The Scuola Normale Superiore PhD School

Since its foundation in 1810, the Scuola Normale Superiore has built a reputation as one of the most successful universities – not only in Italy, but at an international level – in terms of offering to its students ideal conditions to train and develop skills in the field of scientific research.

Enrico Fermi is but one of its famous alumni that comprise three Nobel prize winners, Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Italian Republic and many successful scientists and professionals. The Academic Ranking of World Universities rates the School among the top five universities in the world, and the first in Europe according to the per capita performance.
The mission of Scuola Normale is to select the best students and provide them with the most favorable conditions to develop their talents. They will join researchers and the Normale academic staff to form a community characterized by a constant exchange of ideas, skills, and expertise through an open dialogue both in Pisa and in Florence, the SNS headquarters.

Students who choose to complete their education at the Scuola will find state-of-the-art facilities in the laboratories plus a unique combination of research groups, dedicated faculty, and one of the largest open-shelf libraries in Europe.

PhD Programmes
Classics
Cultures and Societies of Contemporary Europe
Financial Mathematics
Literature, Art and History in Medieval and Modern Europe
Mathematics
Methods and Models for Molecular Sciences
Nanosciences
Neurosciences
Philosophy
Physics
Political Science and Sociology

The Scuola Normale Superiore PhD School

All PhD programmes are open to both Italian citizens and students from outside Italy. They offer unique conditions for scientific growth. All students admitted to our PhD programmes receive full financial support. This includes tuition, fees, and a cost-of-living stipend. Support is provided to students who remain in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress towards their PhD degree. All students will be assigned further funding for their research activity and travel. Each PhD course offers scholarships reserved to students who graduated in non-Italian universities.

Applications are invited from candidates irrespective of their citizenship who:

will have completed an Italian laurea magistrale or equivalent degree from a non-Italian university within October 31, 2016
were born after October 31, 1986
Admissions are based on candidates’ academic work and interviews.
Application deadlines and process
All PhD courses will start from November 1, 2016. Interviews will be held on April for the spring session and on September for the autumn session. Application for admission must be made on line in the SNS website by 11:59 PM (CET) of the following dates:

March 15, 2016 for the spring session
August 30, 2016 for the autumn session
For each session, all applications received and registered on line after the stipulated date and time will be rejected whatever the cause of delay.

Applicants may contact the SNS Student Services offices for information at: phd@sns.it.

All personal data of candidates is protected under and will be handled in accordance with Italian law (no. 196 – June 30, 2003).
For more information visit: http://phd.sns.it/en/

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