Italian PhD Program Guidelines

Shah Nawaz
Email: usmangrewal@gmail.com

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Mujhy Scholarship Mil Jia Ga

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Introduction
❏ All major universities in Italy offer PhD programs in
various specialization (computer science, management,
biotechnology, food science etc)
❏ Last year, over 200 Pakistani students selected at
various universities across Italy
❏ Generally, Italian universities admission portal is weird,
thus I curated a guideline book for the application
process
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Required Documentation (A)
❏ To apply in these PhD programs, you must have
following documents
❏ Curriculum vitae in europass format,
❏ Letter of motivation,
❏ Letters of recommendation,
❏ Research proposal
❏ We should create these documents from scratch to
improve our application

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Documentation (B)
❏ Other documents needed to apply
❏ Scan educational documents
❏ Passport
❏ Publications if any
❏ English proficiency certificate
❏ Please use quality scanner to scan your documents
❏ In next slide, you can see an example of a quality color
scan

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A Scanned Educational Document - Example

Ankhain khul kar

iscan karain

Take away message

Color scan with information
clearly readably

Don’t use mobile to scan your

documents

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 Europass Format
❏ Tabular CV well known in Italy and Europe
❏ Make CV by following the link
https://europa.eu/europass/en
❏ A step by step guidelines is available in next slides
It just a simple template, you just need to fill
in your information, thori common sense use
That is me when karain
someone asked me I
don’t know how to Make cv online and whenever you want to
make europass cv make changes, just upload the previous
version
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 Ankhain khul kar
information add
Europass CV - Example karain

❏ Personal Information

Take away message

Name
Nationality
Date of Birth
Gender
Email
SKype ID
And Address is nicely visible

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Europass CV - Example
Ankhain khul kar
❏ Education information add
karain

Take away message

Full program name is available
Full university name is available
GPA, nicely formatted
Thesis: Mention the title
Short Description,4-5 line description of your thesis
Supervisor: Mention the name 9
Work Experience - Example
Pakistan specific
abbreviations ko
avaoid karain

Take away message

Position name is clearly visible
Employer name is readable without abbreviations
And 2-3 major duties nice description and bullet
points

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Publications in CV - An Example

Use google scholar to copy your

publication format

Take away message

Use apa format to include publications,
You can bold your name

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Referees - An Example

Take away message

Bhai you kafi simple hai khud

dakh lain

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Letter of Recommendation
❏ A letter written on behalf of an applicant by someone
who can vouch for that person’s educational or
professional performance. This letter is typically sent to
an admissions officer or hiring manager considering a
candidate for admission, employment, or a scholarship
[coursera]
❏ In Pakistan, some professors ask you to write letter of
recommendation on their behalf, you can following
guidelines available in next slides

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Letter of Recommendation
❏ Must be on university letterhead
❏ Properly signed and stamped with date
❏ Include the details of the referee
❏ How the referee knows you
❏ Include your performance along with comparison with
other students in a class or project
❏ Explain problem solving and team skills along with
ability to carry a project independently

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Avoid Flowery Language

Take away message

Ap mona lisa nai hai, tareef kum likhain

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Letter of Motivation - Guidelines
❏ Include 3 paragraphs.
❏ Reason(s) to join the program. For example, the program is a
perfect fit for your background. In addition, you will learn
basic research skills
❏ A short overview of your previous master program along with
the thesis You should mention some specific and general
aspects. Please note that highlight only those points suitable
for the position or the program
❏ Concluding remarks, how you can contribute to the program
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Letter of Motivation - Guidelines
❏ Don’t glorify yourself, state facts, let them conclude that you
are a excellent student
❏ Don’t provide motivation for your previous studies, state the
reason to join the next program
❏ Don’t include everything you had done into the letter
❏ The letter should be customized for the position.

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Letter of Motivation - Guidelines

Take away message

Ap arnold schwarzenegger nai hai, tareef
kum likhain

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Research Proposal
❏ Mujhy please sample proposal send kar dain

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Research Proposal Guidelines
❏ In Italy, you should have a research proposal to apply for
a PhD program
❏ Please note that, it is an evaluation document used to
examine your research skills, writing and critical thinking
on a particular topic
❏ Once you are selected, you may continue with same
topic, change or modify it

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Research Proposal Guidelines
❏ An example:
https://www.phd-delos.unifi.it/upload/sub/TEMPLAT
E/PhD%20Research%20Proposal%20Form.pdf

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How to Apply

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How to Apply
❏ Scholarship Network publish Italian PhD program list
with PhD program names and Deadlines
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/480296118647618)
❏ Download the list, make your list according to the
deadline
❏ Customise your documents
❏ Start applying
❏ Use common sense to resolve queries

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Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do I need acceptance?
No, you need to apply directly via the program link available on the
university website
2. I have my documents, what should I do?
Please email me your documents for review at usmangrewal@gmail.com.
Afterwards start application process, in case you have questions, read PhD
guidelines from university, typically known as PhD call. You can also post
your questions in the facebook group

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Frequently Asked Questions
3. How much is scholarship or salary?
Around 1136 euro after tax, which is enough for a single or a small
family
4. My major is not available in the list, what should I do?
Please see program which mention various programs. In addition, this
list is updated regularly, keep an eye in the group.

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