For the academic year 2007/2008 Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy, offers 12 research fellowships for foreign students to attend Doctoral Schools/International Courses (see annex 1: list and related research lines). All the positions will be covered by scholarships fully funded by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo.

During the 3-year doctoral programme (2008-2010), the successful candidates will be offered full board and lodging at the ESU – Azienda Regionale per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario. The connected charges will be covered by Università degli Studi di Padova through Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo. Doctoral courses will last 3 years. Doctoral courses will start on 2nd January 2008 and will end on 31st December 2010.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants are required to meet the following criteria in order to be eligible:

• To have foreign (non-Italian) citizenship;
• To have foreign (non-Italian) residence. Candidates must be in possession of this requirement within the deadline date.
• To have a foreign (non-Italian) academic qualification acknowledged as equivalent to the Diploma di Laurea/ Laurea Specialistica/Magistrale (at least four years of full time university education). The equivalence of the academic degree will be decided by the Council of the Doctoral School/International Course for the sole purpose of this competition.

All candidates will be admitted to the selection with due reservation. The University can at any time exclude applicants lacking admission requirements. This measure will be communicated to the party concerned by mail with a registered letter with return receipt.

HOW TO APPLY
Applicants must submit two copies of the attached form (available at this page) fully and correctly completed in all its details. Application forms must arrive together with the documents listed below, by 7th September 2007. Signed application forms must be posted to the following address:

Università degli Studi di Padova
Servizio formazione alla ricerca
via VIII febbraio 1848 n. 2,
35122 – Padova, Italia

Applications and documents arriving after the deadline will not be considered. The date of the postmark will not be accepted as evidence of meeting the application deadline.

Candidates can apply for only one Doctoral School/International Course. Where there are various curricula within one School, candidates have to choose at most three of them, stating priorities.

We inform applicants that for the academic year 2007/2008, the Doctoral Schools/International courses listed in the annex were proposed and are going to be approved by the Academic Bodies of the University before the deadline of the call. Application forms will be accepted for only those Doctoral Schools/International Courses that will be approved.

In the application form candidates must declare, under their own responsibility, along with any other information considered relevant (see sections A and B of the application form):

• personal data, date and place of birth, place of residence and the address chosen for the purpose of the competition;
• citizenship;
• academic degree, with an indication of when and from which university it was awarded;
• the Doctoral School/International Course and the chosen curricula they are applying for;
• knowledge of Italian or English.

Moreover candidates must complete section C of the application form which includes:

• activity plans;
• personal statement;
• additional information.

The following documents must be attached to the application form:

• Certificate of the academic qualification with the list of the examinations and the marks;
• Two letters of reference by professors or experts who supervised candidates in their studies and research. The letters must be submitted in a sealed envelope, signed by the professor/expert and returned with the application form;
• A dissertation abstract (3-10 pages), if a dissertation was written in order to achieve the degree;

All the above mentioned documents must be in Italian or English or accompanied by a translation in Italian or English. Furthermore applicants can add any other qualification that should be taken into account (e.g. final written dissertation, research papers, language knowledge certificates etc.)

120 days after the publication of the final list, and for the following 60 days, all documents will be available for return on the applicants’ request and at their expense, after which they will be disposed of.

The university administration is not responsible for any lost communication due to inexact addresses or missing or late notice of change of address on behalf of the candidate, or for any mishaps due to postal, cable or e-mail problems.

For more information, please visit the official announcement.