University of Pavia

University of Pavia
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Latin: Alma Ticinensis Universitas
Established	1361
Type	State-supported
Rector	Prof. Angiolino Stella
Admin. staff	1,061
Students	22,390
Location	Pavia, Italy
Affiliations	Coimbra Group EUA
Website	www.unipv.eu/

The University of Pavia (Italian: Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. It was founded in 1361 and has nine faculties.

History

An edict issued by the Frankish king of Italy Lothar I (ruled 818-55) mentions the existence of a higher education institution at Pavia as early as AD 825. This institution, mainly devoted to ecclesiastical and civil law as well as to divinity studies, was then selected as the prime educational centre for northern Italy. Officially established as a studium generale by the Holy Roman emperor Charles IV (r. 1355-78) in 1361, the institution was enlarged and renovated by the duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti (ruled 1385-1402), becoming the Duchy's sole university.

Main entry of the central university building, planned by Giuseppe Piermarini.

In 1858, the University was the scene of intense student protests against Austrian rule in northern Italy (through the puppet kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia). The authorities responded by ordering the university's temporary closure. The incidents at Pavia were typical of the wave of nationalist demonstrations all over Italy that immediately preceded the Unification of Italy (1859–66).

During the following centuries, through periods of both adversity and prosperity, the fame of the University of Pavia grew over the last years due to the large number of applicants.

Throughout its history, the university has benefited from the presence of many learned men and distinguished scientists who wrote celebrated works and made important discoveries e.g. the mathematician Girolamo Cardano (born in Pavia, 1501–76), the physicist Alessandro Volta (Pavia chair of natural philosophy 1769-1804), the poet Ugo Foscolo (chair of Italian eloquence 1809-10), and the physician Camillo Golgi (at Pavia from 1861).

Also critical to the university's reputation was its distinguished record of public education, epitomised by the establishment of 5 private and public colleges. The oldest colleges, the Collegio Borromeo and Collegio Ghislieri, were built in the 16th century, and in more recent times others were founded through both public and private initiatives: the Nuovo College, the Santa Caterina College and the EDiSU. In 1997, were established the IUSS, which is an Higher Learning Institution (in Italian, "Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori"). The IUSS is the federal body that links the 5 colleges of Pavia which constitute the Pavia University System.

Today, the University continues to offer a wide variety of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary teaching. Research is carried out in departments, institutes, clinics, centres and laboratories, in close association with public and private institutions, enterprises, and factories.

Organization

Borromeo college

Ghislieri college

The university has nine faculties:

• Faculty of Economics
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Humanities
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Physical, Natural and Mathematical Sciences
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Musicology
• Faculty of Pharmacy
• Faculty of Politics

Teaching Languages

• Italian - Most of the courses in the University of Pavia are taught in Italian.
• English - In 2009 the University began offering several degrees that were taught entirely in English, and more were added in 2012. These degrees are:

1. Six-year degree in Medicine
2. Master's degree in International Business and Economics (MIBE)
3. Master's degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics (MBG)
4. Master's degree in World Politics and International Relations
5. Master's degree in Electronic engineering
6. Master's degree in Computer engineering

Notable alumni and academics

• Cesare Beccaria, jurist and philosopher
• Gerolamo Cardano, mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler
• Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, population geneticist
• Alfonso Giacomo Gaspare Corti, physician and scientist
• Baldus de Ubaldis, jurist
• Contardo Ferrini, jurist
• Ugo Foscolo, writer, revolutionary and poet
• Guglielmo Gasparrini, botanist and mycologist
• Camillo Golgi, Nobel prize in Medicine and Physiology
• Giulio Natta, Nobel prize in Chemistry
• Gian Domenico Romagnosi, jurist, philosopher and economist
• Carlo Rubbia, Nobel prize in Physics
• Antonio Scarpa, physician and scientist
• Lazzaro Spallanzani, biologist
• Lorenzo Valla, humanist and philologist
• Alessandro Volta, scientist, developer of the first electric cell

Points of interest

• Orto Botanico dell'Università di Pavia, the university's botanical garden
• University History Museum, University of Pavia

See also

• Coimbra Group (a network of leading European universities)
• List of Italian universities
• List of medieval universities

External links

• (Italian) (English) University of Pavia Website
•  "University of Pavia". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.