Geometry Curriculum

Presently the PhD programme in Geometry is run by the Mathematical Physcs sector and consists in three years of study and research. The main selection procedure consists in an entrance competition. This is divided in two parts: in the written part applicants are asked to solve problems among a list given by the entrance committe. The oral exam consists in a discussion of the written test and in a brief exposition of the applicant's “Laurea” thesis (or any equivalent foreign title). In the final classification the applicant's scientific titles and references are also taken into account.

Foreign applicants may be admitted on the sole basis of their previous scientific activity, publications and references, in a pre-selection procedure usually held by the end of April.

In the first year of their Ph. D. programme, students attend both basic and more advanced courses. They are required to pass examinations equivalent to at least nine cycles (a cycle is typically equivalent to 20 hours of lectures) to be admitted to the second year. A tutor (usually a junior member of the staff) is assigned to each of them, to help them choose their curricula studiorum.

In the first months of their second year students start a research project, under the supervision of a staff member of the sector or of an external collaborator, in one of the research areas of the Sector. Second year students must submit a brief resume of the methods and perspectives of their research project and discuss it in the “Qualifying Examination”.

Students not passing this examination may be allowed to pursue a restricted research project, to be completed by the end of the Academic year. After submitting a thesis, they can obtain a degree called “Magister Philosophiae”.

Students passing successfully the Qualifying Examination pursue their research program up to the end of their final year, their only duty being to attend the sector seminar activities.

They obtain the degree of Ph.D in Geometry after submitting their PhD thesis and defending it in front of an examination committee, whose members include SISSA staff members and international experts in the field.

The SISSA PhD in Geometry is by law equivalent to the Italian degree of “Dottore di Ricerca in Matematica”.