The 6 italian Schools of excellence
The 6 Schools of excellence are italian special statute university institutions, also called "Scuole Universitarie Superiori", holding a unique position within the Italian higher education system. They are public universities in their own right and carry out research and education in applied and pure sciences. Three of them offer undergraduate (three-year degree and master's degree) and post-graduate courses (PhD) meanwhile the other three train only PhD students (GSSI, IMT and SISSA). The Schools of excellence model is based on the French Grandes Ecoles model with basic principles: the selection of students exclusively on the basis of merit and a strong intertwining of teaching and research, community life and a great openness towards international exchanges.
The main goal is to improve student performance through high-quality professional educating. This is pursued and achieved through:
- High quality, interdisciplinary course content;
- Exchange programs with the world's best universities;
- Collaborative research through partnerships;
- Quality apprenticeships, training and international mobility.
In the 2024 edition, some selected students from CCUM, Scuola Superiore di Catania and Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori will participate. AGGIUNGERE RIASSISU.
| GSSI - Gran Sasso Science Institute - L’Aquila The Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) is an international PhD school and a center for research and higher education in the areas of Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science and Social Sciences. The GSSI was established as a curiosity-driven science centre, delivering research and training activities in innovative and highly promising fields. Professors, researchers and students from all scientific backgrounds are selected internationally, following the standards set by the best research centers and PhD schools worldwide. In addressing the complexity of today’s world, we are committed to removing all barriers between the areas of study and research at the GSSI, where interdisciplinarity and cross-fertilization underlie everything we do. | IMT School The IMT School is an institution of higher education and research with an historical legacy with the higher education centres established in the town of Lucca since 1300. Tradition and innovation, rigorous selection procedures, multidisciplinary focus on Economics, Engineering,Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Physics, Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, Analysis and management of cultural heritage are the pillars of the IMT School, supporting the development of cutting-edge scientific research and innovation, and its doctoral programs, which attract students, researchers and faculty from around the world. |
| IUSS Pavia - University School for Advanced Studies The University School for Advanced Studies IUSS is based in Pavia and it is devoted to education, research and strategies for generating impact. IUSS focuses on certain lines of research with a highly innovative and interdisciplinary approach: the study of neurobiological basis of cognitive and social skills, with a focus on cognitive neuroscience, neurolinguistics and philosophy of mind; the study of risk assessment, risk reduction and risk management, with a focus on climate change and sustainability, natural hazards and mitigation measures. At IUSS research of the highest quality, both nationally and internationally recognized, is carried out. Internationally renowned teaching staff promote students’ individual merit and skills in a highly selective environment. The University School for Advanced Studies IUSS Pavia offers interdisciplinary courses with a strong international focus, by providing challenges and opportunities at different educational levels, from undergraduate courses to post-graduate degrees (2nd level master and PhD programme). | SISSA - International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste SISSA - International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste was founded in 1978 and it was the first institution in Italy to promote post-graduate courses for the achievement of the PhD. Located in the city of Trieste, it features about 70 professors, 130 researchers and 300 PhD students active in three research areas: Physics, Mathematics and Neuroscience. SISSA's main mission has been to train PhD students to the highest international standards. To maintain its competitive level, the School continuously adapts to the evolution of science, which always offers new challenges, often across the borders of traditional disciplines, such as the research line and doctoral training in Data Science. All the scientific work carried out by SISSA researchers is regularly published in leading international journals; the School has also drawn up over 150 collaboration agreements with the world's leading schools and research institutions and within the competitive field of European funding schemes SISSA holds has a prominent position among Italian scientific institutions in terms of research funding obtained in relation to the number of researchers and professors. |
Scuola Normale Superiore - Pisa | Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies - Pisa Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies is a public university institute working in the field of applied sciences: Economics and Management, Law, Political Sciences, Agricultural Sciences and Plant Biotechnology, Medicine, and Industrial and Information Engineering. The Sant’Anna School aims at experimenting innovative paths in research and education where professors and researchers live and interact with the students, day after day, enjoying a continuous cultural and intellectual exchange. Innovative ideas, which are then developed in collaboration with foreign universities, organizations, companies and research institutes, are generated here. Due to its international nature, education of excellence and scientific community, the Sant’Anna School established itself as a reference both in Italy and abroad and, in 2023, the Time Higher Education World University rankings for young universities confirm the top position: 1st at the national level, 7th at the european level and 13th at the world level. |
| Scuola Superiore di Catania The Scuola Superiore di Catania is a higher education centre of the University of Catania whose aim is to select annually brilliant young minds and offer them a path of study, parallel to the university one, providing in-depth activities, research and experimentation. The SSC promotes an early start to research for eligible brilliant minds and aims to develop culture, scientific research and innovation by offering highly qualified and innovative educational experiences; evaluating and transferring knowledge and technology to the outside world; promoting a scientific community open to cultural growth and to liberal social exchange; living in a campus offering facilities, totally free of charge. The Scuola’s education program complements and integrates the university studies of SSC ordinary students with additional courses, seminar cycles, laboratories, internships at national and international scientific institutions and with an early start to research. The SSC is organised in two Classes: Humanities and Social Sciences students and Experimental Science students. Students are selected annually by a rigorous Admission Exam and being enrolled at the University of Catania, attend a tutor-guided educational course integrated with their degree course at the end of which they receive a License Diploma. | Conference of University Colleges of Merit The “Conferenza dei Collegi Universitari di Merito” (CCUM) is an association that brings together and represents 57 University Colleges of Merit recognised and accredited by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (D.Lgs. 68/2012). The University Colleges of Merit are present in 18 italian cities and are training centers of excellence are training centres of excellence that, going beyond the accommodation service, support Italian Universities by providing educational and teaching activities, through an interdisciplinary model that places students at the centre of each activity as people capable of developing a critical sense, judgement and a sense of responsibility. On an international level, they promote and strengthen forms of cooperation with Universities and build connections with civil society, with a special focus on developing transferable skills (soft skills) that are also useful for entering the world of work. The CCUM promotes and develops its activities by drawing on the experience of the University Colleges of Merit and through direct contact with the global Student Affairs and Services associations to which it belongs or with which it collaborates. |
| Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori - Padoa The Galilean School of Higher Education is an opportunity that the University of Padova offers every year to 30 students enrolling for the first time in a degree course and 10 Master’s level students. Admitted students attend the regular courses and activities of their chosen Degree course at the University of Padova, and in addition they must attend the internal courses and seminars given at the Galilean School. After obtaining their Master’s degree at the University of Padova, they defend an additional, final Galilean thesis in order to receive the Galilean Diploma. |
