Final exam, thesis and degree certificate for PhD students

The PhD programme reform implemented by Ministerial Decree 226/2021 introduced a number of changes to the system for obtaining a PhD, in particular by providing for examination committees appointed in accordance with gender balance and composed of at least two-thirds of members from outside the University of Bologna, and the possibility of requesting an extension, up to a maximum of 12 months, of the deadline for submitting the final thesis or an extension of the PhD programme, again up to a maximum of 12 months, for justified scientific reasons and a corresponding extension of the scholarship paid for with the university budget.

The advent of these new provisions, together with the need to regulate the final exam of the cycles involved in the PNRR projects, has led to the need to design a new timetable, according to the schedules shown in the tables at the bottom of the page. ​

​Therefore, one ordinary session (referring to PhD students who started their careers on 1 November) and two extension sessions are envisaged, to be related to requests to postpone the thesis submission deadline by three or six months after the ordinary deadline. In 2026, an extraordinary meeting is also planned for PNRR 2 PhD students with careers that started on 1 March 2023. For PhD students who need to discuss the final exam immediately after the conclusion of the course, also in view of participation in competitions, an early session is planned. Since these are exceptional cases, this should be evaluated and agreed upon with the coordinator. ​

Any request for a 12-month extension will result in the postponement of the final exam of the PhD student to the ordinary session of the cycle following their own.

Each of these four sessions, with the exception of the early session, also corresponds to a referral session in the event of a request for review by the external evaluators.

The final exam application entails:

• ​sending the application for admission to the final exam via PhD Thesis Review;
• payment of the 'Final Exam Admission and issue of the degree certificate' fee of € 33.04 on Studenti Online (accessible with the credentials nome.cognome@studio.unibo.it).​

Instructions for thesis submission:

• access PhD Thesis Review with the credentials nome.cognome@unibo.it;
• update your personal contact details (e-mail and telephone number);
• enter the final title of the thesis;
• ​upload a single file in pdf format;
• ​submit the thesis, which will definitively prevent any changes to the title and the thesis itself, which will be reviewed by external assessors appointed by the Academic Board.

The single file referred to in point 4 must include:

• thesis reviewed and authorised by the supervisor, written in Italian or English (or in another language, subject to authorisation by the Academic Board);
• abstract of the thesis in Italian or English (abstract);
• report on the activities carried out and any publications in Italian or English.

Each thesis is subject to the assessment of at least two evaluators, chosen by the Academic Board from among individuals external to the institutions involved in awarding the degree.

The evaluators make a written assessment on the thesis and propose its admission for public defence or its postponement for six months.

The assessments made by the evaluators will be available on the PhD Thesis Review application after both evaluators have entered them.​

Submitting the thesis

The PhD students immediately admitted to the public defence following the positive assessment by the evaluators must:

• ​​submit the thesis in a single pdf file on AMS PhD theses. The facsimile of the title page and instructions for submitting the thesis are available in the specific section. However, we recommend using the downloadable title page from PhD Thesis Review. The file to be submitted may contain the abstract of the thesis and must not contain the report on the activities carried out and any publications;
• send aform.udottricerca@unibo.it via e-mail nome.cognome@unibo.it, and copying in the supervisor and coordinator, the scanned declaration (receipt of submitting the thesis on AMS PhD theses), signed by the PhD student and countersigned by the supervisor. If the supervisor is external to the University of Bologna, the coordinator's signature is also required. The declaration may also be sent after the submission deadline.

​​After submitting the thesis, they must also:

• e-mail the final version of the thesis, the written assessment of the evaluators (downloadable from PhD Thesis Review) and the report on the activities carried out and any publications to the standing members of the selection committee only. The thesis submitted to the committee and to be discussed at the final exam must correspond to the one submitted on AMS PhD theses;
• acquire the 'ORCID' code via the integrated module in the IRIS catalogue (even in the absence of scientific production) and enter your scientific production in the IRIS catalogue;
• complete the PhD course assessment questionnaire.

Schedule of sessions

The final exam will be held on a date set by the Academic Board of the PhD programme. For information on how the session will be conducted (rules for the order of convocation, presentation layout, duration of the session), please contact your tutor or the programme coordinator. The schedule of sessions will be published as soon as it is available.

Submission of the thesis

PhD students for whom the evaluators have postponed the public defence must resubmit their theses on PhD Thesis Review. The evaluators give a new written opinion in the light of any corrections or additions made; the thesis is in any case admitted for public defence. The assessments made by the evaluators will be available on the PhD Thesis Review application after both evaluators have entered them.

Submitting the thesis

PhD students admitted to the public defence following referral by the evaluators must submit the thesis in a single pdf file on AMS PhD theses. For instructions, please refer to the previous section ‘Submitting the thesis for PhD students admitted to the public defence in the first intake'.

Schedule of sessions

The final exam will be held on a date set by the Academic Board of the PhD programme. For information on how the session will be conducted (rules for the order of convocation, presentation layout, duration of the session), please contact your tutor or the programme coordinator.​

First intake​

​References

Use the appropriate title page templates for your thesis.

It is necessary to keep the wordings in Italian (e.g. dottorato, supervisore, coordinatore, etc.) even if the thesis is written in another language.
The title of the thesis must be in the same language in which the thesis is written.
Theses must indicate on the title page the year of thesis defence and the code of the competition sector and scientific disciplinary sector to which they belong, as decided by the Academic Board during the session relating to the completion of the final year of the course. If more than one subject area is involved, the one that is predominant in the thesis must be indicated.

Title page templates

• PhD Thesis 2026 Title page (in Italian) [.docx 72 KB]
• Co-tutorship PhD Thesis 2025 Title page (in Italian) [.docx 72 KB]

By the deadlines set, PhD students must:

• ​file their thesis in digital format in AMS PhD theses according to the following instructions for online submission with the title page complete with all necessary data (e.g. coordinator and disciplinary scientific area). This submission is to be considered final;

After filing, PhD students must also send from their institutional e-mail address (nome.cognome@unibo.it) to aform.udottricerca@unibo.it: 

• the scanned declaration (receipt to be printed at the end of the self-filing of the thesis) certifying that the thesis has been submitted in AMS PhD theses signed by the PhD student and countersigned by the supervisor. Only in the case of a supervisor from outside the University of Bologna, is the signature of the PhD student’s coordinator also required.

​To file your thesis on AMS PhD theses you must check that you have and have activated your University credentials as a PhD student (of the type ‘nome.cognome@unibo.it'). Authentication credentials are deactivated if not used for at least six months. To restore credentials, please contact by e-mail: assistenza.cesia@unibo.it enclosing a copy of your identity document. The office will use the username and password for subsequent communications.

N.B. Once the submission has been finalised, it will no longer be possible to modify the data entered or replace the attached file. In case of doubt, it is possible to interrupt the digital submission procedure still in progress and resume it later, taking care to save the data already entered in the system. Please contact the help desk for assistance: helpdesk.amsdottorato@unibo.it - telephone: 051 2094318.

PhD theses will be publicly available on the institutional repository AMS PhD theses after registration of the outcome of the final exam and validation by the offices. By agreement with your supervisor, you can set an 'embargo' period when uploading your thesis file, during which the thesis will not be visible. The embargo, duly justified, may last up to a maximum of 36 months, as per provision of the Academic Senate of 13/12/2011 and resolution of the BoD of 29/1/2019.

If there are restrictions with third parties arising from agreements entered into in the context of research projects that provide for an embargo of more than 36 months, the documentation of the agreement signed must be attached to the declaration, indicating the agreed embargo period.

If an embargo period of less than 36 months has been set, it is possible to extend it up to the maximum allowed. The extension of the embargo must be requested at least one week before the expiry date by emailing the 'AlmaDL' staff (helpdesk.amsdottorato@unibo.it), attaching a copy of an identity document. At the end of the specified embargo period, the full text of the thesis will automatically be accessible online, without any communication or notice from the University. After the expiry of the embargo, it is not possible to request its extension.

If you obtained your degree in 1999 or later, you can pick up your scroll from AFORM - PhD Unit by appointment.

If you obtained your degree up to 2017 and have paid the fee for the scroll, you can ask for it to be sent to you (in Italy only) by writing to the PhD Unit with the delivery address and attaching a copy of a valid identity document. Collection by an authorised person with a written proxy and a copy of the delegating person's identity document is also permitted. For more information and to book an appointment, please email aform.udottricerca@unibo.it.