Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Research resources

PhD Account & Badge

iCatt Page

Upon enrollment, doctoral students will be able to access their iCatt page. Through this page, they will find information concerning their personal details, academic career, payment of enrollment fees, as well as important communications and notices from the Faculty and University services.

Furthermore, the iCatt personal page allows access to Blackboard, the university library system, and the management of Educatt services (e.g., ristoration, housing solutions, health assistance, and psychological counseling).

Finally, the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore adheres to the Student Advantage program, which allows you to download Office 365 Pro Plus for free and install it on 5 different devices. Simply download the Office 365 version and log in using your iCatt page credentials to access this benefit.

Unicatt and Institutional email

Along with the iCatt account (Student Account), you will be provided with a Unicatt account and email, which is your institutional account. Through this email, you will receive important communications related to your doctoral career. Additionally, the Unicatt account grants you access to Blackboard for lectures, where you can manage your courses and subject matter expert profile, among other features.

As with the iCatt account, the Unicatt account grants you the possibility to download Office 365 Pro Plus for free and install it on 5 different devices. As an institutional account, the Unicatt account is equipped with additional capabilities, including access to tools like Teams for Professionals and Skype for Business.

Badge

Once enrolled, doctoral students will be provided with an identification badge. This badge can be used to access all locations of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, to enter the co-working spaces reserved for doctoral students, and to use Educatt services (e.g., the cafeteria). Once the badge is ready, the doctoral student will receive an email to collect it at the secretary's office located at Via Carducci (Via Giosuè Carducci, 28/30, 20123 Milano MI).

Moreover, the badge can be enabled, for free, as a prepaid card. To learn how to do this, click on the following link.

PLEASE NOTE: In case of loss, theft, or damage, please contact the doctoral office directly to request a duplicate badge.

 


 

Space & Facilities

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart provides doctoral students with dedicated co-working spaces accessible only to them. These spaces are equipped with workstations and computers accessible to doctoral students. On the opening day of each academic year, the tutor for each year will guide doctoral students to the location of the co-working spaces corresponding to their academic cycle.

To access these spaces, doctoral students need to have their badges enabled. For this purpose, the following steps are required:

  • The tutor for each academic year will need to send the complete list of doctoral students and the rooms for which access authorization is requested to the main reception at Largo Gemelli
  • Once the communication is received from the main reception at Largo Gemelli, each student must go to the central entrance of the Largo Gemelli campus, with their own badge, and request the activation for the designated co-working spaces
  • Once the badge is enabled, it will be sufficient to approach or place it near the electronic lock of the co-working rooms to gain access.

 

Educatt

As a student, the doctoral student can access all the services offered by Educatt, including dining services, subsidized housing solutions, healthcare assistance, and psychological counseling. For more information, please visit the following link.

Wi-fi

The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore provides a Wireless network service for students, faculty, and staff to access the Internet. The service is available by connecting to the wifi-unicatt network at any of the university's locations. Doctoral students can access this network using their credentials for the iCatt page or their uniCatt institutional account credentials. For more information or support, please refer to the following link.

Eduroam

The Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore participates in the Eduroam (Education Roaming) project for Wi-Fi roaming of users from universities/research institutions in Europe, Canada, USA, Brazil, Peru, New Zealand, Kenya, Thailand, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

Eduroam is a service that provides secure wireless access to the network. Students, faculty, and staff visiting an institution that is part of the initiative can use the local wireless network (WLAN) using the same credentials (username and password) they would use at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, without the need for additional formalities at the host institution. This enable PhD Student visiting another University to access free wi-fi connection.

Click on the following link to know how to configure the Eduroam network. PLEASE NOTE that it is strongly suggested to configure the Eduroam network before each period abroad, if any, so that you can complete this process in your home country without necessarily activating expensive connections while abroad.

 


 

Research Tools

Bibliographic Research

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart provides its students with access to a wide range of Meta-Databases (e.g., ProQuest), Databases (Scopus, PsycInfo, PubMed), and scientific journals to which it subscribes. There are two different methods to access these resources.

  • If you are connected to the university's Wi-Fi network (i.e., wifi-unicatt), accessible anywhere within the university premises, you can directly search for the source you want to consult. Automatically, if the source is available among the resources to which the Catholic University is subscribed, you will be granted access to consult and download the bibliographic source you are looking for.
  • If this method does not work, or if you do not have access to the university's Wi-Fi network (e.g., you are not near the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart), you can access the university catalogue through the university library system by logging into your iCatt page. Simply click on the following link, access the "MY LIBRARY" section, and log in using your iCatt or uniCatt personal page credentials. Through the "Electronic Resources" section, you will have access to a search engine for databases, E-journals, and E-books available in the university library system.

Finally, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart offers access to a wide range of physical resources, including books, journals, and institutional archives. For more information about how to access and consult these physical resources, please visit the following link.

PLEASE NOTE: Both regarding physical resources and electronic resources, it is possible to obtain support and assistance directly through the "Ask a Librarian" service. Depending on the users' needs and the specific structures of individual UCSC libraries, the service can be provided in person or remotely. For more information, please refer to the following link.

 


 

Software for Statistics

The methodology courses provided during the 3 years of the Ph.D. program consist of both a theoretical and an applied part, conducted through direct use of the main data analysis software. The selection of these software tools is based on their functionalities and their prevalent use within the scientific community. Therefore, the tools used in the applied part of the lessons and provided to the students may vary among different Ph.D. cycles.

Throughout the course, information will be provided on how to download the main data analysis software, whether they are purchased as user licenses for the doctoral students, demo versions, or open-source tools.

Additionally, licenses for certain paid software (e.g., T-Lab) are available on the computers in the university's computer labs or in the computers of the Department of Psychology.

PLEASE NOTE: You can inquire about the availability of a paid software on the computers accessible to students or within the Department of Psychology by contacting the department's secretariat. If the software is not available, you may request the purchase of a license, provided that the request is justified by research objectives and the software is not already present on the department's computers. In many cases of license purchase, the software will be installed on a department computer and made accessible to all doctoral students upon request. For more information about the accessibility or purchase of software, you can make inquiries to the department's secretariat.

Download Demo-Version and Open Sources Software

  • Quantitative analysis

IBM SPSS Statistics 28 – Trial Version

Mplus Demo Version 8.10

R (Open Source)

  • Qualitative analysis

NVIVO free trial

FreeQDA

RQDA (R extension for qualitative analysis -Open Source)

 

Qualtrics Account

Psychology PhD students at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart have the opportunity to use a Qualtrics account. Qualtrics is a software for designing and distributing online surveys. With Qualtrics, you can easily implement your online questionnaires, maximizing the user experience and ensuring effective data collection.

The Qualtrics login details for accessing the Qualtrics platform for the first time will be provided to the Ph.D. students by their respective tutors.

 


 

Opportunities for Training

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart organizes, for each academic year, opportunities for transferable skills training for its doctoral students. These opportunities are communicated to the Doctoral Office through email. The majority of these training offers are provided free of charge to the doctoral students enrolled at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. The aim is to offer comprehensive training that goes beyond research-related hard skills and includes soft skills such as academic and outreach communication, project management, research team leadership, and career management.

For further information, click on the following link or contact the Doctoral Office.

Summer School

The Catholic University of the Sacred Heart has organized the 10th edition of the Summer School titled "Summer School in Transferable Skills: Communicating and Funding Research" for the academic year 2022/23. The event will take place in Cremona from September 12th to September 15th, 2023. To participate, interested individuals must submit their application via email to Julieth Valderrama (julieth.valderrama@unicatt.it) by 12:00 PM on September 5th, current year, attaching their CV and a motivation letter.

Admission to the course will be based on the chronological order of the applications received; the date and time of the email's arrival will be considered. Applications will be accepted until the specified date and subject to the availability of seats. For more information, click on the following link.

Transversal Education

The "Doctoral Office for Research" offers a transversal and multidisciplinary skills training program designed for PhD Students from all courses and doctoral schools at the Catholic University. The main objectives are the development and strengthening of communicative, linguistic, and entrepreneurial skills for research management and career development.

At the beginning of each academic year, PhD Students of every faculty will receive an email from the Doctoral Office containing a list of all courses organized for the current academic year. Participation in these courses is considered optional unless there are specific instructions from the psychology faculty received from the doctoral office. Before the start of each course, the doctoral office will communicate the prerequisites (if any), procedures, and deadlines related to each course.

You can find further information here or by sending an email to the responsible person at the Doctoral Office for Postgraduate Education and Research Partnership, Julieth Valderrama.

FORmation in MEthodology (FORME)

The members of the Psychometrics Department at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, under the coordination of Professor Margherita Lanz, organize an annual series of FORmation in MEthodology (FORME) seminars aimed at researchers and professionals who have the need and interest to acquire skills in research methods in psychology and data analysis techniques. The initiatives and seminars offered, along with registration details, will be communicated via email. The seminar series is continuously updated. We recommend checking the information available on the following link.

 


 

Academic Community

The Psychology PhD School at uNIVERSITà Cattolica del Sacro Cuore strongly encourages its students to engage and participate in scientific community and discussions. To this end, students are warmly encouraged to join research societies in their field of interest, participate in and present at national and international conferences, and actively engage on major social networks dedicated to research.

Below are some possible suggestions for taking the first steps in the scientific community. Additional information will be provided during dedicated courses that will be offered throughout the doctoral training

AIP

The Italian Association of Psychology (Associazione Italiana di Psicologia; A.I.P.) is an organization that gathers psychologists primarily engaged in research and teaching activities, mainly within universities and research institutions. It represents the main Italian association for psychological research. A.I.P. is structured into sections (Dynamic & Clinical Psychology, Organizational Psychology, Social Psychology, Developmental & Educational Psychology, and Experimental Psychology). The association counts over 1000 members, including ordinary and affiliated members.

Every year, A.I.P. organizes conferences, hosts Summer Schools, and offers funding opportunities for research and internationalization. For more information, please visit the following link.

ORCID

ORCID, or Open Researcher and Contributor ID, is a non-profit organization that offers a distinctive and persistent digital identifier to researchers and scholars. This 16-digit alphanumeric code uniquely identifies individual researchers, eliminating the issues of name ambiguity in scholarly communications and publications.

By utilizing an ORCID iD, researchers can easily link their works, citations, and contributions to their identity. This universal identifier streamlines the proper attribution of research outputs and simplifies the management of academic profiles. It becomes easier for institutions, funders, publishers, and other stakeholders to locate and access researchers' work.

ORCID iDs are now integrated into academic workflows, publishing platforms, and research databases, facilitating researchers' utilization of the identifier in various professional activities. Best of all, registering for an ORCID iD is free, and researchers are encouraged to create and use their unique ORCID iDs to improve the visibility and discoverability of their scholarly work.

You can create your own ORCID at the following link.

ResearchGate

ResearchGate is a social networking platform designed specifically for researchers and scientists to share, collaborate, and communicate their research findings. ResearchGate allows researchers to create profiles, upload and share their publications, projects, datasets, and other research outputs. It serves as a hub for networking and connecting with peers, mentors, and collaborators within the academic and scientific community.

You can create your ResearchGate profile for free through the following link.

Academia.edu

Academia.edu is a social networking platform that focuses on the academic and research community. It provides a space where researchers, scholars, and academics could share their work, connect with others in their fields, and discover relevant research. Academia.edu aims to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the academic community and beyond.

You can create your Academia.edu profile for free through the following link.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn, a professional social networking platform commonly used for career and business purposes, is also utilized by academics and researchers to showcase their professional profiles, connect with colleagues, and expand their network.

On LinkedIn, academics can: Connect with other professionals in their field (including fellow researchers, scholars, and professional researcher); Join academic groups focused on specific research interests, offering opportunities for networking, knowledge-sharing, and discussions; Share research publications, conference presentations, awards, and achievements to showcase their work and divulgate principal results of your research; Engage in professional discussions, share insights, and stay updated on the latest developments in their fields through the newsfeed and post-sharing features.

While not exclusively tailored to research, LinkedIn remains a valuable tool for academics to enhance their professional presence, collaborate with potential partners, and explore diverse career prospects.

You can create your own LinkedIn profile at the following link.