After the admission PhD students are assigned a tutor, who is appointed by the Doctoral programme Committee. The tutor may be selected from among professors and assistant professors (ricercatori). The tutor may be a member of the Doctoral programme Committee or independent of it or may be a professor or researcher employed at other partner universities.

During the first year of the programme the tutor works with the Academic Director of the Doctoral Programme

• to facilitate the introduction of the Doctoral student into the Programme,
• to supervise coursework,
• to counsel the student  about studying abroad or at another institution, and
• to help him/her choose the supervisor for the dissertation.