International Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences

Deepening and cultural consolidation of the knowledges acquired during the MSc and acquisition of new, broader scientific views connected to the achievement of advanced research projects in the three strategic areas of the modern scientific research such as Health, Energy and Environment, where Chemistry plays a key role as central and interdisciplinary science. The final aim is to form high-level Ph.D. with a solid, advanced and prospectively open culture so as to be able to respond to the most exciting challenges in both the academic and private sector. This is possible through a training programme designed to allow the Ph.D. student to carry out his/her own research activity as indipendently as possible.

PhD programme degree with foreign Universities. The PhD School has signed two cooperation agreements with the University of Gothenborg (Sweden) and the Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO) - Brest (France). They include the following activities:

• Exchange of doctoral students.
• Exchange of academic staff.
• Organization of seminars, workshops and scientific meetings.
• Joint supervision of doctoral thesis with the possibility of issuance of a double/multiple degree.
• Further cooperative activities that may be agreed upon.
• One member of each partner University is part of the Board Member of the PhD School in Chemical Sciences.

Foreign stays. It is mandatory for all Ph.D. students to spend at least 6 months in high-level foreign research institutions. This is made easy thank to the large number of ongoing collaborations between the Board Members and renowned foreign institutions worldwide as well as the 2 agreements with the associated Universities above. The main goals are to:

• Facilitate spending periods of time at the partner Universities.
• Develop joint research projects.
• Create networks of scientific cooperations.

Internal courses. Among the mandatory internal courses to be followed by the PhD students, one - common for all the students of ongoing cycles - is held by a Foreign Professor and it is, in general, focused on paper and project writing. The other courses ara aimed to provide an interdisciplinary. Link to the list of courses.

Innovative Training Networks (ITN) - Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). In the context of the past FP7 and the present Horizon 2020 European programmes, the Innovative Training Networks (ITN) - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions are intended to create training paths for outstanding research. The Early Stage Researchers (ESR) are generally selected in international competitions and awarded extra places on University of Catania PhD programmes, without any requirement to participate in the call for applications published by the University. Link to the MSCA felllows

Candidates will be selected upon passing an admittance test based on the CV, a research project and an interview. The call opens yearly (July-August, link to the web site)  and the interviews are completed by September. Each PhD programme starts on October 31th and ends after three years. For details contact the Ph.D. School Coordinator. 

Cycle XXXIV (call, ita; evaluation grid, ita)