Master of Science in Automotive Engineering

Call for applications for the 2010/2011 academic year

The Politecnico di Torino offers international students the possibility to receive a scholarship and other benefits to graduate from the Politecnico di Torino attending the Master of Science program in Automotive Engineering.
The initiative is promoted by the Politecnico di Torino and the Compagnia di San Paolo.

General information on the Master of Science programs

Location: Torino

Language in which the courses are held: English

Length: 2 years

The activities will begin in September 2010.

Requirements

Academic requirements

In order to be admitted into a Master of Science program, applicants must possess a university degree equivalent to a Bachelor of Science degree, which is approximately equivalent to three or four years after secondary school, depending on the number of secondary school years; alternatively, they must have completed at least 8 semesters of university courses, in a national school system that requires 11 or 12 years of study before enrolling in university.
For further information, please visit the Entry requirements page.

Application is open to students who:

• are not Italian citizens, or are Italian citizens who are also in possess of another citizenship;
• are not already enrolled in a Master of Science program of the Politecnico di Torino before the 2010/2011 academic year;
• are not recipients of any other scholarships, Italian or foreign.

Obtaining a degree at the Politecnico di Torino

To graduate at the Politecnico di Torino, students must attain a total of 120 credits, including exams and the final dissertation. A plan of studies must be outlined under the guidance of the student’s academic tutor to identify, in relation to the student’s previous academic career, the courses additionally required to complete the program of studies for the Master of Science in which the student is enrolled at the Politecnico di Torino. The time required to graduate is approximately two years. However, the effective duration is also dependent upon each student’s capacity. Note also that the time required for the compulsory Italian course is not considered in the estimated duration of the program.

Please note that scholarship recipients must attend their course for its entire length (2 years – 120 credits). Students who have already attended other university courses can ask for a credit transfer up to a maximum of 10 credits per year (20 credits in total). Please note that credits achieved in preparatory courses or in the first year/second year in systems where preuniversity education lasts 10/11 years can not be taken into account.

Scholarships

Selection criteria

Applicants will be selected based on their previous academic career and on their Curriculum Vitae.

Amount of the scholarship

• The gross amount of the scholarship is 6.000 Euro per year for the complete period. The exact net sum is dependent upon the individual tax conditions of each student, which can be verified only upon the arrival of the student.
• The amount of the scholarship will not be increased in case the student will need more time to graduate than indicated.
• The allocation of the scholarship is dependent upon the submission, within 10 days from the arrival in Italy of the student, of the original documentation, which must correspond with the documentation attached to the online form (see the “Selection outcomes” section below).
• Payment of the scholarship occurs periodically. The first instalment is dependent upon the possession of the relevant documentation (enrollment certification, residence permit, Italian fiscal code, and bank account in the name of the scholarship recipient), all obtainable upon arrival in Italy; for this reason, the first instalment is not paid at the moment of arrival at the Politecnico di Torino, but in the course of the following months.

Requirements to maintain the scholarship

• Given that it is not possible to combine the benefits received from more than one scholarship, students who are assigned another study grant while receiving the Politecnico di Torino scholarship must promptly notify the Politecnico di Torino.
• Payment of the scholarship will be suspended if the academic performance of the recipient does not meet a satisfactory level.

How to apply

To apply, students must, under the penalty of being excluded from the selection process:

COMPLETE THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM

• Deadline: 8 p.m. (Italian time) on March 10th, 2010.

• Method: fill in the online application form by first registering and providing your biographical information, logging in and choosing your level and degree course, and subsequently submitting the application. Students must also provide information on their previous educational career, language abilities and work experience, and they must attach the necessary documentation in pdf format. After having completed these steps, the application for a scholarship will be considered complete.

  N.B. The scholarship or project for which the applicant is eligible is not specified in the application form, since the Politecnico will automatically assess your eligibility for the Invest your talent in Italy scholarship based on the information you provide. At the end of the selection process, the Politecnico di Torino will inform you if you have been selected for an INIA scholarship (see the “Selection outcomes” section below).

  The following documentation must be attached in pdf format to the online application form:

  1. an official transcript (original or authenticated copy) issued by the registrar of your university of origin containing ALL of the following information:

     • Planned duration of the program of study (no. of semesters)
     • Total number of exams sustained in the program of study
     • Total number of credits obtained in the program of study (if available)
     • Year of enrolment
     • A list of the exams already taken with the score of each exam and, where applicable, the number of credits earned with each exam.
     • The overall average score of the exams taken (at the moment of application)
     • A list of the exams still to be passed to complete the degree course
     • The grading system used with explanations (e.g. quantitative system from 0 to 10, with 5 corresponding to satisfactory; or qualitative system ABCD, with A as top grade and C corresponding to passing)
     • The semester of enrolment at the moment of the presentation of the application (e.g. "on xxx [day] the student is enrolled in the second semester of the fourth year of the degree course in xxx")

     If the transcript provided by the students' registrar does not contain ALL of the above information, an additional document will have to be sent that provides it. This additional document must be signed by an authority of the university of origin (Tutor of the degree course, Dean, etc).

  2. Curriculum Vitae, dated and signed - maximum 3 pages
  3. Letters of reference (2 maximum)
  4. A personal introduction letter (written by the applicant)
  5. Optional English language certificate

  The above documents must be rendered in English (preferably), French, Spanish, or Portuguese.

  We emphasise that the data shown in the documents must coincide with those inserted in the online application form. Moreover, failure to attach even one of the above documents will result in exclusion from the selection process.

Selection outcomes

Following the closure of the online application form, a special commission will meet to assess the applications.

At the end of the selection process, a provisional list of standings will be composed with the names of the students who have been awarded a scholarship and the names of the eligible applicants that may be awarded a scholarship in the event of one or more renunciations.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AFFIXING OF THE LIST OF STANDINGS TO THE OFFICIAL REGISTER OF THE POLITECNICO DI TORINO WILL BE, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, THE ONLY OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION OF INCLUSION IN THE LIST OF SELECTIONS AND, FOR STUDENTS WITH THE APPROPRIATE QUALIFICATIONS, THE ONLY OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION THAT THEY HAVE BEEN AWARDED A SCHOLARSHIP.

An e-mail message will be sent to all scholarship recipients and eligible applicants summarising the terms for the disbursement of the scholarship. This message will be sent to the address(es) specified by the students themselves on the online application form. NEVERTHELESS, THIS MESSAGE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION OF THE OUTCOME OF THE SELECTION.

The scholarship awardees and eligible applicants who wish to confirm their position must take the following steps:

1. download the scholarship acceptance form which will be published together with the list of selection outcomes, fill it in and fax it to the number +39 011 090 6329. Failure to send in the acceptance fax within the given period will constitute a definitive renunciation and the scholarship will be reassigned accordingly.
2. upon arrival in Italy scholarship recipients must hand in the original documentation, which was previously attached to the online application form, to the Politecnico di Torino. Before handing in the aforementioned documentation, we recommend that you make photocopies for yourself. We ask that you not hand in any other documentation other than that which has been required, and put all the documentation in a single folder bearing your name, surname and "INIA project". We reemphasize that the information given in the documents must correspond to that attached to the online application form. Failure to hand in the original documentation within 10 days from the student’s arrival according to the above conditions will result in the non-allocation of the scholarship.

Publication of the final list of standings is foreseen for May 2010.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE AFFIXING OF THE LIST OF STANDINGS TO THE OFFICIAL REGISTER OF THE POLITECNICO DI TORINO WILL BE, FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES, THE ONLY OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION OF INCLUSION IN THE LIST OF SELECTIONS AND, FOR STUDENTS WITH THE APPROPRIATE QUALIFICATIONS, THE ONLY OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION THAT THEY HAVE BEEN AWARDED A SCHOLARSHIP.

We emphasize that the Politecnico di Torino assumes no responsibility for the applicant's failure to view the list of standings and/or the terms for the acceptance of the scholarships as published online and on the Official Register of the Politecnico.

In all the e-mail messages and the correspondence sent to the Politecnico following the awarding of the scholarship, the recipient must clearly specify "Politecnico project".

Facilities

The amount of tuition fees for the 2010/2011 academic year is about 1750 Euro. Students from low-income families can be entitled to a reduction or a waiver of tuition fees. In order to obtain such benefit, students must provide an official declaration about:

• the composition of their family unit
• the revenue generated abroad in 2009
• the property and real estate assets generated abroad at December 31st, 2009

These declarations, issued by the competent authorities of the foreign country where the family's income is generated, must be translated into Italian and certified by the Italian Embassy or Consulate. Please see also: Information for students coming from particularly poor countries.
Scholarship recipients, together with the Master of Sciences courses, will benefit from:

• an intensive Italian language course, compulsory and free of charge
• additional services offered to the student community (access to the Politecnico libraries and computer laboratories, WI-FI (Wireless LAN), etc.); scholarship recipients will also be entitled to all the services offered by the regional university student assistance organisation, Ente regionale per il DIritto allo Studio Universitario (EDISU Piemonte) at full fee: student canteen service, cultural and recreational activities, sports activities, libraries with lending service, etc. (for more information visit the Campus Facilities section)
• assistance in obtaining an entry visa. For more information consult the Immigration Requirements section and the websites of the Italian Embassies and Consulates
• assistance by the Stage and Job Placement office for internship and employment.

Notes

• Enrolment at the Politecnico includes insurance coverage for accidents occurring on the university premises.

  Medical insurance for emergencies (First Aid), as required by the law for non-EU citizens, is about 100 EURO per year. Upon their arrival in Italy, students must pay this amount to INA Assitalia: this is required for the conversion of the entry visa into a residence permit. For further information on these matters, see the Health insurance section.

• We advise students to go to the Italian Embassy or Consulate to inform themselves on the necessary requirements to obtain an entry visa in Italy.