The Doctorate is the highest academic degree that can be earned in Italy in an academic setting. It is equivalent to the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Anglo-Saxon countries. The main objective of the doctoral program is to teach the methods of scientific research—whether pure or applied—within the chosen discipline.

The Ph.D. in Physics is offered and administered by the "Ettore Pancini" Department of Physics at the University of Naples "Federico II," in collaboration with the INFN – Naples Section, the CNR – SPIN, the INAF – Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory, and the NGV.

The scientific community within which the Ph.D. program operates includes over 150 university faculty members and researchers, in addition to about a hundred researchers from the participating institutions and several dozen fellows, grant recipients, and other contract researchers. On average, there are over 50 Ph.D. students enrolled across the three active cohorts. Starting with the 22nd cohort, 20–30% of admitted Ph.D. students are international.

The research topics of the Department and the participating institutions cover virtually all the classical disciplines of physics (theoretical, nuclear, subnuclear, matter physics, astrophysics, geophysics, biomedical physics, etc.) and, in some cases, interdisciplinary topics as well. For more details, we recommend browsing the research section of the Department's website and the websites of the institutions listed above.

The vast majority of enrolled doctoral students successfully complete the program within the three-year timeframe and thus earn their degree. Earning a Ph.D. is now an essential step for pursuing a career in science or university teaching, although it can also be valuable for non-research careers that require high-level expertise and a scientific mindset (e.g., patent offices, innovation management in the corporate sector, and independent professional practice).

The number of PhD holders with the title "Doctor Europaeus" is on the rise (there were 2 in the 35th cycle; in the 36th, as many as three), and the composition of the final examination committees—in accordance with the provisions of the new University Regulations—is becoming increasingly international and specialized, allowing the scientific quality of our doctoral students to be recognized in a very broad context.

We also promote the completion of theses under joint supervision—either by having a Federico II PhD student transfer to a partner university abroad or by hosting PhD students from other countries under joint supervision.

Course Objectives

The primary educational objective is for doctoral candidates to acquire the skills and methodologies necessary to conduct scientific research—both fundamental and applied—in the field of physics or related disciplines, or even in interdisciplinary areas between physics and other disciplines. An additional educational objective is the acquisition of advanced knowledge—both foundational and specialized—relating to at least one specific area of physics or a related discipline. Doctoral students conclude their program with publications in peer-reviewed international journals. The official language of the program is English.

Theses and Scientific Publications

Almost always, students' research is published in international scientific journals, often highly prestigious ones. Journal publications, theses, patent filings, the development of instruments or software, etc., are also managed in accordance with open science principles, taking into account the necessary measures regarding intellectual property protection.

In particular, theses are deposited and made available on the fedOA - Federico II Open Archive, the open archive of digital documents at the University of Naples Federico II.

Ph.D. Program Subcommittee of the Steering Committee

Consultation with stakeholders is a fundamental element of the planning process. With this in mind, a subsection of the Steering Committee of the Department of Physics will soon be established, in which the main stakeholders will participate: a) representatives of public research institutions (e.g., INFN, INAF, CNR, INGV, ENEA) that have funded numerous fellowships in the recent past; b) representatives from various companies in the advanced technology sector—both public (e.g., ENI, Leonardo) and private—that have participated in numerous doctoral projects such as PON-2014-2020; c) several colleagues from foreign universities or research centers.

Orientation Activities for New Doctoral Students in Physics:

In general, research orientation activities are extremely widespread during the final year of the Master's program in Physics, since in the vast majority of cases, students write a thesis focusing on advanced research topics at the Department's various laboratories and/or at national or international physics research centers. As part of the orientation activities for future Ph.D. students organized by the SPB—the University's School of Engineering and Basic Sciences—during the Career Day held on April 4 and 5, 2023, the Ph.D. program in Physics was presented by its students, including through the distribution of an informative flyer, and meetings were held with numerous leading companies in the technology sector.

International Appeal

Over the past six years, the doctoral program has been very active in its efforts to attract international students, and currently about 30% of the students enrolled in the three active cohorts are foreign nationals (17 out of 55), one of the highest percentages in Italy. Applications for admission to the program from international students have consistently exceeded the number of available scholarships by more than 20 times, thus demonstrating the program's strong appeal.

A more delicate issue that requires greater attention is the distribution of origins among international applicants who apply for—and are subsequently admitted to—the Ph.D. program in Physics. The overwhelming majority of applications come from developing countries (e.g., India, Pakistan), while applications from countries with academic training standards more similar to ours (e.g., the EU, the UK, the U.S.) number only a few and typically do not include the most outstanding candidates from their countries of origin; The exception to this are the few cases of fellowships awarded as part of European projects (e.g., Marie Curie) that have been integrated into our Ph.D. program in Physics. Also of particular interest are the fellowships provided directly by institutions in foreign countries (e.g., Chile and China) to enable their students to pursue a Ph.D. at Federico II.

The case of doctoral students from foreign institutions who spend research periods in our Department is more difficult to track because, in many cases, their stays are brief and occur outside of formalized agreements; however, it would be advisable to track these visits in order to report them to the University.

Over the past four years, despite the pandemic, we have had twelve international doctoral students who spent at least two months in our Department, while for three of them the period lasted an entire year.

In addition, the doctoral program has established agreements to facilitate joint supervision or to host visiting students from universities in other countries. In addition to the general research agreements, listed on the dedicated departmental page

http://www.fisica.unina.it/educational-and-research-agreement,

there are others established specifically for the Ph.D. program with the Department of Physics at Royal Holloway, University of London (UK) and the Department of Physics at Shanghai University (China). More generally, the Department has adopted a strategic plan on Internationalization and International Relations that also applies to the Ph.D. program.

Expected Career and Professional Opportunities

After earning their degree, most recent Ph.D. graduates apply for postdoctoral positions at prestigious institutions abroad or at other Italian universities. Some, however, find employment in industry or in schools. In general, PhD graduates in physics find employment opportunities in research at public and private institutions and in university teaching. Furthermore, the skills acquired during their training enable them to pursue freelance work (spin-off companies, consulting, etc.), while also offering the possibility of taking on managerial and executive roles in companies and public agencies. As an example, here is an overview of the employment situation for Ph.D. graduates who earned their degrees in the last three years: Furthermore, the Physics Ph.D. program office maintains contact with alumni to continue this monitoring effort.

• approximately 10% work as faculty members at the Scuola Superiore;
• approximately 15% hold research and development positions at private companies in the fields of data analysis or new technologies;
• approximately 30% hold postdoctoral fellow positions at foreign research institutions or universities;
• approximately 40% hold postdoctoral fellow or researcher positions at Italian public research institutions or universities.

Selection Process for the Ph.D. Program in Physics:

The selection process for Ph.D. candidates is specified in the admission announcement and includes: a) an evaluation of academic credentials and b) an oral exam. These procedures are consistent with the educational objectives of the Ph.D. program and with the expected cultural and professional profiles of graduates:

1. the evaluation of academic qualifications focuses on: a) the candidate's entire academic career, using as evaluation criteria the undergraduate GPA or the weighted average based on credit hours (CFU) of exam grades, and, where applicable, other elements deemed appropriate; b) the master's thesis, scientific publications, and other relevant credentials (awards, patents, scholarships, etc.), to be evaluated also in light of any letters of recommendation from scholars
2. the oral exam consists of an interview lasting approximately 25 minutes, divided into two parts: a) a 15-minute discussion on the candidate's current and/or future research activities. Specifically, the first 5 minutes are set aside for the candidate to introduce the discussion, using up to 3 slides in .pdf format if necessary; b) the second part of the interview, lasting approximately 10 minutes, focuses on general topics in physics to assess the candidate's overall academic background.

1. The candidate will be allowed to choose the topic from a list of three options proposed by the committee, covering topics in classical, modern, or experimental physics.

Composition and Visibility of the Faculty Council

The Faculty Council comprises twenty members from the university's teaching staff and three members from public research institutions. Its composition adequately reflects the vast majority of the Department's scientific activities, and all SSDs in Physics—from FIS01 to FIS07—are represented. Related fields (CHIM06) are also represented, as was the SSD INF01 up through the 38th cycle; since the 39th cycle, INF01 has had its own PhD program in Computational Intelligence housed within the Department. This ensures elements of interdisciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity, while respecting the specific nature of the PhD Program in Physics.

For each doctoral cycle, the composition of the student body and the faculty is listed at http://www.fisica.unina.it/cicli-attivi. Through the appropriate link, you can access each faculty member's institutional web pages on the University's website, which contain all relevant information (e.g., curriculum vitae, research activities, teaching, etc.).

Financial Resources and Facilities

Financial resources are a key component of the program's success: in particular, the Coordinator aims to allocate them to support student mobility, and these resources come primarily from:

- the institutional research grant allocated to each doctoral student, equal to 10% of the annual scholarship amount, plus a possible 50% increase for periods spent abroad;

- participation in the University's ERASMUS program;

- funds from both departmental projects (e.g., PRIN, PNRR, etc.) and those of organizations (e.g., INFN, INAF, INGV, etc.) within which the doctoral student's research is conducted;

- support that the doctoral student is able to obtain from the host institution. In some cases, these are actual contracts for periods of up to one year (e.g., CERN Fellows/Doctoral Students).

Typically, the Coordinator allocates institutional resources for training-related activities (e.g., schools and workshops), while external resources are preferred for research activities in the strict sense. Funds are very rarely used for expenses unrelated to mobility, and typically cover general services (e.g., toner); for any individual needs, support is sought from the research groups to which the doctoral student belongs. An exception to this practice are the PON 2014–2020 doctoral programs, which have significantly more substantial ad hoc funding (5–15 kEuro) intended to support the entire project (mobility and scientific materials).

Ph.D. students are fully integrated into the Department's scientific activities and have access to the same operational and scientific facilities (e.g., laboratories, computing services, etc.) as faculty and researchers.

As for workstations, given the consistently tight space constraints, a mixed and flexible arrangement has been established: on the one hand, there are three dedicated classrooms with workstations that doctoral students take turns using; on the other hand, several doctoral students use the available space in the laboratories of their respective research groups as their workstations.

Academic Supervisor (Tutor)

Although each Ph.D. student is directly responsible for their own research, the College assigns them an academic supervisor (tutor) who guides the student in their decisions and intellectual development. Typically, a tutor is assigned to only one Ph.D. student; therefore, very often the tutor is a faculty member or researcher who does not belong to the College. In the case of projects involving significant activities outside the Department, a co-supervisor from the relevant organization (research center or company) is assigned. The same page, http://www.fisica.unina.it/cicli-attivi, lists the tutors for the various Ph.D. students across the active programs.

Research Presentations, Contacts, and Exchanges:

An important aspect of a young researcher's training is the exchange and discussion of their research findings. This occurs naturally and on an ongoing basis with their supervisor and within the group in which the doctoral student's research is conducted. In addition, the Coordinator, together with the doctoral students, organizes several general events for the presentation and exchange of research results, specifically:

- a mini-conference where doctoral students, at the end of their first and second years, present the results of their research;

- dedicated seminar sessions where doctoral students, at the end of their program, present the final results of their doctoral research.

These events, which are appropriately publicized within the Department, allow doctoral students to become integrated into the department's academic life. Furthermore, especially for international doctoral students, it is important to promote opportunities for students to build community connections. For this reason, doctoral students' workstations are primarily grouped in dedicated classrooms, thereby fostering academic exchange and strengthening interpersonal relationships. The annual welcome/farewell party for the various cohorts is becoming a tradition (e.g., Welcome-37 on July 1, 2022, and Welcome-38/Goodbye-35 on May 26, 2023).

Additional Activities for Ph.D. Students

In addition to their primary activities (education and research), the Coordinator encourages Ph.D. students who are interested to engage in other activities such as:

- departmental "third mission" initiatives, such as Futuro Remoto (https://www.futuroremoto.eu/) or the European Researchers' Night (https://horizoneurope.apre.it/notte-europea-dei-ricercatori-2023/);

- paid teaching activities, such as tutoring first-year students in the Physics degree programs, promoted through specific university calls for applications (https://www.unina.it/didattica/opportunita-studenti/assegni-per-attivita-di-tutorato);

- volunteer teaching activities, typically assisting with institutional course exercises, such as laboratory sessions. In any case, the limit of forty hours per year may not be exceeded so as not to negatively impact the doctoral students' own research activities.

General information on the Ph.D. programs at the University of Naples "Federico II" can be found at this link.

CONTACTS:

Prof. Giovanni Ausanio giovanni.ausanio@unina.it (PhD coordinator for the 42nd° cycle onwards)

Prof. Vincenzo Canale  vincenzo.canale@unina.it (PhD coordinator for the 39th to 41st cycles)

PhD Programme Office segrdid.fisica@unina.it