Roles and responsibilities

SUPERVISORS & COORDINATORS
Roles & responsibilities
Understand who provides scientific guidance, who adopts academic decisions and who completes the administrative procedures throughout the UNICAM doctoral pathway.
ACADEMIC DECISION & ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLEMENTATION
Different responsibilities, one coordinated procedure
Scientific guidance normally begins with the Supervisor. The Programme Coordinator organises and routes the academic process. The Academic Board adopts the decisions assigned to the PhD Programme, while the SAS Council, the Head of SAS or other University bodies intervene where required. Administrative offices then verify and implement the applicable procedure.
IMPORTANT
There is no single approval sequence for every request
The competent person or body depends on the type of activity, the candidate’s PhD cycle, Programme, scholarship or funded position and any specific agreement or project. A Supervisor’s scientific assessment does not replace a formal Academic Board decision, and an academic decision does not replace the administrative, financial or legal checks required to implement it.
01 · SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDIES
School coordination and SAS Council
The School of Advanced Studies coordinates the planning, organisation and evaluation of UNICAM PhD Programmes and promotes common training, quality assurance, interdisciplinarity and internationalisation.
Structure Main responsibility
School of Advanced Studies Provides the common academic, organisational and quality framework for doctoral education at UNICAM.
SAS Council Exercises the collegial functions assigned to it by the University and SAS Regulations and intervenes in Programme governance and in candidate procedures where expressly required.
Head of SAS Represents and coordinates the School and adopts the formal acts assigned to the Head of SAS, including appointment of final examination committees where provided by the Regulations.
In the English version of the current PhD Regulations, the School’s collegial body is referred to as the Board of the S.A.S.; on this website it is generally indicated as the SAS Council.
02 · PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
Coordinates the PhD Programme
The Programme Coordinator is responsible for planning and organising the educational, scientific and organisational activities of the Programme and acts as the main connection between the Academic Board, candidates, Supervisors, SAS and the competent administrative offices.
Academic Board · convenes and chairs meetings and implements the Board’s decisions.
Programme activities · coordinates and monitors educational and scientific activities after consultation with the Academic Board.
Candidate procedures · ensures that cases requiring academic assessment reach the competent body with sufficient information and in time.
Administrative liaison · coordinates with SAS and the competent offices for implementation of decisions affecting candidates’ careers.
Quality assurance · prepares the annual Programme review report after sharing it with the Academic Board.
03 · ACADEMIC BOARD
Scientific and educational responsibility for the Programme
The Academic Board is the collegial body responsible for the scientific, educational and organisational management of the individual PhD Programme and for monitoring each candidate’s research and training pathway.
Area Responsibility
Programme organisation Organises training and teaching activities and defines the curricula.
Candidate monitoring Monitors each candidate’s research and training pathway and establishes the methods and timing for presentation and verification of results.
Supervision Assigns the Supervisor and one or more co-supervisors according to the rules applicable to the Programme.
Research periods away Under the Regulations applicable from Cycle XLI, authorises training and/or research periods at another institution in Italy or abroad lasting more than one consecutive month.
Internships & co-tutelle Approves internships and joint thesis-supervision arrangements where applicable.
Teaching & tutoring Authorises teaching, tutoring and supplementary teaching activities under the applicable regulatory framework.
Work & simultaneous enrolment Assesses and approves or rejects requests falling within the rules on working activities or simultaneous enrolment. Further authorisation may be required from the SAS Council.
Annual evaluation Evaluates the annual activity report and decides on admission or non-admission to the following year.
Final phase Carries out the final academic evaluation, identifies the proposed external thesis evaluators and proposes the members of the final examination committee according to the applicable Regulations.
04 · SUPERVISOR & CO-SUPERVISORS
Scientific guidance for the individual candidate
PLANNING
Research & training pathway
Supports the candidate in planning research objectives, training activities and the scientific development of the doctoral project.
MONITORING
Scientific progress
Monitors progress, discusses results and helps identify scientific or organisational issues before they affect the candidate’s pathway.
REQUESTS
Scientific relevance
Assesses the scientific relevance of proposed mobility, missions, external training and research-budget expenditure before the applicable approval or administrative procedure is activated.
RESEARCH PROTECTION
Confidentiality & IP
Identifies possible confidentiality, intellectual-property, data-protection or publication issues and involves the competent UNICAM offices when necessary.
Scientific support is not the same as formal authorisation
The Supervisor should normally be consulted before a candidate submits a request affecting the research or training pathway. Where the Regulations require a formal decision, however, the Supervisor’s support does not replace approval by the Academic Board, SAS Council or another competent body.
05 · ADVANCED STUDIES OFFICE & OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES
Administrative implementation and support
The Advanced Studies Office supports Programmes and candidates in the administrative management of doctoral careers, scholarships, mobility, research budgets, thesis review, final examinations and degree documentation.
Other UNICAM offices may be responsible for missions, procurement, accounting, research projects, international mobility, occupational safety, personnel matters, data protection or intellectual property.
Administrative offices verify documentation and implement the procedures falling within their competence. They do not substitute for an academic decision required by the applicable Regulations.
06 · GENERAL WORKFLOW
A useful sequence — not an automatic approval chain
Step Person or body Typical action
1 Candidate & Supervisor Identify the scientific need, timing and relationship with the doctoral pathway.
2 Programme Coordinator Checks that the case is sufficiently documented and directs it to the competent body where formal academic assessment is required.
3 Academic Board Adopts the academic decision when this is required by the Regulations or applicable procedure.
4 SAS Council / Head of SAS / other body Intervenes only where an additional approval, authorisation or formal act is specifically required.
5 Competent administrative office Verifies the administrative and financial conditions and records or implements the authorised procedure.
Always use the procedure specific to the case. A mission, working-activity request, suspension, research-budget purchase and final-examination procedure do not necessarily pass through the same bodies.
07 · COMMON CASES
Who normally does what?
Procedure Main responsibility under the current framework
Research period at another institution > 1 month Scientific planning with Supervisor and Coordinator; Academic Board authorisation for Cycle XLI+; separate mission, mobility-support and host-documentation procedures where applicable.
Mission Scientific purpose and funding identified in advance; mission authorisation completed through the University procedure before departure. Academic Board involvement depends on the underlying activity and applicable rules.
Paid working activity · Cycle XLI+ Candidate consults the Supervisor; prior Academic Board approval followed by SAS Council authorisation before the activity begins.
Tutoring & supplementary teaching · Cycle XLI+ Prior Academic Board approval. Supplementary teaching is subject to the applicable limit of 40 hours per academic year and must not compromise research training.
Research-budget expenditure Scientific need discussed with the Supervisor; Programme Coordinator authorises use of the individual research budget; the competent office applies the purchasing, mission or payment procedure.
Annual progression Academic Board evaluates the annual activity and decides on admission or non-admission to the following year.
Suspension, leave or extension The candidate submits the documented request through the applicable procedure. The required Academic Board, SAS or Head-of-SAS involvement depends on the reason, stage of the career and Regulations applicable to the candidate’s cycle.
08 · THESIS REVIEW & FINAL EXAMINATION
Different responsibilities in the final phase
Phase Main actor Role
Thesis preparation Candidate & Supervisor Complete the scientific work and identify confidentiality, intellectual-property and funding requirements before formal submission.
Final academic evaluation Academic Board Evaluates the candidate’s final-year and overall doctoral activity, decides on admission to the final-examination procedure and formulates the overall assessment accompanying the thesis.
External reviewers Academic Board & SAS The Academic Board identifies the proposed external evaluators after consulting the Supervisors; the SAS governance completes the formal identification required by the applicable Regulations.
Final examination committee Academic Board → Head of SAS The Academic Board proposes the committee members. The Head of SAS formally appoints the examination committee.
Administrative procedure Advanced Studies Office Manages thesis transmission, reviewer documentation, examination-session administration and degree-related procedures.
09 · RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PHD CANDIDATE
The candidate remains responsible for managing the pathway
✓ Maintain regular contact with the Supervisor.
✓ Complete the research and training activities required by the Programme.
✓ Respect annual reporting, enrolment and thesis deadlines.
✓ Request authorisation before undertaking activities that require prior approval.
✓ Provide complete and accurate forms and supporting documentation.
✓ Monitor the institutional email address and official communications.
✓ Comply with ethical, safety, confidentiality, funding and project obligations.
✓ Promptly communicate circumstances that may affect the doctoral career, scholarship or completion date.
CHECK THE APPLICABLE FRAMEWORK
Do not automatically apply Cycle XLI rules to earlier candidates
The current University Regulations apply to PhD Programmes activated from academic year 2025/2026, Cycle XLI. Candidates from Cycles XXXVIII–XL and earlier cycles remain subject to the regulatory framework applicable to their admission cycle, together with any specific call, funding, partnership, national-PhD or co-tutelle provisions.

PhD Regulations by cycle →

OPERATIONAL PRINCIPLE
Regulation → academic decision → administrative procedure
Before communicating that an activity is authorised, identify the applicable rule, make sure the competent academic body has adopted the required decision and verify that the associated administrative or financial procedure can be completed.
ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT
Uncertain about the competent body or procedure?
Contact the Advanced Studies Office before the Academic Board meeting or before communicating an authorisation when the applicable regulation, required documentation, approval level or administrative procedure is unclear.