PhD Students at Human Technopole

HT has a very active PhD community with more than 80 PhD Students of 15 different nationalities, who perform innovative research projects focused on HT research areas with the support of state-of-the-art facilities.

PhD Students are a fundamental part of the HT community and scientific ecosystem. They

• drive innovation by performing individual research projects in internationally competitive research laboratories leading to important scientific discoveries;
• actively contribute to the recruitment of their peers by participating in promotional advertising and onboarding events;
• participate in training not only as trainees but also as speakers of HT seminar series and as trainers in training initiatives;
• organise the annual PhD/Postdoc Symposium in collaboration with their Postdoc colleagues;
• are involved in institutional decisions through to their Representatives.

Degree award & Entry channels

HT PhD Students join HT through 4 Italian PhD Programmes that HT is a partner of:

• SEMM PhD Programme in Systems Medicine, focusing on molecular biology, cancer, neuroscience, genomics, structural biology, immunology. Calls published in April and in July
• PhD program in Data Analytics and Decision Sciences (DADS), focusing on health data science, Artificial Intelligence methods and population genomics. Calls published in April and periodically there after
• SISSA PhD programme in Theoretical and Scientific Data Science (TSDS), focusing on mathematical modeling. Call published in January
• National Doctorate in Artificial Intelligence, focusing on Artificial Intelligence applied to health. Call published in June

In addition to national PhD Programmes, PhD positions funded by specific International MSCA Doctoral Network projects may be available in specific calls.

All the PhD programmes above guarantee:

• A transparent selection procedure: For each PhD Programme, specific PhD Calls for applications are publicly available on the PhD Programme webpage together with a detailed description of the selection procedure. The various calls are announced on the HT website.
• A set of field-specific training courses: Each PhD Programme is characterized by a set of training courses specific for the focus area of the PhD Programme.
• A structured supervision and monitoring framework
  • HT Group Leaders offer the highest standards of supervision, providing scientific experience and expertise.
  • All HT PhD Students have a supervisory team, consisting of internal and external advisors, responsible for the project monitoring but also available to offer advice on other aspects related to the doctoral experience.

Interested in joining HT as PhD Student?

• Read about HT research at humantechnopole.it and social media
• Identify the research area you are interested in and the Group(s) you would like to join
• Contact the Group Leader of choice describing your interest to explore together potential opportunities (attach your CV and a motivation letter in English)
• Apply through the online application platform of the PhD Programme of interest. Calls for PhD applications and the corresponding selection are organised on an annual basis. We recommend that you discuss with your Group Leaders of interest the PhD Programme that would best fit your interest and skills and consult relevant website for more information.

Mentoring and Supervision

• All HT Group Leaders are offered training in leadership and supervision and rely on the support of the Scientific Training team for organising training initiatives, managing student progress, and addressing challenges in mentoring and administrative management.
• The HT Scientific Training team oversees the PhD Training Programme and has an open-door policy, meaning that PhDs may drop in at any time to discuss aspects of their studies in complete confidence. In addition to regular feedback sessions (through PhD Surveys), the team offers one-to-one confidential support on difficulties PhD Students may experience during their time at HT.

Training

HT supports the talent development of HT early-career scientists by providing training courses on technical and transferable skills.

To promote responsible research practices and uphold scientific credibility in PhD Students’ work, a Research Integrity course is mandatory for all HT PhD Students and research integrity modules are embedded in several other courses.

Interdisciplinarity is fostered through weekly scientific seminars by both internal speakers and external internationally renowned scientists where HT scientists gather to discuss science. Towards the end of their PhD, PhD Students contribute to the annual institutional seminar series, by presenting their project to the entire HT community and chairing seminars of their peers.

HT PhD Students have exclusive access to PhD Bootcamps, informal training opportunities dedicated to key aspects of the PhD experience: such as PhD planning, supervision, how to choose a scientific problem, how to prepare posters, how to manage meetings, how to give and receive feedback, and career planning. These interactive sessions offer the unique opportunity to share experiences within the PhD community and practice specific skills in an informal and friendly environment. The HT Scientific Training team regularly collects ideas and suggestions from the HT PhD Students to design new training opportunities.

Networking and Career Development

The HT PhD and Postdoc Symposium is an internal symposium aimed at providing a platform for early career scientists at HT. PhD Students and Postdocs give short talks focusing on their project scientific question, approach and results. In addition, all participants have the possibility to give an overview of their project by presenting a poster. The Symposium is co-organised by HT PhD Students and Postdocs who shape the theme and programme according to emerging scientific needs and trends.

• 2025 Symposium: In preparation
• 2024 PhD and Postdoc Symposium: pictures – video

HT PhD Students are invited to contribute to the “Chalk talk series”, an initiative organised directly by the HT Postdoc Community. Giving (and attending) a Chalk Talk is an opportunity to practice pitching their project to their peers in a very informal setting using just a pen and a whiteboard.

Career Development initiatives are periodically organised for early career scientists at HT, including “Meet the speaker” lunches, inter-institute initiatives and networking events with companies.

Representation

The PhD Community is represented by 2 PhD Student Representatives who serve as a liaison between the PhD Student body and the Faculty of Human Technopole, gathering views on PhD-relevant subject matters and bringing them forward in the appropriate forums. PhD representatives work to foster the sense of community between the PhD Students, by organising or supporting bottom-up initiatives that can bring PhD Students together.