Physics

Updated for 38° cycle
  • Duration: 3 years
  • Admission: academic qualifications and interview
  • Coordinator: Prof. Eleonora Luppi
  • Head office: Università di Ferrara
  • Agreement: an agreement with the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is effective.  INFN   participates funding three positions each year.
  • Internationalisation: there is one active programme

agreement between Università di Ferrara and the H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN), Kraków, Poland, (International Joint PhD programme)

  • Final Ph.D title: Ph.D in Physics in cooperation with INFN. A double degree is awarded to students enrolled in the Joint PhD Programme between Università di Ferrara and H. Niewodniczański Institute of Nuclear Physics.
  • Managing Department: Dipartimento di Fisica e Scienze della Terra
  • Study abroad: at least six months abroad during the three years programme, for PhD students of the  “International Joint PhD programme”.
  • Educational purpose:

The course aims to training personnel to take an active part in research activities, with highly qualified professional with a solid foundation of scientific knowledge and capable to dealing with current issues in specific areas of research.
For experimental activities a PhD will be able to contribute to the design of an experiment and its realization, aiming at the understanding of a physical system that shows ways still not fully elucidated. For the execution of these measures, the student must be able to handle complex equipment using the latest technology and compare the experimental data with the most recent theoretical predictions.
For theoretical activities a PhD must be able to process and/or develop models to physical systems whose behavior is not yet fully described by the theories or models hitherto established. These activities will be carried out using mathematical methods and tools for advanced computing and comparing the theoretical predictions with the most recent experimental data.
In both cases, a PhD must be aware of the latest developments in the specific area on international level through individual autonomy of thought and the ability to auto-upgrade to more advanced levels. The doctor in Physics will finally gain awareness of issues related to technology transfer and innovation processes as well as managerial aspects of the research, in particular of the national and UE financial instruments.

  • Curriculum: no
  • Educational plan:

The first year of the doctorate is designed as a year of completion of basic cultural education and inclusion into a research group. Students will follow some institutional courses for this purpose (generally two or three) and/or some units with more specialized content. In the second and third years of the course more ample space is given to research jobs and for editing the thesis work. The research activities of the PhD thesis are carried out on one or more of lines of research among the ones of interest for the Department, in accordance with the individual program the student, which is prepared under the supervision of the tutor, then evaluated and approved by the PhD Faculty Board.
At the beginning of each year, any doctoral student is required to submit a program of study and research, agreed with the tutor. At the end of the year, there is an examination to access the next year of course or to the final exam. Every year 60 credits must be accrued and an oral examination is scheduled to show the research activity carried out. The examination committee consists of members of the Faculty Board, possibly assisted by experts from the sectors concerned.
At the end of the course, the students write a thesis to be defended in front of a committee appointed for the final exam. Access to the final examination is subject to obtaining results of original research of international importance. For each thesis, there are two reviewers, external to the PhD Faculty Board, which shall issue their report on the merits of the thesis work to the examining committee. The committee, appointed by the Board, shall deliver an opinion written on the research activity carried out by the candidate and on the oral exam on the thesis work. The committee is composed of at least one external member.

  • Research topics:

Archaeometry, astrophysics, astroparticle, atomic physics, computational physics, cosmology, physics of magnetic materials, physics of sensors and semiconductor, physics of the atmosphere, medical physics, nuclear and subnuclear physics.