Admission

Admission to the PhD program is based on qualifications and an interview. A master’s degree or equivalent is required (a four or five years bachelor’s degree from an elite University may occasionally be considered equivalent).

Applicants will provide a CV and a brief description of their research interests. At least one but no more than 3 reference letters are also required. Among all applicants, a short list will be selected for the interview.

Duration: 4 years

Grant: Every year SSM offers 6 positions for this Ph.D. program. Each grant is 19,000€ per year. Every grant comes with extra funds for research activity.

Program

The Ph.D. program has a duration of four years. First year will be mostly focused on classwork and study while the remaining years will be mainly devoted to research activities.

Here follows a list of the main subjects of interest:

• Computational electromagnetics
• Computational fluid dynamics
• Continuum mechanics
• Differential geometry
• Experimental methods in fundamental physics
• Fluid mechanics
• Fundamental-physics sensors and resulting technologies
• Micromagnetics
• Modelling and simulation of soft matter
• Multiscale modelling of materials
• Partial differential equations (qualitative and a numerical analysis)
• Plasmonic and metamaterials
• Physics of complex materials and related devices
• Quantum information and quantum simulation
• Thermodynamics and constitutive equations of materials

First year

First year students should obtain 60 credits by performing the following activities:

- taking elective Ph.D. courses provided by the School, other universities or research centers  passing the corresponding exams or assessment tests.

- attendance to seminars, summers schools and workshops organized by the School, other universities or research centers (up to 5 credits)

- participation to laboratory activities or projects or research activities carried on by research groups operating within the School or other scientific institutions (up to 10 credits)

Second year

During this year student should obtain 24 credits by attendingseminars, summers schools and workshops organized by the School, other universities or research centers. The remaining 36 credits will be allocated for research activities.

Third year

All 60 credits will be devoted to research activity.

Fourth year

A total of 60 credits will be devoted to research activity and preparation of the Ph.D thesis.

Research Activity

At the beginning of the second year, students will communicate to the Ph.D. coordinator the name of the thesis supervisor they have chosen. The supervisor can be either a member of the Ph.D. program board or an external professor or researcher. In the latter case, the choice of supervisor must be approved by the Ph.D. board.

After completing the required credits, in order to be admitted to the second year, students must give a talk on a topic of their choice in front of a committee formed by members of the Ph.D. board. The talks will be also attended by all other Ph.D. students. 

In order to be admitted to the subsequent years, students will present a report on the progress of their research. The report will be evaluated by the Ph.D. board.

During the Ph.D. program students are required to visit other scientific institutions for a period of at least nine months, even if not continuous.

Training and soft skills