PhD at Pisa University for foreing students

The call for applications has been open at the beginning of August and the deadline is Sep 5, 2012.
http://dottorato.unipi.it/index.php/it/iscrizione-ai-concorsi.html
(general information, mostly in Italian).

The PhD program at Pisa University has just undergone important changes.

We do not have anymore reserved positions for foreign students with special application requirements (e.g online application and evaluation!), like it was until last year, unfortunately.

For Mechanical (and other Industrial Engineering) you will need to run in person (dates are September 20 and 21, 2012 for written and oral tests), both Italian and foreign candidates applying for a fellowship.
6 fellowships for 5 subprograms are available, which means that 1-2 are available on average for each subprogram, including mechanical engineering.

A good option for foreing candidates ONLY with NO fellowship: if you own a fellowship from a third party organization. If you are already supported by some institution, than you will have a specific position and no competitor (if your CV has positive evaluation by the commission).