The ‘G. D'Annunzio’ School of Advanced Studies, established in November 2007 and settled in March 2008, is an autonomous structure of the ‘Gabriele d'Annunzio’ University of Chieti-Pescara aimed at managing direct resources to the activities of higher education for research and development. In particular, it evaluates the requests to establish PhDs, checking their consistency with the programmes and with the general objectives of study and research and proposes the activation, according to current regulations, to the Academic Bodies; it takes care of all organisational aspects of doctorates of the University, coordinating the operations of disciplinary and interdisciplinary education and linguistic and IT training of doctoral students. The School of Advanced Studies also pays attention to the activities of internationalisation and application of research, via, for this latter aspect, the Committee for the Enhancement of Research and Technology Transfer, and the planning, design and organisation of the activities to monitor scientific production and job opportunities for PhDs.

The School of Advanced Studies, within the Research area of the University, enjoys independent management and budget equal to that of the Departments; its management is entrusted to a specific Secretariat, directly dependent on the General Directorate. It is directed by a Board consisting of Coordinators of accredited doctorates and a representative of doctoral students, and it is headed by a Director appointed by the Academic Bodies. The activity of the School is subject to an annual review by the Evaluation Team.

The PhD course is the third level of university education and is designed to provide specialised training aimed at carrying out high qualification research at universities, public and private entities. To access it, you need to have a specialist degree/master’s degree or a degree earned prior to the entry into force of Italian Ministerial Decree 509/99 and have passed the examinations required by the competition for selection. The PhD is awarded at the end of the course, which lasts 3 years, after passing a final exam that consists in a PhD Thesis Defence.