A Superior Graduate School (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Scuola Superiore Universitaria'') is a completely independent institution from a legal point of view, which offers advanced training and

research Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

through university-type courses or is dedicated to teaching at graduate or post-doctoral level. The Superior Graduate Schools in Italy,Ricerca Italiana - Scuole di Eccellenza
/ref> the ''Scuola Superiore Universitaria'', are recognized by the

Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (Italy) The Ministry of Education, University and Research (in it, Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, italic=no or MIUR) is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and ...

(MIUR) as fully autonomous. Three Superior Graduate Schools have "

university status A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

"; three institutes have the status of doctoral colleges, which function at graduate and post-graduate levels; and nine other schools are direct offshoots of universities, lacking independent university status. These state institutions are commonly referred to as ''Scuole di Eccellenza'' ("Schools of Excellence")Scuole di Eccellenza
/ref> The institutions offer recognized national and international titles, including the ''Diploma di Perfezionamento'' (equivalent to a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

), ''Dottorato di Ricerca'' ( "Research Doctorate"), and ''Doctor Philosophiae'' ( Ph.D).Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) Decree
/ref> Some of these institutions, individually or in co-operation with the universities with which they work, also organize courses leading to

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s. The oldest and most famous Superior Graduate School in Italy is the

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa The Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa (commonly known in Italy as "la Normale") is a public university in Pisa and Florence, Tuscany, Italy, currently attended by about 600 undergraduate and postgraduate (PhD) students. It was founded in 181 ...

, founded in 1810 by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

as a branch of the famous ''

École Normale Supérieure École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, S ...

'' in Paris, upon which it was modelled. The

Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies , latin_name = , image = , motto = L'eccellenza come disciplina , mottoeng = Committed to excellence , established = 1987 from previously existing institutions , type = State-supported , administrative_staff ...

also has long history of existence in Italian education, as its origins are in the ''Collegio Medico-Giuridico'' of the

and the ''Conservatorio di Sant'Anna'', an even older educational institution with roots in the fourteenth century.

Superior graduate schools with university status

Scuola Superiore Studi Pavia IUSS The Scuola Superiore IUSS or the "Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori" of Pavia (Eng. ''IUSS - School for Advanced Studies'') is a higher learning institute located in Pavia, Italy. The Scuola Superiore IUSS was founded in 1997 by the Un ...

Scuola Superiore Meridionale
*

Gran Sasso Science Institute The ''Gran Sasso Science Institute'' (GSSI) is an international school for advanced studies located in L'Aquila, Italy. Founded in 2012 as a research institute and superior graduate school dependent on the National Institute of Nuclear Physic ...

Superior graduate schools with the status of doctoral colleges

International School for Advanced Studies The International School for Advanced Studies (Italian: ''Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati''; SISSA) is an international, state-supported, post-graduate-education and research institute in Trieste, Italy. SISSA is active in t ...

di Trieste (SISSA)
Istituto italiano di scienze umane di Firenze
(SUM) *

IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca ( it, Scuola IMT Alti Studi Lucca) is a public research institution and a graduate school located in Lucca, Italy. It was founded in 2005 under the name of IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, where the ac ...

Superior graduate schools which are direct offshoots of other universities

* Collegio superiore of the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in contin ...

Scuola di studi superiori dell'università degli studi di Torino
of the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

Scuola superiore dell'università di Siena Santa Chiara
of the

University of Siena The University of Siena ( it, Università degli Studi di Siena, abbreviation: UNISI) in Siena, Tuscany, is one of the oldest and first publicly funded universities in Italy. Originally called ''Studium Senese'', the institution was founded in 12 ...

Scuola superiore di Catania Scuola Superiore di Catania (SSC) is an education institute in Italy. It was founded in 1998 followed by the model of Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Scuola Superiore di Catania The aims of Scuola Superiore di Catania are: * to develop the ...

of the

University of Catania The University of Catania ( it, Università degli Studi di Catania) is a university located in Catania, Sicily. Founded in 1434, it is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy, and the 29th oldest university in the world. With a ...

*SSAS - Sapienza School for Advanced Studies of

Sapienza - University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a public research university located in Rome, Ita ...

.
Istituto superiore universitario di formazione interdisciplinare di Lecce (ISUFI)
of the

University of Salento The University of Salento ( it, Università del Salento, called until 2007 ''Università degli Studi di Lecce'') is a university located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1955 by Giuseppe Codacci Pisanelli. The university of Salento commenced act ...

Scuola galileiana di studi superiori di Padova (SGSS)
of the

University of Padua The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from ...

Collegio Internazionale Ca' Foscari
of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice *

European College of Parma The European College of Parma Foundation ( it, Fondazione Collegio Europeo di Parma, french: La Fondation Collège Européen de Parme) is a higher education institution which provides academic training for young European graduates in the field o ...

Scuola superiore dell'università di Udine
of the

University of Udine The University of Udine (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Udine'') is a university in the city of Udine, Italy. It was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the earthquake in 1976. Its aim was to provide the Fri ...

Scuola di Studi Superiori 'Giacomo Leopardi'
of the University of Macerata
Scuola di Studi Superiori 'Carlo Urbani'
of the

University of Camerino The University of Camerino ( it, Università degli Studi di Camerino) is a university located in Camerino, Italy. It is the best university of Italy among those with fewer than 10,000 students, according to the Guida Censis Repubblica 2011 and 201 ...

Research doctorate or Ph.D.

The first institution in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to create a doctoral program was

in 1927 under the historic name ''"Diploma di Perfezionamento"''.STATUTO DELLA SCUOLA NORMALE SUPERIORE DI PISA (legge 18 giugno 1986, n. 308)
Further, the ''dottorato di ricerca'' was introduced by law and presidential decree in 1980, in a reform of academic teaching, training and experimentation in organisation and teaching methods. The Superior Graduate Schools in Italy (

: ''Scuola Superiore Universitaria''), also called ''Schools of Excellence'' (

: ''Scuole di Eccellenza'') such as

and

keep their historical ''"Diploma di Perfezionamento"'' title by law and

MIUR The Ministry of Education, University and Research (in it, Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca, italic=no or MIUR) is the ministry of the Italian government for the national education system, the Italian universities and ...

Decree. The Superior Graduate School or Scuola Superiore Universitaria has "Diplomi di Perfezionamento ", which are equivalent to "Dottorati di Ricerca" (PhD).:Università in Italia, Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR)
/ref> * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa - Legge n. 308/1986 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e di Perfezionamento "SANT'ANNA", Pisa - Legge N. 41/1987 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Alta Scuola Europea di Scienze Religiose Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII, Bologna -D.M. Murst 19.10.1999 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Scuola Internazionale di Alti Studi della Cultura Fondazione collegio s. Carlo, Modena - D.M. Murst 4.5.1998 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento:

Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino The International Society for the Study of Medieval Latin Culture ( it, Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino, known as SISMEL) is an Italian non-profit cultural institute, based in Florence. It promotes multi-disciplinary resea ...

, Fondazione Ezio Franceschini, Firenze - D.M. 3.4.2001 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento, Firenze - D.M. 9.10.2001 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA). Trieste - D.M. Murst 24.2.1993 * Diploma di Doctor Philosophiae (PhD):

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute and an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established by the member states to contr ...

(Istituto Universitario Europeo), Fiesole/Firenze - Legge N. 352/1986 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Istituto di scienze farmacologiche “Mario Negri”, Milano - D.M. MIUR 11.11.2008 * Dottorato in Studi Storici: Università degli Studi S. Marino - D.M. Murst 11.6.1990 and scambio Note 16.7.1999 in vigore dal 28.11.2000 * Dottorato in Ingegneria Gestionale: Università degli Studi S. Marino - D.M. Murst 11.6.1990 and scambio Note 16.7.1999 in vigore dal 28.11.2000 * Diplomi di Perfezionamento: Fondazione Internazionale per gli studi superiori di Architettura, Scuola Superiore Europea di Architettura Urbana - Napoli - D.M. MIUR 14 Luglio 2006

References

External links

Scuole di Eccellenza
{{Ita_Uni Graduate schools in Italy