INTERNATIONAL PhD PROGRAM IN IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY

Riccardo Alessandro, Full Professor of Biology and GeneticsDep. Of Biopathology and Biomedical and Forensic Biotechnologies

Palermo – 18 | 03 | 2013

PARTNERS OF THE PROGRAM

This Doctoral Program offers cutting edge training in a variety of topics, covering Immunology and Immunopathology, Immunology of infectious

diseases (particularly tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS), Tumor immunobiology (particularly tumor stem cells), Molecular and Cellular Biology, Imaging,

Pharmacology and Pharmacogenomics.

BOARD OF PROFESSORS

• To be admitted to the PhD Programme, candidates must hold a university degree in the life sciences or medicine from an internationally recognized university or institution

• The access to the PhD Programme is regulated by a competitive examination

• The admission examination is taken in English• The competition is focused on a suggested PhD proposal

submitted by the candidate followed by an interview

Admission

The manuscript should be in the form of a grant application:•Summary: must be self-explanatory and intelligible without reference to the text.•Hypothesis and specific objectives: description of the main questions to be answered and the expected results to be obtained.•Background: containing a description of the problem under investigation and a survey of the existing literature on the subject.•Workplan: describing the methodology to be used•Preliminary results within the group

Proposal to PhD Project

ADMISSION

Interview with a Board of Examiners •The Evaluation or Examining board in charge of competitive examinations at University of Palermo is composed by three members, one of each participating institution, all appointed by the Board of Professors

• To obtain the Italian PhD degree, during the third year students have to defend their thesis, which will be written in English (with extensive summaries in Italian language).

• It is recommended that, at the time of thesis presentation, the students have at least two articles published in international journals.

• The defence will take place in front of a committee composed by one professor from each participating Institution (with exclusion of the tutors) and one external representative, indicated by the Board of Professors, who has to be an expert in the scientific field of the thesis.

• To obtain the Swedish PhD degree, during the fourth year, students have to defend their final thesis at the University of Stockholm, in accordance with national laws and internal regulations.

• The PhD certificate is awarded from the University of Stockholm

PhD Thesis Defense

Interaction of PhD students with Supervisors

How does the student find his/her supervisor ?•Generally, the student has worked during the Master degree with his/her supervisor;•The Board of professors assigns the student to the supervisor depending by the proposed PhD project,•The Board of professors assigns the student to the supervisor depending by the number of PhD students already working with the different available supervisors

How does the student interact with his/her supervisor ?•Almost all supervisors have, once a week, a lab meeting where the different research projects are discussed to evaluate progresses and to solve problems;•One-to-One meeting with each PhD student to discuss the progress of research project;

• A mobility period of at least six months is mandatory for all PhD students

• The student mobility program will be developed within the Institutions which are part of the Agreement. However, for specific scientific needs, students may visit other universities and research institutions, which are not part of the Agreement. This has to be proposed to and approved by the Board of Professors.

Mobility

One PhD Student each year is hosted by Riken

Institute for a week. (Airflight, Accomodation and Meals).

External Scientific Advisory Board

Members:

- Dr. Maurizio Aricò, Director of Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital "Meyer", Florence, Italy;

- Dr. Ruggero De Maria, Scientific Director of the Oncology Institute of the Mediterranean, Catania, Italy, and Director of the Department of Hematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy;

- Dr.Federica Sallusto, Group Leader, Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Bellinzona, Switzerland.

The International PhD Program in Immunopharmacology has appointed an external Scientific Advisory Board, that meets at the end of each academic year to provide guidance for monitoring and evaluating the PhD Program and to guarantee the quality of the PhD Program

The Board of Professors performs regularly monitoring of the scientific and educational activities. To accomplish the aim, the students annually through anonymous questionnaire, make an assessment of the quality and satisfaction of the PhD Program. The Board of Professors assesses questionnaires, reports on the activities and gives tips to optimize the PhD course

External Scientific Advisory Board

EVALUATION FORM

 Hours

Satisfaction

Courses for PhD students    University courses    Individual lessons    Lessons cycle    Other    

  Hours Satisfaction

Participation in committees    Lessons    Seminars    Tutorials to students    Other    

C) Learning activities and support services offered by the European PhD Course N. B. Fill in the third column his approval under this scheme: * Completely not satisfied ** Not satisfied *** Partially satisfied **** Satisfied

C1) Activities formal education provided during the PhD: Enter the amount estimated in hours and the degree of satisfaction with each type of activity

C2) Teaching activities provided during the course of PhD: Enter the amount estimated in hours and the degree of satisfaction with each type of activity

EVALUATION FORMC3) Methods of conducting the research of the candidate: Enter for each mode, the percentage of time devoted (total research = 100%) and the assessment of the degree of benefit to their training.

C4) Period of research conducted abroad or in other external institutions: Indicate the time spent in other foreign institutions and external customer satisfaction.

They are available in an appropriate manner?  The technological level is adequate?  

EVALUATION FORM

C5) Facilities and equipment used during the PhD course at the University:

Give your opinion on adequacy of facilities/ equipment used for scientific training of the research.

Libraries  Classrooms  Areas of study  Information on courses and teaching  Support from teachers  Facilities for staying abroad     

C6) Support services for training activities and research available at the University

Indicate the degree of satisfaction with services provided in the European PhD.

  Number of publications Number; of publications; single author Number of publications:with other authors

Publications on scientific journal      Publications on foreign scientific journal      Chapter/chapters book published in Italy      Chapter/ chapters book published abroad      Book published in Italy      Book published abroad      Abstract presentations in italian meetings      Abstract presentations in abroad meetings      Other      

EVALUATION FORM

D) Results of training. Enter the total number of publications produced during the PhD course, indicating the number of publications carried out as the single author and / or with other authors in the appropriate columns (attach a list of publications):

E) Further evaluations and suggestions on the following points.

Tips for a better functioning of studies and services

Satisfaction of your studies related to the congruence between the period of training and level of learning-awaited, opportunity to find a job, opening to the scientific community, etc.

THANKS FOR THE ATTENTION