University of Pisa

The University of Pisa (Italian: Università di Pisa, UniPi) is a public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, it is part of the Pisa University System.

History

The Origins

The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place its origins in the 11th century. It is certain, however, that from the middle of the 12th century Pisa had a "Universitas" in the original sense of the word, that is, a group of students who gathered around masters. It was during this period that Leonardo Fibonacci was born and worked. He was one of the greatest mathematicians in history who, through his work, synthesized the spirit and processes of Greek geometry and the tools of Arabic mathematics for the first time in Europe.

The papal seal "In Supremae dignitatis", issued by Pope Clement VI on 3 September 1343, granted the Studium in Pisa the title of Studium Generale with various exclusive privileges, making it universally recognised. In medieval times, the Studium Generale was a higher institute of education founded or confirmed by a universal authority, namely the papacy or the empire. Pisa was among the first European cities to vaunt a papal attestation, followed by Prague in 1347 and Heidelberg in 1386. At the outset in Pisa, lessons in Theology, Civil Law, Canon Law and Medicine were established.

The first years of the new Studium were particularly difficult, although there is documentary evidence that shows persistent academic activity with a slow recovery starting in 1355.

The end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century saw Pisa and its Studium heading towards a slow death. The war, which had allowed the Florentines to conquer the city, was so socially and economically damaging that it made preserving even the most essential academic activity impossible.

The Medicis and Galileo

During the first few days of November 1473, the Studium in Pisa began to develop systematically at the request of Lorenzo dei Medici. In 1486, the construction of a building specifically for lessons was commissioned: the building, the future Palazzo della Sapienza, still the centre of the present-day University, was placed in the 13th century Piazza del Grano, which could be reached through the gateway dell’Abbondanza. The image of the Cherub was placed above this gateway. In the Christian tradition, the Cherub represents an angelic being with a clearer vision of God, who in turn represents absolute knowledge. Since then, the Cherub has become the iconographic symbol of the University of Pisa and, in more recent times, the Order of the Cherub is awarded to members of the university teaching staff who have contributed to enhancing its prestige.

In 1497, the Pisan institute suffered a new period of decline and was moved to Florence for nine years. The rise to the throne of Duke Cosimo I dei Medici marked the beginning of a new era. The formal reopening of the university on 1 November 1543 was, in fact, considered to be a second founding. With the 1545 Statute, Cosimo managed to raise the quality of the teaching, making the University of Pisa one of the most important in Europe for both teaching and research. The Duke established the Chair of Simples (Semplici in Botany) and appointed Luca Ghini: between 1543 and 1544 the Garden of Simples was founded. This was the first botanical garden in the world annexed to a university Studium. A few decades later, the garden was moved to its present position a few dozen metres from Piazza dei Miracoli, covering an area of around three hectares with 6,000 cultivated plants and seeds exchanged with other 400 structures in the world. Ghini was succeeded by the philosopher and scientist Andrea Cesalpino, who created the first scientific method for the classification of plants and can be considered the forerunner of the discovery of the cardiovascular system.

Organization and administration

The University of Pisa consists of 20 departments. These departments offer several courses in their related field of study:

• Civil and Industrial Engineering
• Economics and Management
• Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering
• Information Engineering
• Mathematics
• Physics
• Computer Science
• Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry
• Biology
• Earth Sciences
• Clinical and Experimental Medicine
• Surgical, Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine
• Translational Research on New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery
• Pharmacy
• Humanities Civilisations and Forms of Knowledge
• Philology, Literature and Linguistics
• Law
• Political Science
• Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
• Veterinary Sciences

PhD studies are usually offered and arranged by the departments. The lectures are mostly given in Italian, except for a number of courses at the faculty of foreign languages and literature, some scientific programmes, such as the international MSc in aerospace engineering (EuMAS), Master in Business Informatics, the Master of Science in Space Engineering and the Master in Computer Science and Networking, jointly offered with Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna. Students also have at their disposal a language centre, where they can attend courses in foreign languages, a sports centre (Cus Pisa) that arranges for many sports intramural leagues and allows sports practice in almost all the disciplines available in Italy, and six university refectories (Mense universitarie). The University of Pisa is not organized in the form of one unique campus, but rather its many buildings are scattered throughout the whole Pisa area, especially in the city centre.

Rankings

In 2011, the University of Pisa came in first place among the Italian universities, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities and within the best 30 universities in Europe.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranks University of Pisa among the 350 best world universities.

Times Higher Education Europe Teaching Rankings ranks University of Pisa among the top 100 European Universities for teaching.

QS World University Rankings ranks University of Pisa in the world's top 100 for Computer Science & Information Systems, Physics & Astronomy, Mathematics, Classics & Ancient History, Library & Information Management.

The U.S. News & World Report places the University of Pisa among the world's 300 best universities.

The European Research Ranking, a ranking based on publicly available data from the European Commission database, puts the University of Pisa among the best in Italy and the best performing European research institutions.

Notable people

Alumni

In politics and government, notable people who have attended the University of Pisa include Italian political leaders such as Giacomo Acerbo, Giuliano Amato, Sandro Bondi, Maria Chiara Carrozza, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Massimo D'Alema, Giovanni Gronchi, Guido Buffarini Guidi, Enrico Letta, Antonio Maccanico, Fabio Mussi, Alessandro Natta, Marcello Pera, Enrico Rossi, Carlo Sforza, Sidney Sonnino, and Paolo Emilio Taviani, Foreign political leaders such as Deputy Prime Minister of Albania Spiro Koleka, Ambassador Marcello Spatafora, Prime Ministers of Greece Ioannis Kolettis and Diomidis Kyriakos, Haitian President René Préval, Nicaraguan President Adan Cardenas, and Prime Minister of Somalia Ali Mohammed Ghedi.

In theology, notable alumni include Archbishop Giovanni Battista Rinuccini, Cardinals Benedetto Accolti the Younger, Pietro Accolti, Francesco Barberini, Cesare Borgia, Giovanni Antonio Guadagni, Francisco de Remolins, Francesco Martelli, Bandino Panciatici, Raffaele Riario, Giovanni Battista Tolomei, and Popes Clement IX, Clement XII, Leo X, Paul III, Urban VIII, Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff, and Minister Angus Morrison.

In sciences, notable alumni include Astrophysicists Paolo Farinella, Franco Pacini, Viviana Acquaviva, Biophysicist Clara Franzini-Armstrong, Botanist Giovanni Arcangeli, Geneticist Guido Pontecorvo, and Mathematicians Aldo Andreotti, Enrico Betti, Vincenzo Brunacci, Cesare Burali-Forti, Bonaventura Cavalieri, Guglielmo Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, Giovanni Ceva, Luigi Fantappiè, Alessio Figalli, Guido Fubini, Christopher Hacon, Giuseppe Lauricella, Salvatore Pincherle, Ferdinando Pio Rosellini, Giovanni Salvemini, Carlo Somigliana, Vito Volterra, Guido Zappa, Neurologist Francois Boller, Neuroscientist Emilio Bizzi, Physicians Vincenzo Chiarugi, Paolo Macchiarini, Francesco Redi, and François Carlo Antommarchi, Physicists Adolfo Bartoli, Temistocle Calzecchi-Onesti, Ennio Candotti, Nello Carrara, Enrico Fermi, Galileo Galilei, Luca Gammaitoni, Antonio Pacinotti, Eligio Perucca, Luigi Puccianti, Franco Rasetti, Vasco Ronchi, and Carlo Rubbia.

In other fields, notable alumni include Lawyer Francesca Albanese, Egyptologists Sergio Donadoni, Edda Bresciani, Gianluca Miniaci and Ippolito Rosellini, Fashion model Tania Bambaci, Film directors Mario Monicelli, Paolo Virzì and Simone Rapisarda Casanova, Historians Carlo Ginzburg, Camillo Porzio, and Mario Rosa, Librettist Giacinto Andrea Cicognini, Philologist Gian Biagio Conte, Philosophers Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, Aldo Gargani, Giovanni Gentile, Anna Camaiti Hostert, Eufrosin Poteca, and Jiyuan Yu, Physiologist Hugo Kronecker, Tenors Andrea Bocelli and Francesco Rasi, Agronomist Nazareno Strampelli, Anatomist Atto Tigri, Art historian and curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Civil engineer Henry Willey Reveley, Civil servant Bruno Ferrante, Computer scientists Elisa Bertino, Luca Cardelli, and Roberto Di Cosmo, Diplomat Carlo Andrea Pozzo di Borgo, Economists Luigi Bodio and Paolo Malanima, Engineer Giacinto Morera, Intellectual Adriano Sofri, International civil servant Francesco Cappè, Journalists Lando Ferretti and Tiziano Terzani, Jurists Giuseppe Averani, Piero Calamandrei, Francesco Carrara, Antonio Cassese, Giovanni Lami, Remus Opreanu, Italian Constitutional Court Judge Sabino Cassese, Linguists Stefano Arduini and Luigi Rizzi, Nobel Laureate in Literature Giosuè Carducci, Managers Pier Francesco Guarguaglini, Luca Desiata, Naturalist Gaetano Savi, Poets Vincenzo da Filicaja, Giovanni Battista Guarini, and Mauro Nervi, Psychiatrist Silvano Arieti, Racing car and engine designer Carlo Chiti, Surgeon Andrea Vaccá Berlinghieri, Writers Pietro Citati, Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi, Margaret King, Antonio Tabucchi, and Zoologist Enrico Hillyer Giglioli.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)