Educational and Training Activities

Educational and training activities attended by Ph.D. students during the three years of the Programme are distributed among different kinds of activities, following approximately the plan detailed in the table below. Significant deviations from this plan, agreed in advance by the Ph.D. student and her/his Supervisor, have to be approved by the Board of Teachers.

Seminars

Every year each Ph.D. student must present a seminar in English to other Ph.D. students and to the Board of Teachers, describing and explaining a scientific issue related to her/his research activity or field of interest, agreed with her/his Supervisor. These are called the "Summer Seminars" and are different from the seminars dedicated to presentations of the research project outline and advancements, which are also held by the Ph.D. students, but are not considered as educational activities.

Summer Seminars (generally delivered in July or September) are scheduled by the Board of Teachers and the Calendar is published on the Course website. Ph.D. Schedule changes may be asked only based on serious grounds, and the request must be agreed with the Supervisor and approved by the Coordinator. If a Ph.D. student is abroad for his secondment when the seminars are scheduled, she/he should deliver the seminar in the site of secondment, communicating the title and date of the seminar to her/his Supervisor. Participation to the seminars is mandatory for all other Ph.D. students.

Ph.D. Students can also attend, to fulfill the requirements for educational activities, seminars offered by the University or by other Institutions, including those delivered by the Board of Teachers members or by invited teachers.

Participation to the seminars must be certified through a form reporting the date, speaker and duration of the seminars, signed at the end of each seminar day by a member of the Board of Teachers.

One ECTS is assigned every (approximately) 6 hours of seminars attended or delivered by the Ph.D. student.

Schools and workshops

Every two years, the ULLA European university consortium for pharmaceutical sciences (Uppsala, London, Leiden-Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, Parma, Leuven, Helsinki; ullapharmsci.org) organizes a one-week ULLA Summer School offering, in parallel sessions, one- or two-days courses on specific and inter-disciplinary topics. Free participation to at least one ULLA Summer School is offered to each Ph.D. student in Drug Sciences. Participation to another National or International School or Workshop is strongly encouraged, with participation fees covered by Supervisor's funds.

One ECTS is assigned for each day of School or Workshop attended by the Ph.D. student.

Specific and interdisciplinary courses

Every academic year, short courses on specific or interdisciplinary topics, specifically addressed to Ph.D. students in Drug Sciences, are offered by teachers of the Board or by external teachers. These courses are approved by the Board of Teachers and their description is published in the website.

The Ph.D. School in Biological, Drug and Food Sciences and other Institutions at the University of Parma offer other specfic and interdisciplinary courses, including interdisciplinary ones, e.g. regarding language and computer skills, research management/networking and intellectual property. These courses are also described in the website.

The number of ECTS assigned for each course specifically addressed to Ph.D. students is reported in course description.

Ph.D. students are also encouraged to consider other courses that can improve their scientific and technical growth. Courses from post-graduate curricula, and in some cases also from undergraduate ones, can concur to ECTS accumulation for educational activities. Assignment of the suitable number of ECTS is proposed by the Ph.D. student and her/his Supervisor to the Board of Teachers, considering the duration of the course, its level and the congruity with scientific areas covered by the Ph.D. Programme in Drug Sciences.