PhD in Economics & Finance – University of Verona

  Policies and procedures

 

This document describes policies and procedures for the doctoral students. Further inquiries should be addressed to the Coordinator of the Programme. Additional information is available at the Program website: http://dse.univr.it/dottorato

 

1 First-year students

 

1.1 The first year is arranged in four terms: the first term, up to Christmas, is taken up by introductory courses in Maths and Probability & Statistics, the second and the third, from January to June, by eight courses in the core modules of Macro and Microeconomics, Econometrics and Finance. The last term, in September, is devoted to advanced topics in each module. Students are expected to attend all lectures.

 

1.2 To gain admission to the second year, a student is expected to achieve a passing grade in all the exams. A student getting up to three fails can be allowed to take the exams again. A student getting more than three fails is automatically disqualified from the program.

 

1.3 As part of their activities, students (of all years) are expected to attend all departmental seminars (usually on Monday). First year students are also expected to attend the Winter and Summer Schools organized by the Department.

 

1.4 Student are asked to contact a possible supervisor and communicate their choice to the Coordinator by June 30th. The supervisor can also be chosen among academics from other universities or external experts. The Doctoral Board is then responsible to officially appoint the supervisor for each student.

 
 

2 Second-year students

 

2.1 Second year students are expected to work on their research under the guidance of their supervisor. We encourage students to devote part, or all, of their second year in a foreign institution. The sojourn abroad may extend in the third year.  When abroad, the amount of the scholarship is increased by 50 percent for a maximum of eighteen months.

 

2.2 The choice of the institution where students spend their time abroad is made by the student and his supervisor based on the student’s performance, research interests, and existing cooperation agreements. The process of selecting institutions may involve the setting up of ad hoc agreements, or acquiring the status of visiting students. Since both are lengthy processes, students should begin to worry about their destinations by June in their first year.

 

2.3 Students are expected to present a departmental seminar by the end of their second year. They are also encouraged to write one paper jointly with their supervisor.

 
 

3 Third-year students and later

 

3.1 Third-year and later years students devote most of their time to working on their dissertation.

Typically, a dissertation collects at least three independent papers of publishable quality; that is, papers that are interesting, complete, original and provide a good review of the literature. At least one must be single-authored and no more than one can be coauthored with faculty from any academic institution.

 

3.2 If they are not abroad, students in their third year or later are expected to be in residence and be actively part of the research environment in Verona. They are expected to give at least one seminar each year and they may be required to serve as teaching assistant in undergraduate courses.

 

3.3 The application for admission to the final defense of the doctoral dissertation and the dissertation itself must be handed in by the deadlines set by the University. The Final Exam consists in thesis defense in front a committee of at least three professors who have not been directly involved in any way with the thesis.

 

 

4 Additional information

 

4.1 Students are expected to undertake exams, do their homework and write their papers in good

faith. Cheating or plagiarism are severely sanctioned: even a single instance may be sufficient for dismissal from the program.

 

4.2 All students are required to obtain an approval from the Coordinator before taking up any job, paid or unpaid, even if it involves any form of teaching or research activity at the University of Verona.

 

4.3 Students have access to common offices and facilities at the Department of Economics. As members of the Department, students elect their representatives in the Departmental Board every two years.

 

4.4 Upon enrolment, students will obtain a computer account at the University of Verona. This account provides an email address at univr.it, access to the laboratory and access to the electronic library of the University from everywhere in the world. Students are required to keep their webpage on the doctoral website updated.

 

4.5 Students may apply for reimbursement of expenses when attending approved summer schools, workshops or conferences. The reimbursement is set at a maximum of 70% of expenses (that have to be adequately documented), up to a total amount of € 700 per year.

 

4.6 For all other matters, University rules (D.R. 4464/2008) apply.