Structure of the educational offer:

Main purpose of the educational offer is to allow PhD students to delve into advanced research topics in Physics or similar related interdisciplinary subjects. In line with the majority of Italian universities, the total load - set at 18 FCs / ECTS  -  is divided into:

a) minimum of 12 ECTS of courses completed with exams relating to research topics (or increasing of knowledge) in the field of Physics, or interdisciplinary subjects related to the scientific path;

b) further 6 credits must be acquired either through attendance at the courses referred to in the previous point a), or by means of other educational activities, not necessarily completed with a final evaluation.

Courses, concluded with an exam, on research topics or expansion of knowledge (min. 12 ECTS)

Most of these courses will be organized so as to be recognized for FCs, with possible division into modules (typically 1-2 FCs) which could be used independently. The number of courses with final exam may therefore be different. The typology of these courses is as follows:

A) Courses of the Master's degree (LM) in Physics, or other study courses

These courses are very useful for strengthening the preparation of PhD students coming from other universities, and in particular for foreign students for whom Master's degrees are on average of a less advanced level than ours. Since with the new educational structure of the Master's degree (LM) courses will be organized with modules of 6 FCs, due to the lower study commitment required for an "already graduated" student, these courses will entail for a PhD student a recognition of 4 FCs.

Except in special cases, to be submitted to the PhD faculty staff/Coordinator, more than one LM course should not be taken. In few, exceptional cases, subject to authorization from the PhD faculty staff/Coordinator, it will be possible to take advantage of LM courses from other universities.

B) Doctoral courses within the Physics Department

As concerns AI and Computing fields it will be possible to freely choose courses offered to their students by the PhD programs in Computational Intelligence as well as those linked to the PhD in Quantum Technologies. Therefore, some large topic areas remain:

1) Theoretical Physics            

2) Astrophysics 

3) Astroparticle Physics

4) Nuclear and Subnuclear Physics

5) Structure of matter

6) Geophysics

7) Biomedical Physics

8) Interdisciplinary

The definitive definition of the catalog of the courses will be published by the end of 2024.

C)  PhD courses from other universities or institutions:

In recent times, excellent academic institutes have developed, that only carry out research PhD educational activities (e.g. SISSA, Trieste; or GSSI, L'Aquila; SSM – Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples). These institutions offer a very high level of training on very specific topics; it will be possible attend these courses up to a maximum of 6 credits, subject to prior approval from the PhD faculty staff / Coordinator.

The courses of other institutes also include some courses resulting from an agreement between the universities of Bari, Caserta, Lecce and Naples (catalogue of the so-called SUPRA courses), which will be reformulated after the redefinition of the B courses), so that these courses can serve as enrichment and completion, avoiding overlapping content.

The external courses that can be chosen obviously include those of the PhD programs of the SPB - Polytechnic School and Basic Sciences of our university.

D) PhD Schools with final evaluation: in particular cases, to be submitted to the approval by the Coordinator/PhD faculty staff, Schools with a final evaluation exam up to a maximum of 4 ECTS may also be considered as courses with exams, till no more than 4 FCs.

Other training activities (max. 6 ECTS)

These activities serve to complete the educational courses and mainly include:

A) "soft-skill" courses, up to a maximum of 3 credits: this limitation is in line with what happens in the major Italian universities.

B) other educational activities for a minimum of 3 ECTS (e.g. PhD schools, cycles of specific lessons, seminars). In particular, the PhD student must participate in at least one school of a specific nature for his/her training; transversal/interdisciplinary educational schools are also strongly recommended. Participation in schools is strongly encouraged through the preferential use of Departmental funds assigned to each PhD student.

For schools/seminars, 1 FC will be taken for 8 hours of activity. Other training activities may also be taken into consideration subject to authorization by the PhD faculty staff/Coordinator.

Special regulations

Since it is not possible to foresee all the types of Doctoral courses which are rapidly and continuously evolving and could have specific binding conditions on the educational activity, the Board reserves the right to examine on a case-by-case basis to authorize courses that do not correspond to the proposed scheme.   

Responsibilities of the tutor/supervisor

The tutor/supervisor must play an active role as the first interface between the PhD student and the PhD faculty staff/Coordinator. Together with the tutor, the PhD student must discuss/organise the educational program, in order to make it balanced and coherent with his/her scientific path.

Timing schedule

- at least 8 ECTS of courses with exams and a School within the first year

- 12 ECTS of courses with exams must be completed within the second year

- completion of other activities during the third year.

The PhD educational program is defined by the requirements which must be fulfilled by graduate students to achieve the Research Doctorate degree.

The detailed educational program is approved by the Faculty committee governing the PhD program.

The current PhD educational program (40th cycle, and previous cycles still active) can be downloaded at this link.

The main lines of the program are stable enough and are as follows:

• The normal duration of the PhD program is of three years. If the doctoral dissertation requires further work it is possible postponing the deadline of the thesis presentation by no more than 6 months (not extending the fellowship).
   
• The official language of the program is English. All courses specifically offered for the PhD program are given in English. The final dissertation or thesis must be written in English. The intermediate reports and seminars must be in English.
   
• By the end of each year, every graduate student shall write a report on his/her study and research activities and normally also present his/her research activity in a seminar. At the end of every academic year (in October), the program Faculty Committee will decide on the admission to the subsequent year and, in the third year, to the final examination.
   
• During the three years, but preferentially in the beginning of the program, all the PhD students will have to attend some coursework and pass the corresponding exams.
   
• Normally by the end of the first year, each PhD student will have to define his/her research plan for the final dissertation and choose an advisor (called "tutor") from within the PhD program faculty (this is an upper limit; ordinarily the research should start as soon as possible).

• All graduate students during the three years of the program must have at least one experience of contact with the international scientific community, such as a research visit at some research group abroad or attending an international conference or scientific school.
   
• The results of the researches performed during the PhD program must be written down in a doctoral dissertation (or thesis). This dissertation will be the main subject of evaluation in the final examination (or dissertation "defense") for the awarding of the research doctor's degree. Some months before the conclusion of the third year the Faculty Committee will select two external referees (scientists not belonging to the Federico II university) who will evaluate the thesis work of the PhD candidate. Their reports will specify if the thesis is admitted to its defense in the ordinary session (2-3 months after the deadline of the PhD program), or - in case some further revision is required - in the extraordinary session (6 months later).

Here is the list of courses offered for the 40th cycle - and previous still alive cycles - from the PhD School in Physics.

This list also includes some further courses (--> SUPRA) organized in collaboration among the PhD Schools in Physics of the University of Bari "A. Moro", the University of Salento, Lecce, the Campania University "L. Vanvitelli", Caserta, and the University of Naples "Federico II" .

However, the choice is not limited to these courses, as also courses offered for the Master of Science or for other PhD programs can be chosen.

Courses will be activated only if selected by at least two graduate students. Courses selected by a single student can be often converted into "supervised reading".