main questions to be answered and the
  expected results to be obtained.
• Background containing a description of the
  problem under investigation and a survey of the
  existing literature on the subject.
• Workplan describing the methodology to be used
• Preliminary results within the group

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ADMISSION

• Interview with a Board of Examiners
• The Evaluation or Examining board in charge of
  competitive examinations at University of Palermo
  is composed by three members, one of each
  participating institution, all appointed by the
  Board of Professors

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PhD Thesis Defense

• To obtain the Italian PhD degree, during the
  third year students have to defend their thesis,
  which will be written in English (with extensive
  summaries in Italian language).
• It is recommended that, at the time of thesis
  presentation, the students have at least two
  articles published in international journals.
• The defence will take place in front of a
  committee composed by one professor from each
  participating Institution (with exclusion of the
  tutors) and one external representative,
  indicated by the Board of Professors, who has to
  be an expert in the scientific field of the
  thesis.
• To obtain the Swedish PhD degree, during the
  fourth year, students have to defend their final
  thesis at the University of Stockholm, in
  accordance with national laws and internal
  regulations.
• The PhD certificate is awarded from the
  University of Stockholm

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Interaction of PhD students with Supervisors

• How does the student find his/her supervisor ?
• Generally, the student has worked during the
  Master degree with his/her supervisor
• The Board of professors assigns the student to
  the supervisor depending by the proposed PhD
  project,
• The Board of professors assigns the student to
  the supervisor depending by the number of PhD
  students already working with the different
  available supervisors

• How does the student interact with his/her
  supervisor ?
• Almost all supervisors have, once a week, a lab
  meeting where the different research projects are
  discussed to evaluate progresses and to solve
  problems
• One-to-One meeting with each PhD student to
  discuss the progress of research project

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Mobility

• A mobility period of at least six months is
  mandatory for all PhD students
• The student mobility program will be developed
  within the Institutions which are part of the
  Agreement. However, for specific scientific
  needs, students may visit other universities and
  research institutions, which are not part of the
  Agreement. This has to be proposed to and
  approved by the Board of Professors.

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One PhD Student each year is hosted by Riken
Institute for a week. (Airflight, Accomodation
and Meals).
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External Scientific Advisory Board
The International PhD Program in
Immunopharmacology has appointed an external
Scientific Advisory Board, that meets at the end
of each academic year to provide guidance for
monitoring and evaluating the PhD Program and to
guarantee the quality of the PhD Program
Members - Dr. Maurizio Aricò, Director of
Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology,
University Hospital "Meyer", Florence, Italy -
Dr. Ruggero De Maria, Scientific Director of the
Oncology Institute of the Mediterranean, Catania,
Italy, and Director of the Department of
Hematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine,
National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy -
Dr.Federica Sallusto, Group Leader, Institute for
Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland.

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External Scientific Advisory Board
The Board of Professors performs regularly
monitoring of the scientific and educational
activities. To accomplish the aim, the students
annually through anonymous questionnaire, make an
assessment of the quality and satisfaction of the
PhD Program. The Board of Professors assesses
questionnaires, reports on the activities and
gives tips to optimize the PhD course
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EVALUATION FORM
C) Learning activities and support services
offered by the European PhD Course N. B.
Fill in the third column his approval under this
scheme Completely not
satisfied Not satisfied
Partially satisfied
Satisfied C1) Activities formal
education provided during the PhD Enter
the amount estimated in hours and the degree of
satisfaction with each type of activity
C2) Teaching activities provided during the
course of PhD Enter the amount
estimated in hours and the degree of satisfaction
with each type of activity
  Hours Satisfaction
Courses for PhD students    
University courses    
Individual lessons    
Lessons cycle    
Other    
  Hours Satisfaction
Participation in committees    
Lessons    
Seminars    
Tutorials to students    
Other    
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EVALUATION FORM
C3) Methods of conducting the research of the
candidate Enter for each mode, the
percentage of time devoted (total research
100) and the assessment of the degree of benefit
to their training.
  time Benefit
Individual research    
Research activities group    
C4) Period of research conducted abroad or in
other external institutions Indicate the time
spent in other foreign institutions and external
customer satisfaction.
Foreign istitutions Number of days Satisfaction
     
     
     
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EVALUATION FORM
C5) Facilities and equipment used during the PhD
course at the University Give your
opinion on adequacy of facilities/ equipment
used for scientific training of the research.
They are available in an appropriate manner?  
The technological level is adequate?  
C6) Support services for training activities and
research available at the University
Indicate the degree of satisfaction with services
provided in the European PhD.
Libraries  
Classrooms  
Areas of study  
Information on courses and teaching  
Support from teachers  
Facilities for staying abroad  
   
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EVALUATION FORM
D) Results of training. Enter the total
number of publications produced during the PhD
course, indicating the number of publications
carried out as the single author and / or with
other authors in the appropriate columns (attach
a list of publications)
  Number of publications Number of publications single author Number of publications with other authors
Publications on scientific journal      
Publications on foreign scientific journal      
Chapter/chapters book published in Italy      
Chapter/ chapters book published abroad      
Book published in Italy      
Book published abroad      
Abstract presentations in italian meetings      
Abstract presentations in abroad meetings      
Other      
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E) Further evaluations and suggestions on the
following points. Tips for a better
functioning of studies and services
Satisfaction of your studies related to the
congruence between the period of training and
level of learning-awaited, opportunity to find a
job, opening to the scientific community, etc.
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THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION