# Regulations of the PhD Programme in Computer Science and Engineering

University of Northvale (fictional), Doctoral School of Engineering — Admissions for the 42nd cycle, academic year 2026/2027.

> This document is entirely fictional, written for teaching purposes only.
> Any resemblance to the regulations of real universities is coincidental.

## Article 1 - Purpose and scope

These regulations govern the admission to the PhD Programme in Computer Science and Engineering (hereafter, "the Programme") of the University of Northvale.
They apply to all candidates applying for the 42nd cycle, which starts on 1 November 2026 and lasts three years.
The Programme is organised by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and it is coordinated by the Doctoral Board, chaired by the Programme Coordinator, Prof. Helena Marsh.
Matters not covered by these regulations are governed by the general regulations of the Doctoral School of Engineering.

## Article 2 - Available positions

The Programme offers 6 positions for the 42nd cycle.
Five positions come with a scholarship, as detailed in Article 11; one position comes without a scholarship.
Two of the funded positions are reserved to candidates working on the strategic theme "Trustworthy Intelligent Agents", funded by the Northvale Foundation for Digital Research.
Reserved positions that remain vacant are assigned to the other candidates, following the general ranking.

## Article 3 - Admission requirements

To be admitted, candidates must hold a Master's degree (second-cycle degree), or an equivalent academic title obtained abroad, giving access to doctoral studies in the country where it was issued.
Candidates who have not yet graduated may apply, provided that they obtain their degree by 31 October 2026; in that case, their admission is conditional, and it is cancelled if the degree is not obtained in time.
Foreign titles are assessed by the admission committee for the sole purpose of admission to the Programme. Candidates with a foreign title must upload their Diploma Supplement or, if unavailable, a certificate listing the exams taken, with their grades, in English.
No specific Master's degree subject is required, but candidates are expected to have a solid background in computer science, computer engineering, or closely related disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, or data science.
There is no age limit for admission.

## Article 4 - How to apply

Applications must be submitted exclusively through the online portal of the University, Apply@Northvale, by filling in the application form PHD-03.
Applications sent by email, by post, or by any other means are not considered.
Each candidate may submit only one application to the Programme; in case of multiple submissions, only the last one is considered.
The application must include the following documents, in PDF format:

1. a copy of a valid passport (or, for EU citizens, of a national identity card);
2. the transcript of records of the Master's degree and of the Bachelor's degree, with the grades of each exam;
3. a curriculum vitae, of at most 4 pages;
4. a research proposal, of at most 3 pages (references excluded), written in English, on a topic consistent with the research lines of the Programme;
5. the names and email addresses of two referees, who are asked to submit a recommendation letter (see Article 9);
6. optionally, a list of publications, and any certificate of language proficiency (see Article 5).

Candidates are responsible for the truthfulness of the information they provide. False statements lead to exclusion from the selection, at any stage, and may be prosecuted according to the law.

## Article 5 - Language requirements

The official language of the Programme is English. Knowledge of Italian, or of any other language, is not required.
Candidates must certify a knowledge of English of at least B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
The following certificates are accepted, if obtained no earlier than 1 January 2023: IELTS Academic (overall score of at least 6.0), TOEFL iBT (total score of at least 80), Cambridge B2 First (or higher), or any other certificate stating B2 level or higher, issued by an institution recognised in the country of issue.
Candidates are exempted from presenting a certificate if they are native speakers of English, or if their Master's degree was entirely taught in English; in the latter case, a statement from the awarding university must be uploaded.
Candidates without a valid certificate may still apply: their proficiency is then verified during the interview, and a candidate judged below B2 level is excluded from the ranking.

## Article 6 - Deadlines

The call for applications opens on 4 May 2026.
Applications must be submitted by 12 June 2026, at 13:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST). The portal does not accept applications after the deadline, and incomplete applications cannot be integrated afterwards.
Referees must upload their recommendation letters by 19 June 2026; candidates are advised to contact their referees well in advance.
The results of the evaluation of documents are published on the Programme's website by 29 June 2026, together with the schedule of interviews.
Interviews take place between 6 July and 10 July 2026.
The final ranking is published by 20 July 2026. Admitted candidates must confirm their enrolment through Apply@Northvale within 10 calendar days from the publication of the ranking; otherwise, they are considered as having renounced, and the next candidates in the ranking are admitted in their place.

## Article 7 - Admission committee

The admission committee is appointed by decree of the Rector, on proposal of the Doctoral Board, after the application deadline.
It is composed of three members, chosen among the full and associate professors of the University involved in the Programme, plus two substitute members. Up to one member may be an external expert, from another university or research institution.
The committee is chaired by its most senior full professor, and it appoints a secretary among its members.
The committee may meet and conduct interviews by videoconference. Every meeting is recorded in minutes, signed by all members, which report the scores assigned to each candidate and the reasons for them.
The committee is responsible for: verifying the admissibility of applications; assessing documents and interviews according to the criteria of Article 8; drafting the final ranking; and reporting any irregularity to the Programme Coordinator.
Before accessing the applications, each member must sign a declaration on conflicts of interest, as detailed in Article 13.
The committee's work must be concluded within 45 days from its appointment.

## Article 8 - Evaluation criteria and their weights

Each candidate is assigned a total score of up to 100 points, obtained as follows:

- __academic record and curriculum vitae__: up to 30 points, considering the final grade of the Master's degree (or the average grade of exams, for those who have not graduated yet), the coherence of the curriculum with the Programme, and any further training;
- __research proposal__: up to 30 points, considering its originality, feasibility in three years, clarity, and relevance to the research lines of the Programme;
- __recommendation letters__: up to 10 points, as detailed in Article 9;
- __interview__: up to 30 points, as detailed in Article 10.

Publications, if any, are assessed as part of the curriculum vitae.
Only the candidates scoring at least 40 points (out of 70) in the evaluation of documents are admitted to the interview.
To be included in the final ranking, a candidate must obtain at least 21 points (out of 30) in the interview, and a total score of at least 60 points (out of 100).

## Article 9 - Recommendation letters

Each candidate must indicate two referees, who are asked by the portal to upload a recommendation letter. Letters uploaded by candidates themselves are not considered, as well as letters arriving after the deadline of Article 6.
Letters must be written by people who know the candidate in an academic or professional capacity, such as a thesis supervisor, a teacher, or an employer. Letters written by relatives of the candidate are inadmissible.
The committee rewards letters describing concrete evidence of the candidate's research potential: for instance, specific contributions to a project, a thesis, or a publication; independence in formulating research questions; and comparisons with other students supervised by the referee.
Generic letters, or letters that are not tailored to the Programme, receive fewer points. Weaknesses reported by referees are weighed in the light of the whole application.
If a candidate receives only one letter, the score of the missing letter is zero. The committee may contact the referees to verify the authenticity of a letter.

## Article 10 - Interview

The interview is held in English, by videoconference, and lasts between 20 and 30 minutes.
At the beginning of the interview, the candidate must show the same identity document uploaded with the application. Candidates who cannot be identified are not interviewed.
During the interview, the candidate presents the research proposal in at most 10 minutes, without slides; then, the committee asks questions about the proposal, the candidate's previous studies, and their motivation.
Candidates who do not show up at the scheduled time are excluded from the selection, whatever the reason for their absence.
The interview is public: any person may attend it, upon request to the Programme's secretariat, without intervening.

## Article 11 - Scholarships and research funds

Scholarships amount to EUR 19,200 per year, before social security contributions borne by the recipient, and they are paid in monthly instalments.
The amount is increased by 50% for periods spent abroad, up to a maximum of 12 months over the three years, if such periods are authorised by the Doctoral Board.
Each PhD student, with or without a scholarship, is also given a budget for research activities (e.g. conferences, summer schools, equipment), equal to 10% of the annual amount of the scholarship, for the second and third year.
Scholarships are assigned following the ranking; admitted candidates may express their preference among the reserved and non-reserved positions.
Scholarships cannot be combined with other scholarships or grants of any kind, except those meant to fund stays abroad. Recipients of a scholarship whose gross yearly income exceeds the amount of the scholarship itself lose the right to it for that year.

## Article 12 - Ranking and ties

The committee drafts a single ranking of all candidates meeting the thresholds of Article 8, sorted by total score.
In case of a tie, priority goes to the candidate who scored more in the research proposal; in case of a further tie, to the younger candidate.
The ranking is approved by decree of the Rector, and published on the Programme's website. Publication is the only official notification to candidates: no individual communication is sent.

## Article 13 - Conflicts of interest

Committee members must sign form PHD-07, "Declaration on the absence of conflicts of interest", before accessing any application.
A conflict of interest exists, in particular, when a committee member: is a relative or partner of a candidate, up to the fourth degree; has co-authored a publication with a candidate in the last three years; has supervised, or co-supervised, a candidate's Master's thesis; or has written a recommendation letter for a candidate.
In case of conflict with any candidate, the member must abstain from the whole selection, and is replaced by a substitute member. Conflicts arising during the selection must be reported to the Programme Coordinator immediately.
Failing to declare a conflict of interest invalidates the evaluations the member took part in, and it is reported to the University's Ethics Committee.

## Article 14 - Data protection and use of automated tools

Personal data of candidates are processed according to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679), for the sole purpose of the selection.
The data controller is the University of Northvale; the Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@northvale.example.
Data of non-admitted candidates are deleted 24 months after the publication of the final ranking, unless an appeal is pending.
The committee may use software tools, including tools based on artificial intelligence, to support the assessment of applications, e.g. to extract information from documents or to summarise them. Such tools may not make decisions: every score is assigned, and justified in the minutes, by the members of the committee, who remain fully responsible for it.
Candidates' documents may only be processed with tools approved by the University, which do not retain them nor use them for training. Candidates are entitled to know which tools were used on their application, upon request to the Data Protection Officer.

## Article 15 - Appeals

Candidates may ask to access the minutes of the committee, as far as their own application is concerned, by filling in form PHD-11.
Appeals against the ranking must be addressed to the Rector, using form PHD-12, within 30 days from its publication. The Rector decides within 30 days, after hearing the committee.
In any case, candidates may appeal to the competent Regional Administrative Court within 60 days from the publication of the ranking.

## Article 16 - Final provisions

These regulations enter into force on the day of their publication on the University's website.
For information, candidates may contact the Programme's secretariat at phd-cse@northvale.example. Requests received less than 3 working days before a deadline are not guaranteed to be answered in time.