The Italian Institute of Human Sciences (

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

: ''Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane''), often shortened to SUM, is an Italian public university dedicated to post-graduate formation and high level research in human and social sciences. It promotes Doctoral, Post-Doctoral and Master programmes in collaboration with other Italian and European universities. It is constituted by five schools and institutes within the universities of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Rome - La Sapienza, Milan - Bicocca,

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, Naples - Federico II, Naples - Eastern and Naples - Suor Orsola Benincasa. In association with the

Central European University Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...

(CEU), the

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conj ...

(EHESS), the

École Pratique des Hautes Études École or Ecole 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 * Éco ...

(EPHE), and the

Humboldt Universität The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humboldt, ...

in Berlin, it has established the ''European Doctoral School for the Human and Social Sciences''. It has cooperation and co-tutorship agreements with the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, the École Pratique des Hautes Études, the

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and the

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

Schools

*Istituto di Studi Umanistici,

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

*Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici,

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

* Scuola Superiore di Studi Umanistici,

University of Siena The University of Siena (, abbreviation: UNISI), located in Siena, Tuscany, holds the distinction of being Italy's first publicly funded university as well as one of the oldest, originally established as ''Studium Senese'' in 1240. As of 2022, it ...

*Scuola di Alta Formazione nelle Scienze Umane e Sociali,

University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

and

Naples Eastern University Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

*Scuola Europea di Studi Avanzati,

University of Naples - Suor Orsola Benincasa A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. *European Doctoral School for the Human and Social Sciences, in association with the

(CEU), the

(EHESS),the

(EPHE) and the

(HU).

PhD Programmes

*Political Science *History of Ideas, Philosophy and Science *Ethics and History of Philosophy *Anthropology, History and Philosophy of Culture *Law and Economy *Theoretical and Political Philosophy *Philology, history of the Italian language and literature *Juridical Science and Theory of the Law *Philosophy of History *European literature and culture *Semiotics *Europe and the invention of modernity *Studies over the visible representation: history, theory and production of arts and images *Sociology *History of the International Relations *Contemporary History *Ancient, Medieval and Enlightenment Studies *Modern and Contemporary Philosophy *Geopolitics and culture of the Mediterranean * Linguistics and history of the linguistic thought * Contemporary History and Society *Universalization of the juridical systems: history and theory

European PhD programmes

*History curricula: *Europe and the invention of modernity *Comparative history of knowledge *The Classic tradition and its mediations in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim worlds *Social Science curricula: *Europe in the context of globalization *The social and political bases of Europe *The social sciences of religions {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Institute of Human Sciences 2002 establishments in Italy Educational institutions established in 2002 Higher education in Italy