Students holding:

• a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in the scientific field, obtained pursuant to Ministerial Decree 509/1999 and subsequent modifications and / or additions;
• a degree obtained in accordance with previous teaching systems (whose legal course lasts at least four years);
• an equivalent academic qualification from foreign universities

can participate in the admission competition

Recommended requirement is a good professional knowledge of English which will be anyway assessed by the Committee during the selection procedures (which will be carried out in English).

The admission to the PhD Program is through a competition based on titles, research project and interview. The selection in a preliminary evaluation of the candidate titles, including:

1. curriculum vitae
2. copy of scientific publications if present
3. a motivational letter, in which the reasons of the graduate’s candidacy are clearly and convincingly explained.
4. A brief scientific report in English language, containing the description of the Master’s degree thesis, or in alternative a description of a research experience or research project. The description should include the state of the art, the objectives, the results obtained, the methods used and potential future development.
5. Moreover, the candidate can ask two referees to provide a reference letter in support of his/her candidacy

The second step of the selection will include:

– an interview with the Selection Committee, which will consist of the presentation (supported by an audiovisual presentation) of the project carried out by the candidate during their Master’s degree thesis or of a Research project in which they were eventually involved during their scientific career. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session and a general discussion.

The number of students admitted to the PhD course each year is determined by the competent entities in the Scuola Superiore Meridionale.

The training activity develops over a four-year period in order to allow continuous contact between teaching staff and doctoral students.

The teaching activity will be concentrated in predetermined periods of the first three years of the course; during the last year, no face-to-face lessons will be scheduled, as students will be involved in completing the experiments and drafting the doctoral thesis.

For each PhD cycle, the PhD teachers will organize basic, specialist and complementary skills courses, in accordance with the interdisciplinary characterization of the PhD course. Each course will include theoretical and practical lessons given by the PhD teachers and by external teachers chosen ad hoc on the basis of their skills.
The student is expected to participate in the scientific seminars scheduled on a weekly basis by the Institute which hosts the doctoral course, which has a long tradition of national and international guests of the highest scientific profile. Participation in the seminars will constitute a title for the acquisition of university credits (CFU).

I year: Basic courses (Introductory Course)

Introductory lessons for a total 20 hours of frontal and / or practical lessons.
At the end of the Course an assessment test will be held.

II year: Specialistic Courses

They include subjects concerning the various Research topics of the doctoral program and include 24 lessons for a total of 48 hours of frontal and / or practical lessons.

At the end of the Course an assessment test will be held.

III year: Complementary Skills

They include 6 lessons for a total of 12 hours of frontal and / or practical lessons.

These courses are intended to provide doctoral students with elements of financial management and Research communication.

The course ends with a learning and assessment test.

IV year

The fourth year will be devoted essentially to the finalization of the thesis and no specific courses will take place.

Seminars, Data Clubs:

Each PhD Student will present their Research advancement to TIGEM community once a year. Moreover, the participation in Institute seminars with National and International high-level speakers is mandatory, for a total of at least 320 hours.

The Research activity is carried out by each PhD student under the supervision of a Tutor chosen among the members of the Faculty Board. The PhD students will be also assigned a Thesis Committee, composed of three senior researchers (in addition to the Tutor).
The Thesis Committee, in addition to assessing the theoretical-practical skills acquired by the PhD student, will be able to contribute to the delineation of the project lines in order to improve the training profile of the  PhD Student or help them to plan possible strategies for overcoming any critical issues inherent to the project proposal, that the candidate will carry out in the following three years. The Tutors (or Supervisors) are required to declare, in the annual report sent to the PhD Coordinator, the data relating to the training and Research activities of each PhD student.
The advancement of each PhD student is assessed by the Faculty Board, at the time of the evaluation of the annual report on the activity carried out, which decrees the passage to the following year. This annual report will be supported by a Power Point presentation, and will be discussed in a plenary session afore the Thesis Committee.

The transition from the second to the third and from the third to the fourth year will take place on the basis of the evaluation by the Thesis Committee of the progress of the Research project, as defined in the project proposal presented by the candidate at the end of the first year.

The discussion of the thesis and the awarding of the PhD title will take place at the end of the fourth year, provided that the work presented in the thesis work has been published in an International Journal accredited by the Scientific Community and that the PhD student is among the authors of the aforementioned publication.

The doctoral course intends to enter and consolidate an International Scientific Network with the aim to encourage the mobility of learners and teachers, in line with the scientific tradition of the host Institute made up of scientific networks of excellence in areas related to all Research topics.

Listed below are the industries with which TIGEM has entered into commissioned Research contracts:

• -BioMarin, Novato, CA, US
  -Takeda Shire, Boston, MA, US
• -Casma Therapeutics, Boston, MA, US
• -Zambon SPA, Bresso, Milan, IT
• Innovavector, Pozzuoli, Italy
• NGD, Pozzuoli, Italy

National collaborations:

– University of Naples Federico II

Department of Translational Medicine
Department of Advanced Biomedicine
Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies
University Hospital-Section of Pediatrics

– University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli
Department of Precision Medicine
Ophthalmological Research Unit

– University of Palermo
Department of Surgical and Oncological Disciplines

-National Research Council
Department of Biomedicine
Department of Mathematics

– National Institute of Molecular Genetics (Milan).

International Collaborations

• Baylor College of Medicine (Houston)
• Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism (Irvine University, California)
• University College London (London)
• Sbarro Health Research Organization (Philadelphia)

The School organizes activities for the deepening of the rules relating to the exploitation and dissemination of scientific research, the protection of research results and authors, the protection of intellectual property and patenting procedures in the national and international field.