International Thesis co-direction

A programme of co-direction of thesis implies that a student of the Postgraduate Course prepares his/her thesis under the joint direction of a lecturer of the Scuola Normale and a lecturer of the partner university, obtaining a Ph.D with the same thesis, from each of the two university institutions.
The activity carried out by the latter postgraduate student is thus assessed, for the purposes of admission to the following year, in the manner established for all postgraduate students of the course.
The Scuola Normale issues the "Doctor Europaeus" certification in addition to the national Ph.D. title if certain conditions are met:

• the thesis must be the result of a period of work and research, lasting at least three months, carried out in a European country other than the one in which the postgraduate course or doctorate is based;
• the thesis work must have been assessed positively by at least two referees belonging to university institutions in two European countries, other than the one in which the thesis will be discussed;
• the commission for the final exam must include at least one member from a university institution in a European country other than the one in which the thesis is being discussed;
• the defense of the thesis must be taken at least in part in an official European language other than that of the country where the thesis is being discussed.

Students in the first year of a postgraduate course of any of the academic structures who are interested in a programme of co-direction of thesis with a foreign university can contact the Student Office for information and/or to activate the procedure for the stipulation of an agreement.
Postgraduates who are interested must:

1. be enrolled in the first year of the course at the time of signing the agreement;
2. have chosen a foreign University with which to carry out their co-directed thesis and a lecturer who can act as a supervisor.

Please note that the stipulation of such agreements can take a long time. For this reason it is very important to start the procedure in good time and, in any case, within three months from the end of the first year of the course (see requirement 1).