Academic training
Learning activities
Lectured by Matteo Cuccato - mandatory - 2 ECTS Lectured by prof. Flavia Girolami - mandatory - 2 ECTS Module 2 (1 ECTS - 4 hours): “Public speaking”: Module 3 (1 ECTS - 4 hours): “Media and science communication” Coordinated by prof. Maria Teresa Capucchio and lectured by various experts – Four seminars mandatory - 4 ECTS
E-learning course lectured by various experts - mandatory - no ECTS
Candidates speaking Italian: course lectured by experts of the Area Formazione in UniTo
Candidates not speaking Italian: E-learning course lectured by various experts of the Department of Veterinary Sciences (Moodle) - mandatory -no ECTS
Lectured by mother-tongue teacher of English expert in Academic Scientific English - mandatory - 6 ECTS.
The aim of the course is to supply PhD students with a number of linguistic tools that will help them in their own research and in communicating in international academic contexts. The sessions will be delivered through a mix of teacher-led instruction and workshop-methodology. In particular, importance will be given to learner interaction and active participation. There will be a final test at the end of the course. PhD students will learn about the key features of academic written communication: 1) academic style and language, sentence structure, and nominalisation; 2) expressing stance and perspective and incorporating source information into writing; 3) key subgenres of academic reports (abstracts, introductions, discussions, conclusions). Further, students will explore the key features of academic oral communication: 5) delivering problem/solution presentations; 6) delivering processes and procedures; 7) designing a poster presentation and slides; 8) oral communication at conferences.
This course is designed to allow PhD students in Veterinary Sciences to acquire skills and knowledge needed to efficiently navigate and utilize bibliographic and citation databases. It aims to enhance students' abilities in conducting comprehensive literature searches relevant to Veterinary Research, evaluating academic metrics, and managing references using modern tools. As main outcome of this course, PhD students will possess the necessary skills to efficiently search, evaluate, and manage academic literature, thereby enhancing their research productivity as young researchers in Veterinary and Animal Sciences. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Lectured by prof. Carlo Nebbia - mandatory - 2 ECTS
The aim of the course is to provide PhD students the basic knowledge to write a scientific article or report, with particular attention to its articulation in different parts starting from the introduction or state of the art, followed by the aims/objectives of the research, the description of materials and methods, and results to conclude with a discussion of the obtained results and a conclusion related on scientific questions posed since the beginning of the research. A practical session involving all PhD students of the first year (to be held some days before the half yearly written report submission) will be planned to permit each PhD student to present his/her project.
Lectured by prof. Luca Bonfanti - mandatory - 3 ECTS
The course is intended to help PhD students in their first year to communicate their research effectively, compellingly (and possibly interestingly), with special reference to their yearly evaluation process.
First part (1 ECTS). A lesson aimed at illustrating: how to explain the PhD project and the related research activity to scientific peers, how to refine the research story depending on different audiences and formats, a series of advice useful in the preparation of an oral presentation, the most common mistakes and pitfalls many people make when presenting scientific data, the different steps of the PhD evaluation across the three years and the parameters adopted in the evaluation process.
Second part (2 ECTS). A practical session involving directly all PhD students of the first year (to be held one or two months before the first-year oral evaluation): each PhD student will present his/her data in front of the teacher and all colleagues of the same year; after each presentation, all PhD students are invited to comment on the clarity and effectiveness of the presentation.
The aim of the course is to provide PhD students the knowledge about the protection and management of animals used for scientific purposes. In particular, the current European legislation is presented, as well as the basics for the operation and management of rodent facilities. At the end of the course, PhD students will be able to navigate the legislative framework, draft and present a project for the authorization of use of animals for scientific purposes, and define the main aspects of facility management. The course is organized into two lectures (3h) and one didactical visit (2h) to the rodent facility of the Veterinary Sciences Department.
Lectured by prof. Paolo Accornero - mandatory - 1 ECTS
The course provides doctoral students with essential skills for acquiring, processing, and preparing scientific images for publication and presentation. The four-hour, one-credit course covers fundamental techniques in image acquisition and processing, focusing on best practices for creating high-quality figures suitable for scientific journals and presentations. Students will learn how to optimize images for clarity, impact, and adherence to publication standards. The curriculum emphasizes practical application, enabling students to confidently produce professional-quality figures for their research.
Lectured by prof. Ugo Ala, prof. Mario Giacobini, and Dr. Marco Pittarello
The first part of the course (3 ECTS, 8 hours lecture and 8 hours in the computer lab) aims at presenting the foundations of data management and analysis in the framework of the scientific method, from the experimental design, to the management of experimental data and the scope and limitations of parameter estimation and hypothesis testing. The hours in the computer lab provide an introduction to the R programming language within the RStudio environment. Topics covered include data structures (vectors, arrays, matrices, lists, and data frames), data input and export, basic data management, data exploration and summarization, data visualization, control structures (conditional statements and loops), and user-written functions.
In the second part of the course (2 ECTS, 4 hours lecture and 4 hours in the computer lab), the main approaches for the analysis of -omics data are presented, with a focus on those obtained by next-generation sequencing techniques and their applications in microbiome analysis, both from the metagenomics and metataxonomy perspectives. The four laboratory hours are devoted to some statistical insights, partly related to calculations of statistical power and sample size, partly arising from students' needs and/or curiosity.
Lectured by prof. Claudio Forte and Dr. Selene Rubiola – Module 1 mandatory - 3 ECTS
Module 1 (1 ECTS - 4 hours) “Third mission and citizen science”:
At least 10 seminars held by professors of the Department, visiting professor, national or international invited speakers on different research topics will be organized every year. The topics of the seminars are very varied and change every year. Some seminars can be highly specialized and cover different areas of the research at the Department, other seminars are organized on cross-cutting themes suggested annually by PhD students and on complementary very general topics such as: how to write a research project; dissemination, exploitation and communication of the research; capacity building; regulatory framework on the use of drugs/dietary supplements in veterinary medicine; international business development and strategic marketing.
For Teachers
Annex 2 of the PhD Regulations reports details about the credit’s acquisition.
The evaluation of Phd students'scientific activities will take place after the presentation of their yearly reports; both the written and the oral reports will be marked.
Phd students reports
While attending the PhD programme, Phd students must present a written report every six months. Phd students are furthermore required to present the results of their project through a yearly, oral presentation.
Written reports
Annex 6A, 6B, 7, 8 of the PhD Regulations reports details about Half-Yearly and Yearly Reports.
Only the reports presented after the first six months of activity are subject to an evaluation (Annex 6A). The other semi-annual reports are considered as progress reports and therefore are not subject to an evaluation (Annex 6B). The yearly reports (Annex 7) are assessed by the Teaching Committee. They must summarize the annual progress and development of the project and must be organized according to the scheme used for oral presentations. Written reports must be undersigned by the Tutor. The yearly report of the last year (Annex 8) must be written by supervisor.
Oral presentation
Each Phd student is required to attend oral presentations (using the Power Point template provided) by other students of the same cycle. Through the attendance of oral presentations (including oral reports of students of other cycles) Phd students will obtain the foreseen number of credits. When abroad to work on their project, PhD students can make their presentations via videoconferencing. Videoconferencing is, however, not admitted for the last year report (leading to admission to the final examination).
1st year: Brief report (lasting up to a maximum of 15 minutes) about the educational activities attended and the research activities carried out during the year. Candidates must summarize the state of the art of their research topics and present the main lines of their scientific projects. Candidates must specify the technical and methodological approaches to be used, and how the educational activities already carried out or still to be carried out are relevant for their research project goals. Preliminary results can be provided, if available.
2nd year: Report on the progresses of the research project (lasting maximum 15 minutes). After mentioning the background and the used methodologies, candidates must present the obtained results. Results must consistently support the feasibility of the project. Candidates will then describe the future developments, and show how these are going to be integrated into the project.
3rd year: The report is organized as a 30 minutes’ length seminar. The results obtained during the four years of the Phd programme are discussed and assessed in relation to the logical development of the project, to their consistency and originality, and to their relation to international literature.
All people attending oral reports may participate to the discussion. The members of the Teaching Committee may test the level of competence acquired by the candidate, with regard both to general issues and to the technical and methodologies aspects related to the research project.
The Teaching Committee preliminarily examines the written biannual reports, and assesses both the written and oral yearly written reports.
The report presentations are attended by the Head of the PhD Programme and by other teachers representing the Teaching Committee and of all areas and subjects included in the Phd Programme.
If necessary, upon proposal by the PhD Programme Head or by a member of the Teaching Committee, an external component with a consultative role may participate. Such a component can be a member of either private, public or non-university research bodies.
Annex 9 of the PhD Regulations reports details about the PhD students evaluation criteria.
See also the Dissertation and award of Ph.D section on the Doctoral School website.
For the admission to the final defence, the PhD student must fill out the questionnaire on the AlmaLaurea website (ITA - EN). The certificate provided by AlmaLaurea that the questionnaire has been completed must be sent to the Teaching Committee in order to decide on the date and Commission of the final exam. The same document must be sent to the Coordinator of the PhD, to transmit it to Area Dottorati together with the thesis, and the supervisor’s and the reviewers' evaluations in order to allow the appointment of the Commission.
Guides
- Guide for the use of the online services of the University of Torino. More detailed informations can be found in the Bussola di UniTO
- Guide for the access and modification of the students' personal pages [pdf]
- Template of the certificate af attendance to seminars [docx]
- Guide for the use of the online application system for requesting the increase of the scholarship for research abroad activities [pdf]
- Guide for using the PhD programme mobility funds [pdf]
Forms
Missions (national and international)
- Activity description letter
- Letter of Acceptance by the Research Body
- Declaration of Permanence
- Declaration of Accomplished Mission by the Research Body
Request for Certificates
- Complete the document "Request for Certificates" docx format
Supervisors Project Model
Oral presentation