A doctorate is an academic or professional title that represents the highest degree of education. The process of doctoral training is complex because it should lead to the development of the skills needed to become a researcher, complementing the scientific skills with a whole range of soft skills. Among the various activities that can be carried out for soft-skill-oriented doctoral training there is the supplementary teaching, which includes activities such as assisting during the frontal teaching of another lecturer, seminar-type interventions, laboratory activities, participation in examination committees, degree thesis supervising, guidance and mentoring. In Italy, according to Art. 12 paragraph 3 of M.D. Dec. 14, 2021 No. 226, it is provided for doctoral students the possibility of carrying out integrative teaching activities during the doctoral training course, as part of the training project, subjected to the approval of the teaching board, and it must not, in any case, compromise the research training activity.

The objective of this article is, to investigate, in a qualitative way, the usefulness of supplementary teaching to doctoral training by presenting two experiences related to two different academic fields: architecture and fashion design. In particular, we want to investigate the didactic support activity carried out within the scope of teaching laboratories, under the supervision of the tutor/charger of the course, during which theoretical knowledge is applied to the development of a project to be evaluated in the examination. The active participation of the doctoral student during the different phases of the teaching laboratory reinforces the methodological approach to research as a project to be developed in a specific time frame. The presence during some theoretical lectures, the conduct of seminars by the doctoral student himself, and the periodic review of the various stages of project development by the students, implies the consolidation of theoretical knowledge acquired during training, the improvement of the ability to apply knowledge to different project cases and the stimulation of a range of soft skills. Ultimately, supplementary teaching aims at methodological and technical strengthening to be applied to one's doctoral research and future research activities.

Keywords: Doctorate, Supplementary Teaching, Knowledge Construction, Researcher Construction.