PhD in Computer Science and Engineering

• Distributed systems and algorithms
• Programming languages and systems
• Computer networks and applications
• Software engineering
• Formal methods and semantics of programming languages
• Artificial intelligence
• Real-time and fault-tolerant systems
• Parallel algorithms and probabilistic algorithms
• Image Processing
• Bioinformatics and biometric systems
• Information systems and databases
• Concurrency theory
• Security
• Logical foundations of computer science
• Multimedia systems

The course is designed to train people able to carry out academic and industrial research and to work as managers in companies.

In this sense we expect that each ph.d. student  will produce original, relevant and significant research results, which can take the form of scientific publications, software production or more generally innovative applications, on one or more of the following topics:

• Distributed systems and distributed algorithms
• Programming languages and systems
• Computer Networks and Applications
• Methodologies and software engineering
• Formal methods and semantics of programming languages
• Artificial intelligence
• Real-time systems and fault -tolerant
• Parallel algorithms and probabilistic algorithms
• Image Processing
• Bioinformatics and biometrics
• Information systems and databases
• Concurrency theory
• Security
• Logical foundations of computer science
• Multimedia systems

At the beginning of the course each student is supported by a supervisor (and also by a co-supervisor if the supervisor is not a member of the Collegio dei Docenti (Faculty Board), who guides him throughout the Ph.D. studies. The first 24 months are devoted to the integration and deepening of the student expertise, according to a personalized learning plan (drawn up by the student in agreement with the tutor and then submitted to the Board for approval). The learning plan foresees reaching 30 CFU (credits) by attending courses and passing the corresponding exams.
By the 15th month (from the beginning of the course) the student must submit a written thesis proposal to the Board for approval. By the end of the 24th month the student must have completed the personalized learning plan and must report on the progress of the thesis draft. The passage to the next year, approved by the Board, takes place on the basis of the candidate public presentation.
The third year is entirely devoted to the thesis work. The Board finally approves the admission to the final exam, on the basis of the reviewers' comments.
The Board may authorize a student to spend a period in Italy at universities, research centers or companies. It is mandatory for the student to spend a period of at least 3 months abroad, during the 2nd or the 3rd year of the course.

At the beginning of the course, each student is supported by a supervisor (and also by a co-supervisor if the supervisor is not a member of the Collegio dei Docenti (Faculty Board), who guides him throughout the Ph.D. studies. The first 24 months are devoted to the integration and deepening of the student expertise, according to a personalized learning plan (drawn up by the student in agreement with the tutor and then submitted to the Board for approval). The learning plan foresees reaching 30 CFU (credits) by attending courses and passing the corresponding exams.
By the 15th month (from the beginning of the course) the student must submit a written thesis proposal to the Board for approval. By the end of the 24th month the student must have completed the personalized learning plan and must report on the progress of the thesis draft. The thesis will be discussed at the end of the Ph.D. course.

The course issues, or has issued,  joint doctoral degrees on the basis of individual agreements for co-tutorship with:

• Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France, agreement finalized
• Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris, France, agreement finalized
• Université Paris 7 - Diderot, agreement finalized
• Université Joseph Fourier (Grenoble), agreement finalized
• Université Paris XIII, France, agreement finalized.
• Université de Lyon, agreement finalized.
• Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaiso, Chile, agreement finalized.
• University College Cork, Ireland, agreement finalized.

Co-tutorships concern both incoming students (i.e. students from other foreign universities - French - asking to write their PhD thesis with the supervision of members of the faculty board) and outgoing students (our students that write the PhD thesis with the supervision of a foreign professor)

Moreover, an agreement  has been signed with National Chiao Tung University - NCTU (Taiwan)  essentially aimed at the subscription of  PhD co-tutorship conventions between UNIBO and  NCTU.

We expect original, relevant and significant research results which can take the form of scientific publications, software production or more generally innovative applications on the following topics:

• Distributed systems and distributed algorithms
• Programming languages and systems
• Computer Networks and Applications
• Methodologies and software engineering
• Formal methods and semantics of programming languages
• Artificial intelligence
• Real-time systems and fault -tolerant
• Parallel algorithms and probabilistic algorithms
• Image Processing
• Bioinformatics and biometrics
• Information systems and databases
• Concurrency theory
• Security
• Logical foundations of computer science
• Multimedia systems