University of Padua

Established in 1222, the University of Padua (Padova in Italian) is the second oldest university in Italy, after Bologna, and one of the earliest universities in the world. It was originally founded as a school of law by a group of scholars and students who had come from Bologna in pursuit of greater academic freedom. Today, Padua continues to be one of the most prominent universities in Italy and Europe. It is made up of 32 departments and eight schools, which co-ordinate the courses managed by each department, as well as 49 specialisation schools and 43 research and service centres. Comprising Schools of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Economics and Political Science, Law, Engineering, Medicine, Psychology, Science, and Human and Social Sciences and Cultural Heritage, Padua also runs a host of centres, research organisations and science and technology hubs that are affiliated with the university. Its estate is also home to a university hospital, one museum, a library, a school of excellence and 14 halls of residence. Around 60,000 students – 40,000 undergraduates and 20,000 postgraduates – are enrolled at Padua. They share the university’s medieval buildings with more than 20,000 professors and research staff, as well as a commitment to the continuation of Padua’s longstanding tradition of academic innovation. The university’s total budget is over €600 million with around €60 million a year spent on research. Padua is part a network of historical research universities known as the Coimbra Group. Other institutions that are part of this network include the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Heidelberg, Salamanca, Jena, Leuven and Leiden.