To complete the program, a PhD student needs 180 ECTS that can be acquired through:

1. research activities;
2. specific disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses;
3. soft skills.

Research activity

The research activity is the main formative activity and consists in the development of a research project under the supervision of a tutor. Both the research topic and the tutor are assigned by the PhD board within three months from the beginning of the PhD.

A part of the research project (at least 3 months) has to be developed in a foreign research institute.

Disciplinary and complementary courses

We offer every year the course “Doing research in Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DRAFFS)”, which is mandatory and covers both disciplinary topics and complementary skills in the specific research fields.

The course is structured as follows:

• Module "The research context" - ECTS 1
• Module "Bibliography and Bibliometry" - ECTS 3.3
• Module "Advanced statistics" - ECTS 6.7
• Module "Academic English" - ECTS 5
• Module "Results dissemination" - ECTS 4

Each PhD student has to attend and pass the exam of these mandatory modules or topics:

1. Advanced Statistics;
2. Bibliography and Bibliometry;
3. Academic English
4. the topics “Drafting images for scientific purposes” and “Ethics in publication” of the Result dissemination module.

Attendance to 75% of the lectures is mandatory.

The other non-mandatory lectures will help the PhD student to understand the research environment in which she/he operates, the opportunities that social networks give to scientific communication, and what are the most important aspects that Editors of prestigious journals of our specific research field take into account before accepting an article for publication.

Additional disciplinary and interdisciplinary courses and seminars on specific topics related to research in Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences are offered every year. The available ones are visible in the section Courses available at DISAFA. The timetable is planned every year by the PhD board.

Furthermore, there are many interesting topic-specific courses offered elsewhere that aim at giving new ideas, techniques and skills. The tutor is the right person to discuss with about these opportunities.

Soft Skills

In relation to the acquisition of soft skills, PhD students are strongly encouraged to attend the courses offered by the PhD school of the University of Turin that cover more general aspects, such as mobility opportunities, career development, fund raising etc. with respect to the courses offered at the Grugliasco campus.

How to get credits during the PhD

There are several activities that give credits, in some cases there are limits, in other there aren’t.

Passive training activities

1. Attending courses: Courses give 1 credit every 6 hours of lectures. They should be at a post graduated level. There are some courses that are mandatory (see Courses available at DISAFA) and to get your PhD degree you must have acquired at least 20 credits through courses.
2. Workshops, summer/winter schools: they give 1 credit every 8 hours. There is no maximum, nor minimum and this is not a mandatoru activity.
3. Attending to conferences (without any presentation): 8 credits every 8 hours. This activity is not mandatory and there is an upper limit: a maximum of 10 credits can be accounted for that during the 3-years course.

Active training activities

1. Scientific publications: the papers you write are considered differently depending on your role and the rank of the journal they are published in. The table below summarizes the credits you can get.

   role	Journal rank	credits
   1st author	Q1	12
   	Q2	10
   	Q3-Q4	8
   Co-author	Q1	6
   	Q2	5
   	Q3-Q4	4

   Please note that: i) non ISI/Scopus journals are not considered, with the only exception of the AGR/01 sector, where monographies are also acceptable following the rules that are used in the research evaluation at our department. Ask your tutor in case of doubts. At least 1 publication as the first author is mandatory (i.e. at least 8 credits).

2. Communication: Publications in non-ISI journals can be considered in this category with 1-2 credits depending on your role. A maximum of 6 credits during the 3-years are allowed for that.
3. Presentations at conferences: they are evaluated differently based of 3 parameters: i) your role; ii) the type of event (national or international); iii) the type of presentation (oral or poster). The range in credits is 1-3. At least 1 presentation at a conference during the 3-years is mandatory.
4. Seminars (given): they are considered only if given outside the DISAFA, and are evaluated 0.5-1 credits, depending if they are given in Italy or abroad. A maximum of 6 credits during the 3 years is allocated for that.
5. Annual presentations: at the end of the 1 st and 2 nd year you have to present your research activity and an evaluation board will assign you from 0 to 3 credits, depending on the score you get: from D to A.
6. Stage abroad: a minimum of 3 months abroad is a mandatory activity. You will be given 3 credits for each of the 3 mandatory months, and 2 more credits for every additional month.
7. Patents: they are evaluated with 1-2 credits, depending if they are national or international.
8. Teaching: only official teaching is considered (i.e. helping your tutor does not give you credits), with a maximum allowed of 40 hours/year. You will be given 1 CFR every 10 hours.
9. Annual research activity: 40 credits per year will automatically be assigned upon admission to the next year. As a consequence, you will earn 120 credits through your research activity.
10. Thesis: writing your thesis will give you 20 or 30 CFR, depending on the language (Italian or English).

• Doing research in Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (DRAFFS) - ECTS 20 - 120 hs
  • Academic English (ECTS 5 - 30 hs - November/December 2024)
  • Advanced Statistics (ECTS 8 - 48 hs - November 2024/January-February 2025)
  • Bibliography and Bibliometrics (ECTS 3.3 - 20 hs - November/December 2024)
  • Result dissemination (ECTS 3.7 - 22 hs - November/December 2024)
• Climate Change in Crops and Forests - 92 hs - January-February 2025
• Work safety course - 4+8 hs - November 2024 - date to be fixed in 2025

In compliance with the “Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training” promoted by the EU, courses and seminars are organized by the Doctoral School to provide all Ph.D. candidates complementary research skills. Classes are taught by both faculty from the University of Turin and invited guests.

Look at Complementary Training section on Doctoral School website.