Ph.D. Program in Computer Science
Information for
International Applicants
Director’s Message
Ernesto Damiani
C
omputer Science is one of the most exciting and dynamic
research areas, deeply affecting the way people live, work and
get entertained. The Department of Computer Science at
Università degli Studi di Milano is one of the leading forces
helping to shape the future of Information Technologies in Europe.
Today, the Department’s Ph.D. program in Computer Science
includes more than 30 graduate students with a faculty of more than
80, and has grown significantly in the past few years. Some of our
Ph.D. graduates hold prominent professorships in European and US institutions. An
increasing number of them continue into industry; Ph.D. graduates from Università
degli Studi di Milano hold positions with research laboratories of large companies
worldwide.
Our Department has built a “critical mass” in all major research areas of Computer
Science, ensuring cultural diversity and fostering fruitful collaboration with colleagues.
These areas include among others Algorithms and Complexity, Applied Logic and
Information Systems, Web Science, System-Human Interaction, Concurrency and
Verification, Computer Systems and Network Security, and Computer Graphics. Our
faculty has been recognized internationally for their contributions in each of these
areas. Naturally, there is much overlap between areas, and our research groups are
largely informal. The collegial atmosphere and the diverse culture of our Ph.D.
program have always encouraged interaction and an open-door policy. A distinctive
feature of our Ph.D. program is our offering of long and short courses organized into
blocks corresponding to research areas, providing effective support for our students’
education and research training. While our faculty teaches most Ph.D. courses, we
regularly host seminars and courses featuring prominent international researchers.
We also foster collaboration with other Ph.D. programs at our University and with
other international research institutions. Our Ph.D. program has strong links with
others in Europe (together with INSA-Lyon, France and University of Passau, Germany
we run the Italian-Franco-German Ph.D. College, leading to co-supervision and
multiple degrees), in Asia (where we have a standing agreement with University of
Taiwan and Vietnam National University) and in the USA, where we collaborate with
the NSF-funded PIRE program run by Florida University.
For all these reasons, I am confident that the Ph.D. program in Computer Science at
Università degli Studi di Milano will provide an outstanding environment to pursue
your graduate studies and research. Life in Milano has something for everyone, no
matter where you are from or what your goals may be. The diversity of the people who
live, study, and work here helps our community thrive. At the same time, you will
enjoy the abundant international culture of our University, one of the largest and most
diverse research Universities in Europe. To learn more about us, read through this
brochure, and then visit the Web sites listed at the end.
Program Description
T
he Università degli Studi di Milano’s Ph.D. program leads to the Ph.D. degree (in
Italian, Dottorato di Ricerca) in Computer Science. Our program is aimed at
students interested in obtaining research positions in government or industrial
research laboratories as well as in universities.
It gives students a rigorous and thorough knowledge of a
broad range of theoretical and practical research subject
areas, and develops their ability to recognize and pursue
significant research in computer science. All teaching and
research activities are carried out in English.
The duration of the program is three years; the defense can
be exceptionally postponed for an additional year, subject
to approval by the Steering Committee. Most students in the Ph.D. program are
supported by grants from our University or from the Italian Ministry for Research.
Some get research assistantship on funded projects.
ADMISSION
A prerequisite to admission to our Ph.D. program is having completed a five-year
University curriculum (for instance, a three-year Bachelor and a two-year Master).
Admission to our Ph.D. program is highly competitive. All applicants are expected to
demonstrate a sound background in computer science, fluency in English and a strong
motivation toward research.
Applicants are ranked according to their resume and to the result of an oral and/or
written exam. Top-ranked applicants get their tuition fee waived and qualify for a
grant.
Other applicants may be admitted without a grant (i.e., they are expected to be selffunding and to pay for their tuition), or not admitted at all. Some students admitted
without grants can be offered research assistantship on funded projects.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
The call for applications and dates of the admission exam are posted each year, by the
end of July, on the University Web site at www.unimi.it/ricerca/dottorati (look for
the “English version” link). The call and is available on the University website at
http://www.unimi.it/ricerca/dottorati/56986.htm.
Separate calls for applications are available for non-EU citizens.
Applicants who are citizens of countries outside the European Union are advised to
contact
our
Secretariat
well
in
advance
at
the
email
address
[email protected] and download the announcement and
application form at the address http://www.unimi.it/ricerca/dottorati/56986.htm
Each year, the call for applications published on the University’s Web site includes
detailed instructions for application along with the most current information about the
deadlines, and the list of documents applicants are expected to provide, including: (1)
official English transcripts of their undergraduate and graduate degrees; (2) three
letters of recommendation; and (3) a nonrefundable Euro 100 fee, which is not due for
the call for applications addressed to non-EU citizens.
Applicants are well advised to read carefully the admission information on the Web
site to make sure that the required documents and the fee amount have not been
changed.
ENROLLMENT
Successful applicants are expected to enroll within 5 days from receiving the
notification of admission to our Ph.D. program. For students admitted without a grant,
enrollment also requires a down payment of the first installment of the Ph.D. tuition
fee.
SUPERVISION
After enrolment, Ph.D. students choose a supervisor among the professors and
researchers of our faculty, according to their research interests.
Supervisors provide guidance and advice to students at all stages of their Ph.D. work,
including selecting courses and choosing a topic for their theses.
Supervisor’s approval is needed to gain admission to each year of the Ph.D. program;
also, supervisors countersign periodic certifications of regular attendance.
GRANTS
Ph.D. grants are paid out bi-monthly by the University administration upon
certification of regular attendance. The current amount of a Ph.D. grant is around
1.100 Euros per month and is exempt from the Italian income tax.
The payment of the Ph.D. grant is conditioned to certification of attendance and to
successful admission to each year of the Ph.D. program. The grant expires after three
years, regardless of any postponement of the Ph.D. defense.
ACTIVITIES
Ph.D. students enrolled in our program are expected to carry out a number of
documented activities, corresponding to 120 credits. Credits are primarily gained by
attending internal and external Ph.D. courses and successfully passing the
corresponding exams; but seminars, participation to Summer Schools, Master thesis
co-supervisions and a limited amount of teaching can also be used as secondary
sources of credits. Students are strongly encouraged to complete such activities within
the initial two years, leaving the third year free for full-time work on their thesis.
STAGES
Our program encourages students and supervisors to plan toward short- and longterm research stages at international research institutions. Ph.D. grants can be
increased during a student’s stay abroad, helping to fund accommodation and lodging
expenses.
THESIS
Our Ph.D. theses present original research work, nearly invariably leading to
publications in international journals and in the proceedings of international
conferences. Three international referees review each thesis before it can be defended
in front of a Jury composed of external professors and experts.
Research Facilities
T
he Department of Computer Science at Università degli Studi di Milano boasts an
internationally renowned faculty who has made extensive contributions to the
computer science research community, including several IEEE Fellows and ACM
Distinguished Scientists. The Department operates in two sites; one located in
downtown Milan, and the other in Crema, a small town around forty kilometers
southeast of Milan. Both sites provide laboratory and open space office facilities for
Ph.D. students. The Ph.D. program’s Secretariat is hosted at the Milan site, in Via
Comelico 39. In order to foster productive collaboration, it is expected that Ph.D.
students reside at the same site as their supervisor.
Living in Milan
Culture abounds in Milan. Landmarks like the Piazza Duomo
are only a short tram ride away, and theatre lovers need
travel no further for a visit to the world-famous La Scala
Theater. In recent years Milan has developed a reputation
for its blues music scene, but a growing number of
coffeehouses present other types of music as well; folk,
bluegrass, and jazz are just a few of the styles you will find.
For soccer enthusiasts, the city is home to the AC Milan and
Inter Milan teams; the excitement of the San Siro Stadium is only a few miles away
from the Department. If other professional sports are your thing, Milan has top
basketball and ice hockey teams. Milan is heaven for “foodies”: just about every cuisine
you might think of can be sampled here, from traditional Northern Italian fare to the
latest in nouveau cuisine. For those who like to “shop till they drop”, Milan never
disappoints. It is home to the many internationally known shopping areas, several of
which are just minutes from our Department.
Living in Crema
Just a 45-minute drive southeast from downtown Milan, the
charming town of Crema is a great place for studying and
living. The tranquil pace of the surrounding area has managed
to preserve an old-fashioned, small-town atmosphere.
The town center hosts a variety of small cafés, music pubs and
restaurants catering to all tastes, while the University’s new
campus provides ample office space and cutting-edge facilities.
The local faculty strives to provide students with everything
they need to create a home away from home. Affordable one-
and two-bedroom apartments for couples and families, and three- and four-bedroom
apartment shares for single graduate students are available from local landlords. The
Crema local Secretariat will assist students in finding suitable arrangements close to
campus.
Spotlight on Alumni
Alumnus Stefano Basagni
Associate Professor of Computer Engineering, Dana Research Center
Northeastern University, Boston, US
"The years at the Department of Computer Science in Milan were highly
formative for my sense of research, rigor and discipline of investigating.
Furthermore, the fellowship with my Ph.D. peers, staff and faculty of the
department was pleasant and rewarding enough to convince me to embark into the
academic career."
Alumnus Marcello Leida,
Senior Researcher, EBTIC (Etisalat BT Innovation Centre), UAE
“I found the Computer Science Ph.D. program at Università degli Studi
di Milano both demanding and supportive. I have learnt that good
communication skills, teamwork, and the ability to accept responsibility
personally are essential ingredients for success.”
Alumnus Cristiano Fugazza,
Post-doc Researcher by European Commission, Joint Research Centre
“The Computer Science Ph.D. program at Università degli Studi di
Milano has been the essential kick-start for doing research in a
multicultural environment and also for getting hands-on experience on
emergent technologies that were still outside the state of the art.”
Alumnus Paolo Ceravolo,
Assistant Professor at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
“During my PhD program I was involved in several research projects,
funded by national, international and private institutions, with direct
responsibility on some deliverables. This initially required a significant
effort in organizing my research but end out with the acquisition of all
the competences required to orient myself in the intricate word of the international
research. “
The Steering Committee
The Ph.D. program’s Steering Committee is chaired by the Director and oversees all the
Ph.D. program’s activities. The Committee is elected every three years among the
professors of the Computer Science Department. Current members of the Committee
are:
Claudio Bettini, Professor
Ph.D. 1993, Università degli Studi di Milano
Tel. (+39) 02-503-16281, email [email protected]
Home page http://homes.dico.unimi.it/~bettini/
Claudio Bettini is professor of Computer Science at the University of Milan, Italy, where
he leads the EveryWare research laboratory (http://everywarelab.dico.unimi.it/).
He is also an affiliate member of the Center for Secure Information Systems at George
Mason University, VA, where he has been regularly visiting since 1994. He received a PhD
in Computer Science in 1993 from the University of Milan. He spent one year at IBM
Research, NY as a postdoc at the Scientific and Engineering Computation Department,
and later worked for the University of Milan as assistant professor till 1998, and as
associate professor till 2005. His research interests cover the areas of temporal and
spatial data management, mobile and pervasive computing, privacy and security.
On these topics he has published more than 100 papers in international conferences and
scientific journals. He has been active in the program committee and in the organization
of several international events in the area of Data Management and Mobile Computing.
He has been in the editorial board of IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data
Engineering and the VLDB Journal. He is a member of ACM SIGMOD.
Nicolò Cesa-Bianchi, Professor
Ph.D. 1993, Università degli Studi di Milano
Tel. (+39) 02-503-16280, email [email protected]
Home page http://homes.di.unimi.it/~cesabian/
Nicolò Cesa-Bianchi is professor of Computer Science at the University of Milano, Italy. He
was President of the Association for Computational Learning (2006-2009). He is member
of the steering committee of the EC-funded Network of Excellence PASCAL2, action editor
for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory and for the Journal of Machine
Learning Research.
His main research interests include statistical learning theory, game-theoretic learning,
and pattern analysis. He is co-author with Gabor Lugosi of the monography "Prediction,
Learning, and Games" (Cambridge University Press, 2006) and recipient of a Google
Research Award (2010).
Ernesto Damiani, Professor (Director)
Ph.D. 1993, Università degli Studi di Milano
Tel. (+39) 02-503-30074, email [email protected]
Home page http://www.dti.unimi.it/~damiani/
Ernesto Damiani is currently a Professor at the Università degli Studi di Milano and the
director of the Università degli Studi di Milano’s Ph.D. program in computer science. Prof.
Damiani leads the SESAR lab of the Università degli Studi di Milano, whose researchers
have been involved in several projects funded by the EC under FP5 (FASTER), FP6
(PRIME) and FP7 (ASSERT4SOA,Aristotele, SecureSCM, DESIRE, and PrimeLife).
He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Service Oriented Computing, Area
Editor of the Journal of System Architecture and a member of various editorial boards.
He has published several books and about 200 papers and international patents. Prof.
Damiani is a senior member of the IEEE and ACM Distinguished Scientist, and he received
the 2007 Chester Hall Award for the best paper published in the IEEE Transaction on
Consumer Electronics.
Sabrina De Capitani di Vimercati, Professor
Ph.D. 2001, Università degli Studi di Milano
Tel. (+39) 02-503-30057, email [email protected]
Home page http://www.dti.unimi.it/~decapita/
Sabrina De Capitani di Vimercati is a professor at the Department of Computer Science,
Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her research interests are in the area of
information security and privacy. On these topics she has published more than 120
refereed technical papers in international journals and conferences. She has been an
international fellow in the Computer Science Laboratory at SRI, CA (USA).
She is member of the Steering Committees of the European Symposium on Research in
Computer Security (ESORICS) and of the Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society
(WPES). She is vice-chair of the IFIP WG 11.3 on Data and Application Security and
Privacy. She is co-recipient of the ACM-PODS'99 Best Newcomer Paper Award. More
information at http://www.dti.unimi.it/decapita.
Fiorella De Cindio, Associate Professor
Tel. (+39) 02-503-16288, email [email protected]
Home page http://www.lic.dico.unimi.it/decindio.php
Fiorella De Cindio is Associate Professor at the Computer and Computer Science
Department of the University of Milano, where she teaches courses on Programming
Languages, Distributed Systems Design and Virtual Communities. Her research interests
includes Petri nets as concurrency theory, programming languages (namely, object-
oriented and concurrent programming languages) and the applications of the ICTs to
support life and work within social and office systems. In this field, in the '80 she
undertook action research and education on workers' participation in system design,
then she was a member of the team that conceived and developed one of the first CSCW
prototypes (CHAOS, Commitment Handling Active Office System).
In 1994, she promoted the Civic Informatics Laboratory (LIC) - for which she is since then
responsible - whose main research focus are the design and implementation in social
interactive systems in real life settings and the development of e-participation
technologies. In December 2001 she got the Ambrogino d'Oro, the civic top-most award
assigned to Milan Municipality to citizens who have contribute to the city development.
Silvio Ghilardi, Professor
Ph.D. 1990, Università degli Studi di Milano
Tel. (+39) 02-503-16217, email [email protected]
Home page http://homes.di.unimi.it/~ghilardi/
Silvio Ghilardi had teaching experience in Mathematical Logic, Applied Logic, Philosophy
of the Language, Discrete mathematics, Linear Algebra and Geometry at the Universities
of Milano, Como and Pavia; he also gave PhD courses in categorical logic,
modal/description logics, infinite state model-checking, model theory.
He wrote several contributions in the area of Mathematical and Computational Logic,
covering subjects like modal logic, categorical logic, algebra of logic, automated
reasoning and model-checking. He was/is member of the Program Committee of leading
conferences in the area of automated reasoning and modal logic.
Elvinia Riccobene, Associate Professor
Ph.D. 1993, University of Catania
Tel. (+39) 02-503-30055, email [email protected]
Home page http://www.dti.unimi.it/riccobene/
Elvinia Riccobene is associate professor in Computer Science at the University of Milan.
She received her degree in Mathematics and her PhD degree from the University of
Catania (Italy). She holds visiting position at the Centre For High Assurance Computer
System (Washington DC), at the Univ. of Bristol (UK), at the Univ. of Karlsruhe
(Germany). Her research interests include formal methods and analyses techniques for
complex software systems and embedded systems, integration between formal and semiformal methods, model-driven engineering. She is the scientific coordinator of national
research projects and she participated to various European and Italian research projects.
She serves as member of the program committee of international conferences. She
published several papers in International journals and in proceedings of international
conferences.
Graduate School Faculty
Our graduate school faculty has made extensive contributions to the computer science
research community. It includes several IEEE Fellows and ACM Distinguished
Scientists. Please refer to the Department web site for information on the faculty's
research activity.
In order to foster productive collaboration, it is expected that each Ph.D. student will
be supervised by one or more faculty members. Ph.D. students are expected to reside
at the same site as their main supervisor.
AGUZZOLI Stefano
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~aguzzoli/
ALBERTI Maria Alberta [email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~alberti/
BELLETTINI Carlo
[email protected]
http://www.di.unimi.it/~belletc/
BERTONI Alberto
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~bertoni/
BETTINI Claudio
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~bettini
BOLDI Paolo
[email protected]
http://boldi.di.unimi.it/
BORGHESE N. Alberto
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~borghese/
CAPRA Lorenzo
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~capra/
CASTANO Silvana
[email protected]
http://islab.dico.unimi.it/castano
CAZZOLA Walter
[email protected]
http://cazzola.dico.unimi.it/
CERAVOLO Paolo
[email protected]
http://sesar.dti.unimi.it/ceravolo/
CESA-BIANCHI Nicolò
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~cesabian/
CESELLI Alberto
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/ceselli/
CIMATO Stelvio
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/cimato/
CIRIANI Valentina
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/ciriani/
CORDONE Roberto
[email protected]
http://homes.dsi.unimi.it/~cordone/
DAMIANI Ernesto
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/damiani
DAMIANI Maria Luisa
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~mdamiani
DE CAPITANI di
VIMERCATI Sabrina
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/decapita
DE CINDIO Fiorella
[email protected]
http://www.lic.dico.unimi.it/decindio.php
FERRARA Alfio
[email protected]
http://islab.dico.unimi.it/homePage/alfio/
FERRARI Stefano
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/ferrari/
FIORENTINI Camillo
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~fiorentini/
GAITO Sabrina Tiziana
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~gaito/
HAUS Goffredo
[email protected]
http://www.lim.dico.unimi.it
GIANINI Gabriele
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/gianini/
GROSSI Giuliano
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~grossi/
LAZZARONI Massimo
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/lazzaroni/
LIBERALI Valentino
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/liberali/
MAGGIORINI Dario
[email protected]
http://netdev.docenti.di.unimi.it/
MALCANGI Mario
Natalino
[email protected]
http://www.dsp-rts.di.unimi.it/
MARRA Vincenzo
[email protected]
http://marra.di.unimi.it/
MASCETTI Sergio
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~mascetti/
MEREGHETTI Carlo
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~mereghetti/
MESITI Marco
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~mesiti/
MONGA Mattia
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~monga/
ORNAGHI Mario
[email protected]
http://www.ccdinf.unimi.it/
PAGANI Elena
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~pagae/
PALANO Beatrice
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~palano/
PERLASCA Paolo
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~perlasca/
PETRO
SINO Alfredo
[email protected]
http://dsa.uniparthenope.it/alfredo.petros
ino
PIGHIZZINI Giovanni
[email protected]
http://pighizzini.di.unimi.it/
PIURI Vincenzo
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/piuri/
PIZZI Rita
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/pizzi/
PIZZIMENTI Giovanni
[email protected]
http://scienzemfn.unime.it
PROVETTI Alessandro
[email protected]
http://scienzemfn.unime.it/informatica/
RICCOBENE Elvinia
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/riccobene/
RIZZI Alessandro
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/rizzi/
ROSSI Gian Paolo
[email protected]
http://nptlab.di.unimi.it/index.php/people
/63-gian-paolo-rossi.html
SAMARATI Pierangela
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/samarati/
SANTINI Massimo
[email protected]
http://santini.di.unimi.it/
SASSI Roberto
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/sassi/
SCARABOTTOLO Nello
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/scarabottolo/
TAMASCELLI Dario
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~tamascelli
TETTAMANZI Andrea
[email protected]
http://mago.crema.unimi.it/
TRUCCO Gabriella
[email protected]
http://www.dti.unimi.it/trucco/
VALENTINI Giorgio
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~valenti/
VALLE Giorgio
[email protected]
http://genomics.cribi.unipd.it/Valle
VALTOLINA Stefano
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~valtolin/
VIGNA Sebastiano
[email protected]
http://vigna.dsi.unimi.it/
VISCONTI Andrea
[email protected]
http://homes.di.unimi.it/~visconti/
To learn more…
Prospective Ph.D. students can find useful information on the University’s page on the
World Wide Web (http://www.unimi.it/ricerca/dottorati).
One can also go directly to the Department of Computer Science home page
(http://www.dsi.unimi.it) or to our Ph.D. program’s own home page
(http://turing.crema.unimi.it/ScuolaDottorato). There, one can find more detailed
information about the department, faculty, courses, and research programs.
Ph.D. students often maintain Web pages of their own that are linked from the
departmental Web page. Also available on the Department’s page are links to
descriptions of various research labs, activities of graduate students in the lab, and
descriptions of current research projects and publications. For further information,
please contact our Secretariat at [email protected].