Graduating around the globe
LUCIA MASON & CHRISTIAN TARCHI
Italy
Admission Doing a PhD in Italy takes three years with a full-time research assignment. Doctoral students receive a monthly scholarship from the university, which gets funds from the Ministry of University and Research. There are usually very few positions available each year; thus, a highly competitive admission contest selects the students to enroll in a doctoral program. For instance, there may be more than 100 applications for 12 positions (scholarships). At the end of the contest, only the students whose
rank-order position is not greater than the number of available scholarships are admitted to the program they applied for. It is also possible that a scholarship is available within research funds, but this happens to a much smaller extent, and only a candidate who has been selected through the competitive contest can get the scholarship. A graduate student, therefore, can be enrolled in a PhD program only if s/he is in a position to get one of the available scholarships. Another particular type of scholarship is called “industrial,” as it is sponsored by an industry or private company that
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