Free Education for PhD positions at Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy

ANNOUNCEMENT OF DOCTORAL (PhD) POSITIONS RESERVED TO CITIZENS OF NON-EUROPEAN UNI0N NATIONS - ACADEMIC YEAR 2008/2009.

Art.1 Number of positions
The Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa announces a competition based on candidates` degrees and work to date for the academic year 2008/2009 for 13 doctoral (PhD) positions, reserved to citizens of non-European Uni0n nations with university degrees.

Applications are invited for the following subject areas in the Faculty of Arts: Modern Languages and Linguistics; Classical Languages, Linguistics and History; Philosophy; History (from Medieval to Contemporary); Art History.

Applications are invited for the following subject areas in the Faculty of Sciences: Molecular Biophysics; Molecular Biology; Chemistry; Physics; Condensed Matter Physics; Mathematics; Mathematics for Industry and Finance; Neurobiology.

Art.2 Admission Requirements
Citizens of non-European Uni0n nations, born after 31 December 1976, who have attained a 2nd- cycle university degree or equivalent or who will complete it by 30 September 2008 for candidates to the Faculty of Arts or by 30 November 2008 for the Faculty of Sciences can compete for positions in the doctoral programs.

Evaluation of the equivalency of the degree is entrusted, for the purposes of the competition only, to the Selection Committee as described in art. 3.

It is strongly recommended that candidates to PhD programs in the Faculty of Sciences take the”GRE – Subject Test” administered by the ETS (see www.ets.org/gre), within the application deadline indicated in this announcement, in the subject area corresponding to the PhD for which they are applying, as outlined below:

* PhD in Mathematics or Mathematics for Technology and Finance: Subject = Mathematics;
* PhD in Physics or in Condensed Matter Physics: Subject = Physics;
* PhD in Chemistry: Subject = Chemistry;
* PhD in Neurobiology: Subject = Biology;
* PhD in Molecular Biology: Subject = Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology.

Candidates who take (or have taken) the GRE must explicitly indicate on the application to the ETS for this test that the Scuola Normale Superiore is (one of) the institution(s) to which results are to be sent. The Committee will evaluate that the candidates have passed the test or not, and the score received. Candidates who obtain a position in the PhD program at the Scuola Normale will be reimbursed the application costs of the Subject Test.

Art. 3 Application and deadline
Application for admission to the competition can be made for only one subject area and can be presented no more than twice. The application, written out as per the attached facsimile (Attachment A), addressed to the President of the Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri, 7 – 56126 PISA, must arrive to the Scuola Normale no later than 30 June 2008. Late arrival of the application and related materials, no matter what the cause, even if posted by the deadline, will result in non-admission to the competition. On the application the candidate must declare, under his/her own responsibility:

1. name, surname, place and date of birth;
2. citizenship;
3. to have no prior criminal convictions (or indicate which type of convictions);
4. to be immunized against (or immune to) diseases incompatible with community life;
5. place of residence and address (if different), telephone number and email address at which he/she would like to receive all communication related to the competition;
6. subject area in which to compete, chosen from among those listed in Art. 1;
7. to have never, or no more than once, applied for admission to the competition for the doctoral program in the Faculty of Arts and/or the Faculty of Sciences;
8. to have taken the “GRE Subject Test” (for candidates to the Faculty of Sciences).


All candidates are admitted conditionally, and may be excluded from the competition for lack of requirements at any moment of the competition procedure. Candidates will be notified of exclusion by letter at the address indicated on their application.

Candidates must attach the following to the application:

1. Copy of the 2nd-cycle university degree or equivalent [1] (all school certificates and the diploma must be translated into Italian with the exception of documents in English, French, German, and Spanish), or a statement giving the name of the University and the program in which the applicant is enrolled, the expected date of completion of the 2nd-cycle degree or equivalent and the list of all courses taken and final grades (university transcript) as well as a list of all courses which still remain to be taken;
2. Curriculum vitae;
3. Any qualifications (publications, etc.) the candidate wishes to present, including two or more letters from faculty members who have supervised the candidate’s previous work;
4. A program of study and a brief description of the research which the candidate would like to conduct at the Scuola Normale;
5. Copy of a legal form of identification.

More information: http://www.sns.it/en/scuola/ammissione/corsodiperfezionamento/bandounico/