The PhD admission process will rate the candidates against pre-established criteria that will gauge their preparatory skills and aptitude for scientific research. The complete selection procedure will include the following steps:
STEP 1. Admissibility and eligibility check
Candidates will be checked against the admissibility and eligibility criteria (deadline, submission systems, mobility rule, and correspondence to the definition of “early-stage researcher”). In cases of evident clerical error, the PhD Office may ask the candidate to provide missing information or supporting documents. If the missing information or document would substantially change the candidature, it will not be taken into account.
STEP 2. Evaluation
2a) Preliminary selection: According to the application form, candidates will be assessed on the basis of an evaluation grid. The members of the Evaluation Commissions will draft an Evaluation Report for each application and will meet to assign a final score to each candidate. During this phase, the candidates’ proposals for PhD research projects will also be evaluated and assigned a score. Candidates passing this quality threshold will be invited for interviews.
| Criteria for the Preliminary selection | Score | Weight |
| 1. Excellence of the candidate
Coherence and quality of his/her education |
Score 1: Range 0-5 Threshold 3/5 |
50% |
| 2. Excellence of the proposed research project
Coherence of the proposed research project in the advertised research sector |
Score 2: Range 0-5 Threshold 3/5 |
50% |
| Total Score (1 + 2) | Threshold 6/10 |
2b) Interview: The interview (about 30-45 minutes) will determine in detail the quality of the candidate, his/her planned PhD research project and his/her motivation. All interviews will be conducted by videoconference.
| Criteria for the Interview | Score | Weight |
| 1. Excellence of the candidate
Coherence and quality of his/her education |
Score 1: Range 0-5 Threshold 3/5 |
40% |
| 2. Excellence of the proposed research project
Clarity and pertinence of the objectives |
Score 2: Range 0-5 Threshold 3/5 |
40% |
| 3. Potential of the candidate
Coherence between the candidate’s motivation and career prospects |
Score 3: Range 0-5 No threshold |
20% |
| Total Score (1 + 2 + 3) | Threshold 6/15 |
STEP 3. Award decision
Following the evaluation process, if two or more candidates applying for the same PhD position have the same score, the candidate belonging to the less-represented gender (in first instance) or the youngest (in second instance) will be chosen. All candidates will be informed about the outcome of the selection process with an Evaluation Summary Report.