PhD in Statistical Sciences

• Statistical methods
• Economic statistics and econometrics
• Biostatistics
• Demography and social statistics.

Rappresentanti enti esterni BANDO PNRR

The course aims to train highly qualified statisticians capable of using the most modern statistical techniques for scientific research. The qualification of doctoral students can find realisation in one of the following areas: Statistical methodology, Biostatistics, Demography and social sciences, Economic statistics and econometrics.

The first year includes a common block of advanced courses on basic disciplines. In addition, various specialized courses on applicative or theoretical aspects of Statistics are planned, as well as activities aimed at enhancing transferrable skills. The goal is to define a training path that allows, on the one hand, to adequately integrate statistical skills and, on the other, to acquire autonomy in research. The research activity to be carried out in the second and third year is the fundamental part of the training project, which ends with the drafting of a thesis containing original contributions.

During the first year the PhD students attend courses and seminars purposely organized for them. Specifically, the first three months are devoted to the study of mathematics and probability: the PhD students take courses of Mathematics, Probability and Stochastic processes. After that, they follow a long course of Statistics which is divided in modules taught by the members of the PhD board. From the second year, the PhD students start their research work for the thesis. The Course encourages all PhD students to join the various research groups active in the Department and to carry out their research also at highly qualified foreign institutions, exploiting the Department's scientific collaboration networks.

The tools that doctoral students use in their studies are typical of any methodological or applied research in statistics: deep literature research, problem specification, data collection, analytical development of methods and models, data analysis, computer programming. In particular, according to the different research areas, they will collect data from experiments (including clinical trials), build statistical models, simulate their performances, specify and estimate economic and econometric models. The goal is to give the PhD students a sound mathematical background, a mastery of advanced methods in probability and statistics, the ability to organize research in an independent way coherently with the peculiarities of the different research domains. By the end of their PhD program the PhD students will be able to organize research projects and do research work in economic areas where the use of statistics plays a relevant role.

Il Dottorato in Scienze Statistiche è un programma di tre anni che prevede sia la frequenza a corsi per cui è previsto un accertamento sia la partecipazione a seminari di ricerca (volti anche all'acquisizione di competenze nella predisposizioni di progetti di ricerca da sottoporre al finanziamento esterno), assieme alla redazione di una tesi che contenga elementi originali, svolta dal dottorando nell’ambito della statistica. Tutte le attività del Dottorato sono coerenti con gli scopi del programma.
Durante il primo anno, gli studenti di dottorato seguono corsi avanzati di: calcolo delle probabilità, processi stocastici, inferenza statistica, metodi bayesiani, teoria asintotica, funzioni speciali, analisi multivariata, modelli grafici, analisi delle serie storiche ed econometria. Lo studente partecipa inoltre ad attività trasversali quali i seminari di statistica, che prevedono incontri specifici con i relatori, e incontri in tema di progettazione europea e internazionalizzazione della ricerca.
Il fine del programma di dottorato è la redazione della tesi, che è la parte più difficile e più stimolante dell’esperienza di dottorato. La tesi deve mostrare la capacità del candidato di sviluppare un tema di ricerca originale e apprezzabile; il candidato può predisporla anche nell’ambito di visite ad altre istituzioni di ricerca italiane o straniere. Il programma di studio è individuale, anche se ogni studente è tenuto a seguire corsi obbligatori per il primo anno. Il Collegio designa un supervisore per ciascun dottorando. Altri componenti del Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche o di altri dipartimenti, atenei o altre istituzioni possono coadiuvare il supervisore. Durante il terzo anno, gli studenti concludono la tesi e illustrano gli avanzamenti del loro lavoro in una serie di incontri con il collegio dei docenti.

The PhD Program in Statistics has signed:

• a framework agreement (at University level) with the National University of Rosario (Argentina)
• a collaborative Doctoral Partnership Agreement with the Joint Research Center of the European Commission
• a cotutelle agreement with Macquarie University in Sydney and CMCRC (Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre) for the sponsorship of PhD positions.

The PhD Program has scientific relations with several Universities all over the world. The PhD students are encouraged to spend a research period abroad while working on their thesis. Every other week the Department of Statistical Sciences hosts seminars from foreign professors; they use to meet the PhD students and discuss their research advances. The members of the Department coordinate many Erasmus exchanges; professors from the partner Universities often visit the Department and teach short courses within the PhD program. Although it is not compulsory for our PhD students to spend a period abroad, almost all of the PhD students spend some months (generally six months) in European or Extra-Europe prestigious Universities.
The PhD courses are delivered in English, thus promoting the admission of foreign PhD students.

The main result of the PhD student's research is the thesis which is developed during the second and third year. The main results are published in journals or books, and are presented at national and international specialistic conferences. Often software development goes side by side with theoretical development. The produced software is made available to the research community.