- Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
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Scuola Normale of Pisa Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa 
Established 1810 Type State-supported Director Prof. Fabio Beltram Admin. staff ca. 120 Undergraduates ca. 150 Postgraduates ca. 120 Doctoral students ca. 190 Location Pisa, Italy Website www.sns.it/ 
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, also known in Italian as Scuola Normale (English: Normal School), is a public higher learning institution in Italy. It was founded in 1810, by Napoleonic decree, as a branch of the École Normale Supérieure of Paris. Since its foundation it has operated a highly selective student admission procedure, and its main goal was, during that period, essentially to form the best college and high school teachers. Recognized as a "national university" in 1862, one year after Italian unification, and named during that period as "Normal School of the Kingdom of Italy". During the fascist dictatorship of Benito Mussolini, the philosopher Giovanni Gentile enacted the reform that gave the Scuola its current structure; autonomy from the University of Pisa was granted in 1932. [2] After the war, the Normal School has become an entity separate from the University of Pisa, with complete administrative, didactic and regulative freedom.
The Scuola, together with the University of Pisa and with Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, belongs to the Pisa University System. It is one of the three officially sanctioned special-statute public universities in Italy, being part of the process of Superior Graduate School in Italy or Scuola Superiore Universitaria.[1]
Contents
Fields of study
The Scuola Normale offers classes in both humanities and sciences. Currently the university offers the following classes :
Humanities
- Ancient History and Classical Philology
- Italian Literature and Linguistics
- Art History and Archaeology
- History and Paleography
- Philosophy
Sciences
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Computer Science
- Mathematics
- Physics (PhD)
- Condensed Matter Physics (PhD)
- Molecular Biophysics (PhD)
- Mathematics (PhD)
- Mathematics for Finance and Business Technologies (PhD)
- Neurobiology (PhD)
- Molecular Biology (PhD)
- Chemistry (PhD)
Palazzo della Carovana: Scuola Normale Superiore main buildingAdmission
In order to become a student at the Scuola Normale, or normalista, the candidate must pass an extremely selective admissions exam (there are only sixty candidates admitted out of nearly 1000 applicants on average every year), with questions covering the entire chosen field of study. The normalisti receive free housing, free lunches and dinners, and a monthly stipend.
Teaching activities
The Scuola does not have a full programme of undergraduate and graduate studies; instead, the students follow the ordinary courses at the public University of Pisa, and complement them with additional classes and seminars taught by the professors of the Scuola Normale. The normalisti are required to score high marks in their exams at the public university (average marks of at least 27/30 and no mark below 24/30) in order to maintain their scholarship. The PhD programme, instead, is separate and completely independent of the degrees at the University of Pisa. The PhD course is called corso di perfezionamento, and the students are called perfezionandi. The perfezionamento, instituted in 1927, is much older than the PhD programme of the Italian public university, instituted in 1980.
Campus
The Scuola Normale is located in its original historical building, called Palazzo della Carovana, in Piazza dei Cavalieri, in the medieval centre of Pisa.
Nowadays, students are housed in four dorms located nearby in the city.
Rankings
Pisa University System rankings :
- The Academic Ranking of World Universities puts this system at the first place in Italy (National Rank # 1) and within the best 30 universities in Europe.[2]
- Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna has also been mapped by Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings as one of the most important educational institutions in Italy (section on Italy i.e. Top universities and specialisms),[3][4] having its Graduate/Postgraduate Profile.[5]
- Also, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, together with Scuola Normale Superiore are named as leading institutions in Italy's six top higher education institutes by Times Higher Education World University Rankings.[1]
- According to QS World University Rankings, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and Scuola Normale Superiore are part of the initiative "Invest Your Talent in Italy"[6] which puts Italian graduate programmes on the world's stage.[7]
- The European Research Ranking, a ranking based on publicly available data from the European Commission database puts Pisa University System among the best in Italy and best performing European research institutions.[8]
Famous graduated alumni
- Enrico Fermi, physicist and Nobel prize winner
- Carlo Rubbia, physicist and Nobel prize winner
- Giosuè Carducci, poet and Nobel prize winner
- Lamberto Cesari, mathematician
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, economist & politician, former Governor of the Banca d'Italia, former Prime Minister of Italy, former President of the Italian Republic, life senator
- Carlo Ginzburg, historian
- Ennio de Giorgi, mathematician, solved the 19th Hilbert problem, won Wolf Prize (1990)
- Giovanni Gronchi, politician, former President of the Republic of Italy
- Giovanni Gentile, philosopher and politician
- Vito Volterra, mathematician
- Guido Fubini, mathematician
- Luigi Bianchi, mathematician
- Leonida Tonelli, mathematician
- Jiyuan Yu, philosopher
External links
- Scuola Normale Superiore official website (in Italian & English)
- Data sheet about the 2009/2010 academic year, il Sole 24 ore, 4 May 2010 (in Italian)
- Which future for the Scuola Normale, il Sole 24 ore, 4 May 2010 (in Italian)
See also
- Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies
- Pisa University System
- University of Pisa
- List of Italian universities
- École Normale Supérieure
- Pisa
References
- ^ a b "Italy's big six form network for elite". Times Higher Education. 18 February 2000. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=150222§ioncode=26. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities | ARWU | First World University Ranking | Shanghai Ranking". ARWU. http://www.arwu.org/. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Invest your talent in Italy: graduate study opportunities in Southern Europe | Topgradschool". Graduateschool.topuniversities.com. http://graduateschool.topuniversities.com/content/europe/invest-your-talent-italy-graduate-study-opportunities-southern-europe. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Top ten things to do while studying abroad in... Italy". Topuniversities. http://www.topuniversities.com/articles/top-10-things-do-while-studying-abroad-italy. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Pisa | Topgradschool". Graduateschool.topuniversities.com. 12 November 2009. http://graduateschool.topuniversities.com/university/scuolasuperioresantannapisa/. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Italian graduate programmes on the world's stage | Topgradschool". Graduateschool.topuniversities.com. http://graduateschool.topuniversities.com/articles/italy/italian-graduate-programmes-worlds-stage. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
- ^ "European Research Ranking 2010". Researchranking.org. http://www.researchranking.org/index.php?action=ranking&year=2010. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
Coordinates: 43°43′10.60″N 10°24′0.81″E / 43.719611°N 10.400225°E
Categories:- Education in Pisa
- Buildings and structures in Pisa
- Universities in Italy
- Educational institutions established in 1810
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