UME School TABLE OF CONTENTS. Handbook. September UME School C/o EUCENTRE Via Ferrata 1, Pavia, Italy

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1 TABLE OF CONTENTS UME School Handbook September 2014 UME School C/o EUCENTRE Via Ferrata 1, Pavia, Italy TABLE OF CONTENTS... ii 1. THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY (IUSS-Pavia) HISTORY AND EXCELLENCE IUSS CORE ACTIVITIES MASTER PROGRAMMES DOCTORAL PROGRAMMES RESEARCH CENTRES OVERVIEW INTRODUCTION ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE Important Coordinates COOPERATION AGREEMENTS JOINT PLACEMENT AGREEMENT WITH UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES OF THE SCHOOL Master of Science Degree Doctor of Philosophy Degree Master and Doctoral Dissertations IUSS PRESS EUCENTRE GLOBAL EARTHQUAKE MODEL (GEM) PAVIA RISK CENTRE (PARC) DETAILS OF ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES INTRODUCTION SYLLABUS, QUALITY ASSURANCE AND GRADING Syllabus ii

2 3.2.2 Class Attendance Grading System Course Evaluation GENERAL REGULATIONS Student Performance Exclusion from the Programme Transition from Master to Doctoral Programme Studying Location Attending Courses of Another Programme MSC IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY (ROSE) General Requirements Master Dissertation Duration of the Programme MSC IN RISK AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (REM) General Requirements Internship Report Duration of the Programme PHD IN UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING EXTREMES General Requirements Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor Doctoral Dissertation Individual Studies Periods Abroad Transition from a Master Programme Recognition of Previously Earned Credit Points Plan of study Progress Report Working Activities Concomitant to the Doctorate Papers and Conferences Duration and Suspension of the Doctoral Programme Final Doctoral Exam iii 3.7 GRADUATION UME SEMINARS ROSE SHORT COURSES ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL UME SCHOOL SEMINAR FACILITIES AT THE SCHOOL ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES OF THE SCHOOL CAR College Alternative Accommodation COMPUTER AND PRINTER FACILITIES General Rules and Regulations UME School Account Usage Printing and Photocopying Policy for Laptop Computers EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES UME SCHOOL SECRETARIAT CLASSROOMS LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION CENTRE FINANCIAL INFORMATION TUITION FEES MSc Programmes PhD Programme SCHOLARSHIPS MSc Students PhD Students OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UME STUDENTS Teaching Assistantships Research Contract Opportunities FURTHER USEFUL INFORMATION UME SCHOOL STUDENT CARD iv

3 6.2 UME SCHOOL WEB SITES UME STUDENT WEBPAGES UME ALUMNI FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS FOR ACADEMIC DOCUMENTS APPENDIX A: ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION A.1 Colleges in Pavia A.1.1 Historical Colleges A.1.2 Modern Colleges A.2 Estate Agents A.3 Hotels in Pavia and Surroundings A.3.1 Hotels in Pavia A.3.2 Hotels in the Surroundings of Pavia APPENDIX B: INFORMATION ABOUT THE ITALIAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM B.1 For Non EU Students B.2 For EU Students APPENDIX C: USEFUL MAP APPENDIX D: CANTEEN SERVICE APPENDIX E: USEFUL NUMBERS v

4 1. THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY (IUSS-Pavia) 1.1 HISTORY AND EXCELLENCE The Institute for Advanced Study of Pavia (Istituto Univeritario di Studi Superiori, IUSS-Pavia) fulfils, since 1997, an advanced teaching and research model and, since 2005, is formally an independent institution within the Italian University system framework along with other prestigious institutions in Italy, such as the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Scuola Sant Anna in Pisa, or the International School for Advanced Studies SISSA in Trieste. Due to the completeness of its education and training fields, which allow a strong interdisciplinary approach, the mission of IUSS-Pavia is that of contributing to the growth of a small number of selected students by offering them, at every step of their higher education, qualified programmes enhancing their capabilities and knowledge. IUSS-Pavia is also committed to scientific progress by preparing young researchers and developing scientific research programmes. 1.2 IUSS CORE ACTIVITIES Among IUSS core educational and research activities there are: Undergraduate Courses open, on a merit base, to the most promising students of the University of Pavia II Level University Master Programmes providing a strong international approach Doctoral Programmes providing an interdisciplinary point of view and exposure to cutting edge research Advanced Short-Term Courses and Seminars Research Centres In the following a brief overview of these activities is provided while further information is readily available through the IUSS-Pavia website at MASTER PROGRAMMES IUSS Master programmes foresee a period of courses, held in English, and in some cases an internship carried out within a company or an institution lasting in general 3 to 6 months. The Master programmes require a full time commitment and cover a 12 to 18-month period, at the end of which successful students receive a University Master Degree of Level II (60 or 90 ECTS credit points). The faculty is composed of highly qualified professors and renowned guest speakers from international cutting-edge companies. The interdisciplinary approach allows preparing people to face the complexities found within a wide range of fields and to therefore successfully proceed in a dynamic career achieving their goals and personal satisfaction. IUSS-Pavia looks for promising young graduates, willing to broaden their perspectives in a challenging environment. Admissions are based on the assessment of curriculum vitae and, in some cases, an interview. Scholarships are awarded on a merit basis taking into account geographical considerations and, according to available funding, can 2

5 range from tuition waivers to full scholarships covering tuition, accommodation and living expenses. Herein, the list of the Master programmes currently run by IUSS-Pavia: Master in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology Master in Risk and Emergency Management Master in Environmental Chemical Risk Master in Nuclear and Ionizing Radiation Technologies Master in Cooperation and Development Some of these programmes award joint degrees with national or international institutions. 1.4 DOCTORAL PROGRAMMES IUSS-Pavia hosts five PhD programmes; the majority of them are jointly run with the University of Pavia. PhD in Understanding and Managing Extremes (Three curricula: (i) Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, (ii) Risk and Emergency Management, (iii) Weather-Related Risk); PhD in Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnologies; PhD in Economics and Social Sciences; PhD in Computational Mechanics and Advanced Materials; PhD in Cognitive Nuerosciences and Philosophy of the Mind. 1.5 RESEARCH CENTRES IUSS-Pavia training and research centres reflect the interdisciplinary approach fostered by the Institute. Centres currently run by IUSS-Pavia are: Centre for Studies and Research on Ancient Law (Cedant); Human Development, Capability and Poverty International Research Centre (HDC-IRC); Advanced Numerical Simulation Centre (CeSNA); Neurolinguistics and Theoretical Syntax Research Centre (Ne.T.S.); Centre for Post-Graduate Training and Research in Understanding and Managing Extremes (UME); International Centre for Astronomical and Remote-sensing Observations (ICARO). 3 4

6 All lecturers at the School are internationally recognised experts in their field, coming from a number of distinguished institutions from around the world. 2. OVERVIEW 2.1 INTRODUCTION The Graduate School in Understanding and Managing Extremes (UME) is a recent exciting development of IUSS-Pavia: innovative, internationally planned, open minded, grown on the traditionally fertile soil of the University of Pavia, and based on a system of Colleges (Appendix A) unique in Italy. In this framework, the UME School offers post-graduate programmes geared towards the evaluation of uncertainties, risk mitigation and emergency management. The key objective is to provide a system within which Master and Doctoral candidates can study, understand and deal with extreme events. UME programmes currently target three main areas: Disaster risk assessment, focusing mainly on natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, landslides and floods (with possible extensions to the topics of climatology, desertification, human-made and technological risks etc.). Extreme situation management, which includes topics of statistics and probability, law, economics, resource management, finance, insurance, sociology, ethics, psychology and medicine. Engineering for risk mitigation, which includes topics on engineering to increase the capacity of buildings and infrastructure to withstand the demands from extreme events. Each course is intensively taught in a period of one to four weeks, during which the respective lecturer is able to fully dedicate his/her time and efforts exclusively to the academic activities at the School, thus ensuring teaching and research training at the highest possible level of quality. All of the above endows a truly unique character to the UME School, be it for its fully international nature or for its innovative organisation in education and research training in the fields of evaluation of uncertainties, risk mitigation and emergency management. Currently, two programmes of the UME School are fully operational at master and doctoral level, i.e. the ROSE Programme in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology and the REM Programme in Risk and Emergency Management. A third doctoral curriculum, on Weather Related Risk (WRR), has started in September The European Commission has approved and financed within the Erasmus Mundus II framework the Master in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (MEEES), coordinated by the UME School and featuring the participation of the University of Grenoble 1 Joseph Fourier (France), the University of Patras (Greece) and the Middle East Technical University (METU) of Ankara (Turkey), which aims to enhance quality in European higher education and to promote dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with Third Countries ( The School also relies on advanced numerical and experimental facilities, including the full-scale testing facilities of the laboratory of the European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE, see Section 2.7), featuring what is currently the most powerful shaking table in Europe. 6

7 The aim of this handbook is to provide information to UME students on the many aspects of the School such as its organisational structure, the various academic activities and facilities, and the bureaucratic and financial procedures, of which each student must be aware of upon arrival at the School. The most recent issue of the Handbook can be downloaded at: ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE The overall coordination and management of the UME School is under the direct responsibility of its Director: Gian Michele Calvi, Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori (IUSS- Pavia), Pavia, Italy The School is organised according to the following scheme: IUSS UME School Board (Master and Doctoral) Academic performance; Individual study plan; Academic programme; Credit recognition. On the other hand, the first point of contact for students regarding administrative queries is the UME School Secretariat. Administrative queries deals with topics such as: Issue of documents regarding one s academic career (Transcripts, certificates, etc); Scholarship payment; Accommodation Important Coordinates Important coordinates of key personnel of the UME School are listed in the following table: Academic Queries ROSE Programme UME School Director Prof. Gian Michele Calvi Deputy Director: Dr. Ricardo Monteiro Academic Coordinator Dr. Paola Ceresa UME School Secretariat Ms. Laura Meazza, Ms. Sandra Giacomini Administrative Queries UME School Students REM Programme Academic Queries WRR Programme First point of contact for students regarding academic queries is the Academic Coordinator or the Deputy Director. Academic queries encompass e.g.: Person/Service/Function UME School Director Prof. Gian Michele Calvi UME School Deputy Director Dr. Ricardo Monteiro UME School Academic Coordinator Dr. Paola Ceresa UME School Secretariat Ms. Laura Olga Meazza UME School Secretariat Ms. Sandra Giacomini Coordinates gm.calvi@iusspavia.it Phone: +39 (0382) ricardo.monteiro@iusspavia.it Phone: +39 (0382) paola.ceresa@iusspavia.it Phone: +39 (0382) secretariat@umeschool.it Phone: +39 (0382) Fax: +39 (0382) secretariat@umeschool.it Phone: +39 (0382) Fax: +39 (0382)

8 Person/Service/Function IUSS Post-Graduate Office Ms. Virginia Borasi Ms. Silvia Grecchi Ms. Sandra Castelli UME/EUCENTRE Library and Documentation Centre Ms. Roberta Lucentini UME/EUCENTRE IT Support Coordinates Phone: +39 (0382) (0382) (0382) Fax: +39 (0382) The physical address of the UME School Secretariat is: UME School Secretariat c/o Eucentre Via A. Ferrata 1 I Pavia Please note that the specification c/o Eucentre is mandatory. Another reference point for Master and PhD students is: IUSS Post-Graduate Office c/o IUSS Piazza della Vittoria Pavia postlaurea@iusspavia.it Phone: + 39 (0382) /24/ COOPERATION AGREEMENTS Cooperation agreements with a number of renowned institutions actively involved in earthquake engineering and engineering seismology research are in place through the ROSE Programme, allowing for cooperation in research activities, combined organisation of seminars 9 and conferences, exchange of technical data and publications and, most importantly, the possibility of student exchange initiatives. Formal agreements are currently available with the following institutions: Imperial College London (UK) North Carolina State University (USA) University of Adelaide (Australia) University of Canterbury (New Zealand) University of Toronto (Canada) Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) University at Buffalo (USA) University of California at San Diego (USA) University of Minho (Portugal) Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (Ecuador) Tongji University Shanghai (China) Web links to the above-listed institutions can be found on the ROSE Programme website ( where additional information can be obtained. Furthermore, there is cooperation between the School and many Italian Universities and students are advised to contact the Academic Coordinator for more information. The REM Programme benefits from partnerships that the UME School has formed with a number of public/private institutions and international organizations, with the main aim of providing placement opportunities for REM students during the internship period required by the programme. Such partnerships include e.g. those with the EUCENTRE Foundation (see Section 2.7), the GEM Foundation (see Section 2.8), ImageCat Inc., Munich Re, the World Bank s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN- OCHA). 10

9 Web links to the above-listed institutions can be found on the REM Programme website ( where further information can be obtained. Also the WRR Programme features an important collaboration with CIMA Research Foundation International Centre on Environmental Monitoring, located at the Savona campus of the University of Genoa. 2.4 JOINT PLACEMENT AGREEMENT WITH UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO This is an exciting opportunity offered to UME Doctoral students of the ROSE Programme. The Institute for Advanced Study (IUSS) of Pavia and the University of Toronto, Canada recently signed a joint placement agreement allowing doctoral students of one of the universities, who fulfil a given set of conditions (e.g. having the doctoral dissertation jointly supervised by faculties of both universities and spending a 12 months educational and research stay the other university), to obtain a degree mentioning the joint placement career. 2.5 ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES OF THE SCHOOL One of the characteristics of the UME School is the combination of Masters of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree programmes within the same teaching structure. The teaching system at the School consists of providing a number of relatively short courses, offered in series, with a typical duration of four weeks in the ROSE/MEEES Programme and one to four weeks in the REM/WRR Programme Master of Science Degree Currently at the UME School students have the possibility of obtaining MSc degrees awarded within three main programmes, i.e. the ROSE Programme (formerly ROSE School), the MEEES Programme, and the REM Programme. In particular, the offered programmes are listed below: 11 - Master programme in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (ROSE); - Erasmus Mundus Master programme in Earthquake Engineering and/or Engineering Seismology (MEEES); - Master programme in Risk and Emergency Management (REM). Detailed information on the MEEES Consortium, as well as on academic and administrative specifications is given in the MEEES Handbook and on the website Doctor of Philosophy Degree The UME School runs a PhD programme in Understanding and Managing Extremes that is characterised by three curricula: - Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (ROSE); - Risk and Emergency Management (REM); - Weather Related Risk (WRR) and that awards the following degrees: - Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, obtained in the framework of the doctoral programme in Understanding and Managing Extremes; - Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Risk and Emergency Management, obtained in the framework of the doctoral programme in Understanding and Managing Extremes; - Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Weather Related Risk, obtained in the framework of the doctoral programme in Understanding and Managing Extremes. According to Italian law, the doctoral programme lasts 36 months and students can only be enrolled in one programme at a time (MSc or PhD). However, ECTS credits obtained within an MSc programme may be transferred to the PhD programme. A more detailed discussion 12

10 of the academic requirements for the PhD degree is provided in Chapter 3. The above effectively means that students who are first accepted into one of the MSc programmes and then later become PhD students (by following the standard PhD application and admission procedure), may have their work and results obtained within the scope of their MSc programme recognised as valid to partially meet the PhD requirements Master and Doctoral Dissertations It is envisaged that work towards the preparation of an MSc dissertation or PhD thesis may be carried out in any institution with which a UME School faculty member is affiliated. To this purpose, please read carefully the regulations presented in Sections 3.4 to IUSS PRESS The Institute for Advanced Study (IUSS-Pavia), of which the UME School is a part of, features also its own publishing house, the IUSS Press ( with the objective of: providing top quality publications at a fraction of the cost of conventional publishing houses, thus reducing price of acquisition of technical books (especially for students); reducing significantly the time between submittal of authors drafts and final production, thus enabling faster publication of state-of-the-art manuscripts; providing a higher royalty to authors than what is typically available from conventional publishing houses, thus stimulating renowned experts into producing high quality textbooks. Every year, the UME School publishes a number of Research and Educational reports through the IUSS Press, featuring work carried out by its students and staff. In addition, textbooks and/or monographs, written by UME lecturers, are also regularly published by the IUSS publishing house. Please refer to the website for a complete listing of available publications. 13 UME School students can purchase IUSS Press publications directly at the EUCENTRE Secretariat located on the second floor of the EUCENTRE 2 building (See map on Appendix C). Publications can be paid in cash or by credit card. 2.7 EUCENTRE The Foundation European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE, is oriented towards promoting, supporting and advancing research and training activities aiming at the reduction of seismic risk. EUCENTRE was originally founded by the Italian National Department of Civil Protection (DPC), the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), the University of Pavia (UNIPV) and the Institute for Advanced Study (IUSS) of Pavia. EUCENTRE pursues its aims also making use of the following structures: The TREES Lab Laboratory for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering and Seismology ( The CAR College International College for Civil Protection Cardinale Agostino Gaetano Riboldi ( The UME School is closely connected to the EUCENTRE Foundation. Most of the local UME Faculty members and other staff belong to EUCENTRE; EUCENTRE has many research projects in the field of earthquake engineering, engineering seismology and, increasingly, risk related to other natural and human-induced hazards. MSc and PhD students can be involved in such projects and they are encouraged to do their dissertations within the EUCENTRE 14

11 project framework, also in cooperation with external faculty members (see Section 2.5.3); The TREES Lab numerical and experimental facilities at EUCENTRE can be used for both training and research activities involving UME students; The CAR College is devoted to host postgraduate students, scholars and lecturers involved in natural hazards risk mitigation studies; EUCENTRE coordinates the publications of the IUSS Press. ( while the relevant network of activities is summarised by the following scheme: 2.8 GLOBAL EARTHQUAKE MODEL (GEM) The GEM Foundation ( is a public-private partnership that drives a collaborative effort aimed at developing and deploying tools and resources for earthquake risk assessment worldwide. Hundreds of organisations and individual experts, professionals and practitioners are working together on uniform global databases, methodologies, tools and open-source software. GEM Headquarters are hosted on the premises of the EUCENTRE Foundation in Pavia, allowing a privileged interaction with the UME School. GEM researchers regularly teach ROSE and REM/WRR courses and supervise master and doctoral theses. 2.9 PAVIA RISK CENTRE (PARC) Pavia Risk Centre (PaRC) refers to a knowledge hub located in Pavia, where several organisations, including some of the ones referred to so far, with various areas of expertise work within the same vicinity on a common aim: profound understanding of different types of risk, natural and man-made, in order to develop approaches, technologies, systems and solutions to reduce the overall consequences of these events. PaRC is not an institution; it is a brand that aims to promote excellence in research and activities related to seismic and other risks in this city in the region of Lombardy. Additional information can be found on the PaRC website at: PaRC core organisations are EUCENTRE, GEM, the UME School, IUSS Press and the Pavia Città della Formazione Foundation 15 16

12 3. DETAILS OF ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES 3.1 INTRODUCTION The following sections present and discuss important aspects related to the academic organisation of the UME School. The School is embedded through IUSS-Pavia into the Italian National University System. Both organisations have their own regulations that concur in ruling the activities of the UME School. Key regulations are: IUSS Academic Regulations (Regolamento Didattico IUSS): tico_istituto.pdf IUSS Master Regulations (Regolamento Master IUSS): amento%20mastersmodificato%2020%204%202011%281%29.pdf IUSS Doctoral Regulations Up to cycle XXVIII amento%20dottorati%20modificato%2024%206% pdf Starting with Cycle XXIX (Regolamento Post-Laurea) %20Corsi%20di%20dottorato%20IUSS_def.pdf Italian National Doctoral Regulations Up to cycle XXVIII (DM n. 224 del , Regolamento in Materia di Dottorato di Ricerca) ottorati.pdf Starting with Cycle XXIX (DM n. 45 dello , Regolamento recante modalità di accreditamento delle sedi e dei corsi di dottorato e criteri per la istituzione dei corsi di dottorato da parte degli enti accreditati) ore/354a e1-47d9-b2e0-d3470ae5b4a6/dm94_13.pdf These regulations are available in Italian only. Where deemed necessary this Handbook provides simplified translations of important requirements. These regulations may change at any time, which would require modifications and amendments of this Handbook. 3.2 SYLLABUS, QUALITY ASSURANCE AND GRADING Syllabus The teaching system at the School consists of providing a number of intensively run courses, offered in series, each with a duration of not more than four weeks. The courses are divided into two semesters, the first running from September until mid-february (Fall Term) and the second from mid-february until July (Spring Term). Students are admitted to the School in September, which corresponds to the beginning of the academic year. The complete and most up to date academic programme is listed on the websites of the master programmes at: ROSE Programme: REM Programme: WRR Programme: The School will take all reasonable efforts to maintain the programme as published on the website. If for reasons of force majeure (e.g. sudden unavailability of the lecturer, insufficient number of students) modifications are necessary, the affected students will be immediately informed and as far as possible an equivalent programme will be proposed. 18

13 Together with the dates, brief course description and information about the lecturer, the academic programme defines the number of European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credit points awarded by each course. Each ECTS credit point corresponds approximately to 25 hours of work. Typically, every successfully completed course accounts for 6 credits within the ROSE Programme and 2 to 6 credits, within the REM or WRR Programmes. Every course features a final exam, which may or may not be complemented with an oral examination. Lecturers can also choose to base their evaluation on coursework, projects and midterm exams, if deemed appropriate. However, and independently of the amount of individual work required by such assignments, it is suggested that these will count for not more than 50% of the final grade. Since the official language of the School is English, all examinations, coursework, lectures, and course material will be in English Class Attendance Punctual attendance of at least 85% of the classes according to the schedule provided by the lecturer is mandatory. Sanctions for not complying with this requirement range from a reduction of the obtained grade to voiding of the course result. The schedule of a course is provided to students shortly before the beginning of the course. Changes of schedule may occur and will be communicated directly by the lecturer or by the UME School secretariat. Even short notice changes of schedule do not exempt students from attending classes. Master and Doctoral students who wish to withdraw from a given course (by informing the lecturer that they do not intend to sit the exam) are strongly advised to do so within the first days of the course. Under limited exceptional circumstances, assessed by the School Board on a case-by-case basis, this rule may be overlooked Grading System For grading of the students, the UME School has adopted a system based on letters, in the sense that the final grades may be elaborated by the lecturers according to any criterion (e.g. points, percentage of class, and so on) but will be always translated in letters for official scripts. The grades range from A+ (maximum grade) to D (pass), as indicated in the table below. Table 1. Grading system at the UME School A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D (Pass) F (Fail) The UME School does not compute, store or divulgate grade point averages (e.g. GPA, CGPA, etc). No official ranking of students within a batch is carried out Course Evaluation In order to gauge the quality of the teaching and identify possible areas where improvements are called for, a course evaluation form for students to compile at the end of each course has been prepared. The latter features five main lines of enquiry so as to enable students to judge the content, organisation and preparation of the course, together with examination procedure and the proficiency of the lecturer and teaching assistant. Students are asked to respond anonymously, so that any eventual negative feedback is not inhibited; however, the students will not receive their course grade until they have submitted the evaluation form. Criticism on the fairness of the examination results can be included in a specific category of the questionnaire, instead of being merged within the overall assessment from the student. The results from this evaluation exercise are used by the School to identify possible areas where improvements might be required; the 19 20

14 results for each course are provided to the respective lecturer, who then takes such feedback into account in the preparation of subsequent instalments of the course. 3.3 GENERAL REGULATIONS Student Performance Master and doctoral programmes require a full time commitment. Students must follow the regulations explained in this Handbook with reference to: Class attendance Examinations Final dissertation If any of the aforementioned regulations is not adhered to, this could lead to exclusion from the programme Exclusion from the Programme A student may be excluded from the programme he/she is currently attending (i.e. Master or Doctoral Programme) whenever serious and well-documented faults or wrongdoings have taken place, following the decision of the School Board Transition from Master to Doctoral Programme The transition procedure from a Master Programme to the UME Doctoral Programme is described in Section Hence, according to current regulations MEEES, ROSE and REM Master students are allowed to participate to the doctoral student selection competition, and, if admitted, to start the UME Doctoral Programme while they are still enrolled into the Master Programme Studying Location Students are expected to stay in Pavia for the duration of their study. Whenever leaving Pavia for study or research reasons, students are 21 required to submit either a Richiesta di missione (Study leave request) - Form or comply with the requirememts for periods abroad for doctoral students according to Section The Richiesta di missione (Study leave request) Form can be obtained at the UME School Secretariat and has to be submitted well in advance: at least one month before the departure since the request needs to be approved by the Rector Attending Courses of Another Programme Students enrolled in a master programme or in a doctoral curriculum may attend courses of another programme or curriculum, upon previous approval by the Academic Coordinator (Master) or the Doctoral Thesis Supervisor (PhD). The content of the chosen course must be compatible with the UME academic career of the student. 3.4 MSC IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING SEISMOLOGY (ROSE) General Requirements The Master degree in Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (EEES) of the ROSE Programme has an 18-month duration and requires 90 ECTS credits to be obtained, with no more than one dissertation. This effectively means that the student must attend at least 10 taught modules. The organization of the study consists in two semesters where the students follow courses earning 30 credits per semester, while the third semester is devoted to the production of the master thesis of technically high standards for which 30 credits are awarded. The thesis can be produced either through original research work or through a professional internship. 22

15 Students enrolled in the MSc programme will be required to have not more than two courses with a grade below B- during their studies at the School. Students who fail to comply with such prerequisite are advised to speak to the Academic Coordinator, so that the School Board can then take a decision on the matter Master Dissertation Students need to produce a Master dissertation of technically high standards, which should be carried out under the supervision of at least one ROSE faculty 1 or one local research staff 2. As a general rule, students of Master programmes should decide their dissertation supervisor by the end of the second semester and should communicate this decision to the UME Secretariat no later than July 15. In the case of the professional internship, students need to produce a final Report of technically high standards, corresponding to an internship carried out under a topic within the Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology context, which should be carried out under the supervision of at least one member of the ROSE teaching body or local research staff. As a general rule, students of the ROSE Programme should decide, together with the Academic Coordinator, where their internship will take place by the beginning of the second semester. At this point, the internship agreement forms should be prepared, together with the School Tutor. No internship report will be accepted without the internship forms duly signed and stamped by the Hosting Institution. 1 See: 2 See: 23 Master dissertations or Internship Reports are graded as accepted/not accepted. Accepted reports award 30 ECTS points. Detailed specifications: The Master thesis (or intership report) has to be written using the template provided by the School. Students shall request the template at the UME School Secretariat; The Master thesis should feature the International System of Units (SI); The final version of the report should be submitted in soft and hard copy, plus one copy on a CD/DVD; For the thesis to be accepted, it will have to be mandatorily accompanied by the thesis approval document signed by the Supervisors/Tutors. Students shall request the blank approval document at the UME School Secretariat Duration of the Programme Students are allowed a maximum of 18 months to complete their MSc studies (i.e. to obtain the necessary course credits and submit the Master dissertation). In truly exceptional, well documented and timely communicated cases, the School Board may grant an extension beyond 18 months. 3.5 MSC IN RISK AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT (REM) General Requirements The Master degree in Risk and Emergency Management (REM) at the UME School requires 90 ECTS credits to be obtained, with no more than one internship report, which means that the student must earn at least 60 credits through taught modules. The organization of the study consists in two semesters where the students follow courses, during the third semester students will carry out a 5- to 6-month internship, possibly in one of the partner 24

16 institutions, and produce a final report, for which 30 credits are awarded. The student needs to produce a final report of technically high quality, i.e. his/her Master dissertation pertaining to the internship of 5 to 6 months, possibly carried in one of the partner institutions, with which the UME School has a cooperation agreement in the framework of the REM programme. The internship should foresee two tutors, one from the hosting Institution and the other from the UME School; both should communicate regularly to assure that the objectives of the placement are fulfilled. Students enrolled in the REM MSc programme will be required to have not more than two courses with a grade below B- during their studies at the School. Students who fail to comply with such prerequisite are advised to speak to the Academic Coordinator, so that the School Board can then take an informed decision on the matter Internship Report Students need to produce a final Report of technically high standards, corresponding to an internship carried out under a topic within the Risk and Emergency Management context, which should be carried out under the supervision of at least one member of the REM teaching body 3 or local research staff 4. As a general rule, students of the REM Programme should decide, together with the Academic Coordinator, where their internship will take place by the beginning of the second semester. At this point, the internship agreement forms should be prepared, together with the School Tutor. No internship report will be accepted without the internship forms duly signed and stamped by the Hosting Institution. 3 See: 4 See: 25 Internship Reports are graded as accepted/not accepted. Accepted reports award 30 ECTS points. Detailed specifications: The internship report has to be prepared according to the template provided by the School. Students shall request the template at the UME School Secretariat; The final version of the report should be submitted in soft and hard copy, plus one copy on a CD; For the report to be accepted, it will have to be mandatorily accompanied by the approval document signed by the Tutors. Students shall request the blank approval document at the UME School Secretariat Duration of the Programme Students are allowed a maximum of 18 months to complete their MSc studies (i.e. to obtain the necessary course credits, carry out the internship and submit the final report). In truly exceptional, well documented and timely communicated cases, the School Board may grant an extension beyond 18 months. 3.6 PHD IN UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING EXTREMES General Requirements A PhD degree at the UME School involves the attainment of 90 ECTS credit points and the completion of a Doctoral thesis. Within the 90 ECTS credit points, students must complete a minimum of one and a maximum of two individual studies whereas the remaining of the credit points must be earned through courses. A PhD degree at the UME School is awarded after a period of 36 months and the transition from one of the master programmes offered by the School is possible. 26

17 The above effectively means that students who are first accepted into the MSc programme and then later become PhD students (by following the standard PhD application and admission procedure) may have their work and results obtained within the scope of their MSc programme recognised as valid towards meeting the PhD requirements, provided that the higher performance standard required for PhD students is met. PhD students will be expected to have not more than two courses with a grade below B+ during their studies at the School. Students who fail to comply with such prerequisite are advised to speak to the Academic Coordinator, so that the School Board can then take an informed decision on the matter. PhD Students are asked to inform the UME School Secretariat about the courses they want to attend at the beginning of the academic year or at least 3 weeks before the starting date of the course. If a student wishes to attend two similar courses for the PhD degree (e.g. two courses on Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures) then a reduced number of credits are usually assigned to the second course depending on the similarity of the syllabuses of each course; such decisions are made by the Academic Coordinator, on a case-bycase basis. Additional information regarding the assemblage of the doctoral plan of study is provided in Section It is also envisaged that work towards the preparation of an Individual Study or PhD thesis may be partially carried out outside Pavia, at the home institution of a visiting faculty member that may be serving as cosupervisor of a UME student. Such period abroad shall be organised according to Section Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor The supervisor of the doctoral dissertation is the most important reference person for the doctoral student and should be defined during the first year. The supervisor is the first point of contact for all research 27 and logistic related matters, such as working space, IT, periods abroad, and conferences attendance. Within the initial period of the programme, during which doctoral students may not yet have a supervisor of the doctoral dissertation, they shall refer to the UME School Secretariat and to the Academic Coordinator for any issue they may have. The doctoral dissertation supervisor must be a local faculty or local research staff afferent to the ROSE 5, REM 6 or WRR 7 Programme, respectively. Doctoral students can have an additional supervisor chosen among UME School faculty. The choice of this additional supervisor must occur in agreement with the doctoral dissertation supervisor Doctoral Dissertation Students need to produce a doctoral dissertation of technically high standards, which should be carried out under the supervision of at least one doctoral dissertation supervisor (See Section 3.6.2). The doctoral dissertation does not award ECTS credit points. Detailed specifications: Doctoral dissertations have to be written using the template provided by the School. Students shall request the template at the UME School Secretariat; Doctoral dissertations should feature SI units; Further requirements for doctoral dissertations are described in Section See: 6 See: 7 See: 28

18 3.6.4 Individual Studies Individual studies are scholarly works similar to Master dissertations carried out under the supervision of at least one UME School faculty. For a successfully completed individual study 18 ECTS credit points are awarded. The thesis of previously completed Master programmes may be recognised by the School Board as individual study (See Section 3.6.7). Detailed specifications: Individual studies have to be written using the template provided by the School. Students shall request the template at the UME School Secretariat; Individual studies should feature SI units; The final version of an individual study should be submitted in soft and hard copy, plus one copy on a CD/DVD; For the individual study to be accepted, it will have to be mandatorily accompanied by the approval document signed by the Supervisor/s. Students shall request the blank individual study approval document at the UME School Secretariat. The final deadline for the submission of the individual study is August 31 st of the last academic year Periods Abroad Doctoral students may spend periods abroad up to 18 months in total to follow courses and/or carry out research work in a foreign University with whom the School holds a Cooperation Agreement (see Section 2.3), or, under previous approval by the School Board, in other Institutions whose potential benefit to the career of the doctoral student is clearly documented. During the period abroad students are entitled to an increase of their monthly scholarship. The increase is decided by the School Board on a case-by-case basis. The step-by-step procedure to apply for a period abroad is as follows and must be strictly followed: 1) The student discusses with the doctoral dissertation supervisor his/her intention to spend a period abroad; 2) Student, doctoral dissertation supervisor, and host faculty agree on purpose, duration and boundary conditions (e.g. accommodation, additional compensation,...) of the period abroad; 3) The student submits to the UME School Secretariat his/her application for a period abroad. The application consists at least of: i) IUSS application form (can be obtained at the Secretariat), ii) commented description of the envisaged academic activities at the host institution, iii) letter of support by the doctoral dissertation supervisor, and iv) letter of support by the host faculty. The application must reach the UME School Secretariat at least two months before the start of the envisaged period abroad. Additional documents in support of the application may be submitted; 4) Upon approval of the period abroad by the Rector of IUSS-Pavia, the student can attend the host institution for a duration not exceeding that approved by the Rector. 5) Upon return in Pavia, the student must submit to the UME School Secretariat a letter signed by the host faculty confirming that the student has attended the host institution and stating the exact duration of the stay. It is noted that the increase of the doctoral scholarship is paid at the end of the period abroad after the Rectoral decree as a lumped sum calculated based on the effective duration of the stay as stated by the host faculty in his/her letter Transition from a Master Programme According to current Italian law, students cannot be enrolled in two different degree-awarding programmes at the same time. However, this requirement notwithstanding, doctoral students may be allowed to conclude their Master programme during the first 6 months of the doctoral programme, provided there is significant congruency between the two programmes. Upon enrolment, students shall ask permission to do so

19 During the overlapping period, Master and doctoral scholarships cannot be cumulated. It is strongly recommended to discuss the matter with the Academic Coordinator. If a student is not able to conclude the Master programme within 6 months after the beginning of the doctoral programme, he/she will be required to suspend one of the two programmes Recognition of Previously Earned Credit Points Students who arrive at the School having already completed a Master degree in Earthquake Engineering and/or in Engineering Seismology and/or Risk and Emergency Management and/or Weather Related Risks (or related) may be able to convert some of their courses into credits for the UME Doctoral Programme. However, this is carried out at the discretion of the School Board on a case-by-case basis. As a rule, only credit points earned in the framework of degrees obtained in addition to the one required for admission to the doctoral programme will be considered for recognition. All PhD students, including UME School Master graduates, wishing to have ECTS credit points recognised towards the fulfilment of their doctoral degree requirements shall contact the UME School Secretariat to obtain the documents necessary for the credit recognition application Plan of study Doctoral students are required to earn 90 ECTS credit points prior to the final exam (see Section 3.6.1). The plan of study envisaged to earn these credits must be discussed and agreed with the doctoral dissertation supervisor (see Section 3.6.2) Progress Report Doctoral students are required to submit a yearly progress report presenting the activities carried out during the academic year. Reports 31 are due after the first and after the second year on June 15 and must be previously approved by the doctoral dissertation supervisor. Students shall request the progress report template at the UME School Secretariat. Upon acceptance of the progress report by the School Board, students are admitted to the next academic year of the programme Working Activities Concomitant to the Doctorate Doctoral studies call for a full time commitment and the majority of working activities concomitant to the doctorate must be approved by the School Board. Special restrictions apply to doctoral scholarship holders (see also Section 5.2.2). For this reason, doctoral students who envisage pursuing working activities concomitant to the doctorate are strongly encouraged to get in contact with the Academic Coordinator as early as possible Papers and Conferences Doctoral students are encouraged to submit high quality papers to top journals and conferences. The decision of writing and submitting a paper shall be taken in agreement with the doctoral dissertation supervisor and the latter shall approve the final draft of the paper. As affiliation, doctoral students are kindly requested to use the following format: ROSE Programme, UME School, IUSS-Pavia, Italy REM Programme, UME School, IUSS-Pavia, Italy WRR Programme, UME School, IUSS-Pavia, Italy At the same time, while presenting their work by means of computer presentations, students should display the logos of the School. To this purpose, two alternatives are available: 32

20 Alternative 1: Use of the combined IUSS-UME logo Alternative 2: Concomitant use of the logos of IUSS-Pavia and UME. These logos, together with a UME School MS PowerPoint presentation template, can be downloaded at It is noted that the use of these features is strictly reserved to academic purposes inherent to the UME School. According to the national doctoral regulation, valid from the Cycle XXIX onwards, the School foresees the support of Doctoral students with outstanding academic performance, from the second year onwards, to present their work of documented relevance in scientific meetings/conferences/seminars. The provided contribution is decided by the School Board on a case-by-case basis. In order to apply for such support, the students should follow the procedure as follows: 2) Student, doctoral dissertation supervisor, and host faculty agree on purpose, duration and boundary conditions (e.g. registration costs, travelling and accommodation, etc) of the participation in the conference; 3) The student submits to the UME Secretariat an application consisting of: i) IUSS application form (can be requested at UME School Secretariat), ii) commented description of the academic activities on which the scientific work to be presentd is based, iii) copy of the submitted manuscript and confirmation of acceptance for oral presentation, and iv) letter of support by the doctoral dissertation supervisor. The application must reach the UME School Secretariat at least two months before the date of the scientific event. Additional documents in support of the application may be submitted; 4) Upon return in Pavia, the student must submit to the UME School Secretariat a participation certificate issued by the scientific event host institution. It is noted that the granted contribution is paid at the end of the period abroad as a lumped sum Duration and Suspension of the Doctoral Programme The duration of the doctoral programme is 36 months. For serious reasons students can apply for a suspension of the doctoral programme. The suspension can be no longer than 12 months and generally it cannot be requested to begin the programme with. The suspension does not give rise to additional funding. The doctoral monthly scholarship is granted during maximum 36 months. 1) The student discusses with the doctoral dissertation supervisor his/her intention to present an article in a scientific conference/meeting/seminar; 33 34