2. Process of evaluation, review and admission to the final exam (Thesis Defense)
Within twenty days of the presentation of the thesis, the Board, based also on the supervisors’ opinion, sends it to two referees, together with the doctoral student’s report on their activities and publications. Submission may be postponed for a maximum of two months (in absence of previous extensions of more than ten months) if the thesis is not suitable and requires improvement.
How referees are selected:
Supervisors propose, one month before the Thesis is presented by the student, a shortlist of four names of scholars available to act as referees, who are highly qualified in the topics of the thesis, two from Italian and two from foreign Universities or Institutions (excluding members of the Board, of the University of Pisa, and of INFN-Pisa);
The Teaching Commission evaluates the proposed names, based on their competence and scientific independence, verifying the absence of collaborative relationship (e.g., co-authorship) with the supervisor and/or doctoral student, at least in the last 5 years. In case of large experimental collaborations, this condition is required for at least half of the proposed names. If the proposed shortlist does not fully satisfy these criteria, the supervisors are asked to integrate it appropriately;
Finally, two referees are chosen from the proposed shortlist, at least one from foreign Institutions, at least one from Universities. In case of a thesis work within a large international collaboration, at least one referee must be outside the collaboration;
Each referee produces a written report on the thesis within 30 days, following a specific template. The report is made available to the supervisors and to the doctoral student, apart from parts of the report expressly excluded by the referee. If the referee fail to deliver the report within 30 days without any related communication, is replaced by a new referee selected according to the previous criteria. In their report, the referee proposes admission to public defense or postponement for a maximum period, not exceeding six months, for the necessary additions and corrections. If the postponement periods proposed by the referees are different, the doctoral student will be granted the longer one. After this period, the thesis, accompanied by a new written report by the referees, is admitted to the defense in any case.
The Thesis Defense is scheduled by the Board within three months of its admission. Even if the referees admit the thesis to Defense without postponement, the doctoral student can implement minor revisions, possibly suggested by the referees, producing in any case a final version, to be sent to the Defense Committee at least twenty days before the Defense.
