PHYSICIAN SCIENTIST PROJECT | SEMM European School of Molecular Medicine

The Physician Scientist project is promoted by Fondazione AIRC ETS (AIRC) and Fondazione Cariplo (FC), and supported by SEMM and UNIMI in the context of the Systems Medicine PhD program. It is designed to innovate and strengthen training pathways for physician scientists interested in cancer research, promoting their role in translating recent breakthroughs into patient benefit through personalized and precision medicine approaches.

See the video of the project presentation here (in Italian only)

The main features of the project are the following:

Innovative PhD Program: Combines advanced research with mandatory clinical practice
Research Excellence: Doctoral students will work in top-tier labs funded by AIRC’s “Investigator Grant”
Clinical Requirement: At least 20% of the student’s time must be spent in clinical settings
Enhanced Scholarships: €40,000 gross/year to reflect the dual research-clinical commitment
Long-Term Goal: Institutional recognition of the “Medical Research Director” role, equating medical and research responsibilities

The Physician scientist special call is therefore dedicated to Physicians registered in their final year of Medical Specialty Schools in Italy. Check below the details about eligibility criteria, application procedures and selection process and use the box on the right to apply to the call.

ELIGIBILITY

Requirements for admission

Registration at the final year of specialty

The applicants must be Medical Doctors that, at the time of the starting date of the PhD program (1 November 2025) will start their final year at any Italian Medical School of Specialty (i.e. they are registered at their final year of specialty for the Academic Year 2024/25) .

A Self-Declaration of Specialty Registration at a Medical Specialty School of Italian Universities must be provided during the application process. The document, as issued by the University of affiliation, must contain the name of the Specialty School, the length of the course and the academic years of registration.

In case of admission, applicants holding a foreign MD degree must present some documents to check the suitability of their qualification. The full information is available HERE.

Nulla Osta (authorization) from the Specialty School

In case of admission, applicants are required to provide the authorization from their Medical Specialty School to attend the final year of residency in parallel with the first year of the PhD program.
It is warmly recommended to inform in advance the Director of the Medical Specialty School and/or any other referent person, of the intention to apply to this PhD program.

B2-level English proficiency certification

In case of admission, applicants are required to submit a valid certification by the end of the 1st year of registration to the PhD program, on pain of exclusion. Certifications must include the four skills: Listening, Reading Speaking and Writing.

The full information about English proficiency certification (including the cases of exemption) is available HERE.

If you have still doubts on your eligibility to apply, please contact phd [AT] semm.it before submitting an application.

APPLICATION

Applications will be accepted exclusively through the online system, that will be available at the time of the call. Open positions will be listed in a dedicated webpage once the call is open. PIs with open positions will be classified based on the research areas of the project offered.

Research areas covered are: Cancer Biology, Computational Biology, Genomic Medicine, Immunology, Molecular Therapy.

For a full description of each research area, click here.

To apply you need to submit:

1. The application form

It will be available online at the time of the call.
Candidates will be requested to fill it out online. It includes key personal data; the key elements of educational track; scientific interest and a brief summary of the conducted research projects; possible publications; a description of the reasons why the applicant wishes to enter the program.

2. The educational qualifications

- Diploma Supplement of the Medical Degree, or certification including the courses taken with grades.
- A Self-Declaration of the Registration at a Medical Specialty School in Italy. The document, as issued by the University of affiliation, must contain the name of the Specialty School, the length of the course and the academic years of registration.

Documents in pdf or doc format (max 2mb) must be uploaded in the dedicated fields of the application form at anytime until the deadline. Documents sent by email will be automatically discarded.

3. Two reference letters

They must be only submitted through the online system: the applicant is required to complete the referees form, including the email address of the referees (upon their approval), who will then receive an automatic email with the instructions for the letter submission.
The referees form can be completed independently from the application form. Therefore, we recommend to complete it as soon as possible (even before the application form).

PLEASE NOTE

- The application is considered complete only when the two letters of reference and the requested certification is submitted. It is applicant's responsibility to ensure that the referees submit the letters within the deadline and that the requested certification is correctly uploaded.
- Each applicant can submit only one application. Second applications will be automatically discarded.

SELECTION

Admission to the program is granted on a competitive basis and is achieved through the procedures described below.

Preselection

Right after the deadline a pre-selection will take place. The pre-selection is based on the information included in the application form and in the reference letters submitted. Candidates with excellent academic records, previous research experience related to the main topics of the program and experience abroad are preferred. Candidates with the best scores are shortlisted and invited for the examination.

Examination

It will be totally conducted REMOTELY, and consists of:

- a multiple-choice test

It includes 60 questions:

25 questions on general biology: Macromolecules (proteins and nucleic acids, basic structure and function), The prokaryotic cell (general); The eukaryotic cell (biological membranes and organelles, the nucleus, cellular communication); General information on DNA duplication; RNA and transcription; genetic code and protein synthesis; Cell division (mitosis and meiosis), gene definition, allele, character, genotype and phenotype; Mendel's laws; Spontaneous and induced mutations; Gene, chromosomal and genomic mutations.
Books: any available book that includes these topics will be fine. Some examples of useful books are: Genes (Lewins); Molecular biology of the cell (Alberts); Biology (Campbell).
10 questions on logic: Alphanumeric series; small problems; logical reasoning.
Books: any book with logical reasoning examples are fine. Some examples of useful books are: alfa test logics, Critical thinking and problem solving (Butterworth and Thwaites).
25 questions on specific topics reflecting the research areas of the PhD program.