proroga
Some preliminary definition
At first, the extension of a PhD course is just postponing when the PhD course would end.
However this definition is ambiguous since it may refer to:
the moment when the status of being a PhD student ends;
the moment when we cease to receive a salary;
the moment within we have to submit the thesis;
the moment when we discuss the thesis and get the PhD officially
Of course these steps are intertwined and the relationships among them are clarified in the following.
The thesis has to be submitted before you stop being a PhD student.
If you have a scholarship, it will last until you are a PhD or until you renounce it.
Whereas the thesis discussion takes place generally around 3 months after the thesis submission.
Standard sapienza phd timeline
The standard PhD course at Sapienza ends on the October 31th.
Thus, October is the last salary you get and the thesis has to be submitted within this red line.
Generally the thesis is ready only few hours before this deadline so that the discussion is usually in the first weeks of February.
Proroga
If you are granted the "proroga", your salary and your last day as a PhD student are put off by 1, 2 or 3 months (during the Proroga request form you can select the amount you prefer).
However this doesn't imply straightforwardly that your discussion is postponed by the same period. As a matter of fact, the discussion date depends only on the the moment you submit your thesis. The discussion date will be chosen by the commission in a period of time between the end of your PhD and May.
This extension is an extraordinary measure to support the students against the pandemic. Thus it brings some exception to the general rules.
In particular, if you ask for the "proroga" you can submit your thesis after the end of your PhD status. In order to simplify the bureaucratic procedure they fixed only one deadline for the submission (end of January) independently on the number of months you ask for the extension. If you postpone the end of your PhD only of 1 or 2 months you have 2 or 1 months between the end of your PhD status and the deadline for the thesis submission. However, if you send your thesis close to the January deadline it would have been probably better to ask for the complete 3 months extension...
SOme faqs
Can I ask the proroga and still defend my thesis in February?
Yes, as long as the thesis is submitted with the same deadline for non-extended PhDs.
What are the drawbacks of asking for the proroga?
If you are granted the "proroga" you lose the possibility to discuss your thesis before your postponed end of PhD (around February if you ask for 3 months of extension ).
This could be a disadvantage in the case in which your next occupation requires an earlier starting date.
If I don't have the scholarship, does the "proroga" grant me some funds?
No, sorry...
If I ask now for the proroga, may I renounce it in future?
Up to now there isn't a procedure to put back the end of your PhD status to the usual deadline.
What should I write as motivation?
Unofficial rumors say that you just have to write down something and there your request would be accepted. Everyone knows of the terrible effects of the pandemic on our PhD, not least our supervisors and coordinator.
If you really need some hints, think about the impossibility to access the department or the absence of a direct contact with your supervisor and your peers or the nonexistence of conferences.