University of Calabria

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The University of Calabria has 14 Departments which offer 78 Graduate degree Courses provided at a Bachelor and Master level, 10 Ph.D. Schools, 27 Post Graduate Masters, 125 Research Labs, 210 Class Rooms. The University of Calabria offers 2 Master's degree courses entirely in English: Computer Science and Finance and Insurance and two Master's degree courses partially in English: Modern Philology (curriculum in Italian Studies) and Management Engineering.
In fact, despite what unfortunately occurred in several instances in Southern Italy, there was not a hurried and confused concept behind this project. Since its conception, our University has had a soul and a conscience that today features its personality and its special character. This unique character of the Arcavacata Campus is derived precisely from the fact that it is one of the few initiatives – not only in the university field – that has followed a precise route based on a strategic vision of social, economic, and technological development. It was an ambitious vision bound to make a difference.
The project of our University was conceived in the sixties, in a period of significant changes for our country. The fruitful economic, political, and cultural debate inevitably affected universities and their roles and functions in that particular historical moment. It was inevitable to wonder what kind of University was necessary for Calabria and what characteristics this new "creature" had to feature since it was vested with broader and more challenging responsibilities than those traditionally assigned to a university: first to stimulate and then to join in with the dynamic and sustainable positioning of our region within the national economic and social context. Such a response was adequate and in line with the "profile" that new universities were required to adopt at an international level. Our University's profile was built around the Campus Campus concept and still is conceived as a large laboratory of ideas and inspirations that have left their mark, thereby molding the University's unique character. With the University of Calabria, the cultural contributions and innovations that had been experimented with for some time both in Europe and in the USA were imported to our country and transferred to the national university system. The first and largest Campus Campus soon became a melting pot of international and national brains who still constitute the University's distinctive mark. The debate on the new concept of University that was being started was heated, yet of high level and great significance, and involved prominent political leaders and intellectuals such as Tristano Codignola, Luigi Firpo and Umberto Caldora, as well as several other representatives of the lay-socialist culture who had played a vital role in the country's modernization process during the sixties. The issue under discussion was how the University could be conceived using different criteria to those used in the past. The infant University of Calabria started on the right foot, also thanks to the extraordinary enthusiasm and decisive contribution of its founder and first Rector, Beniamino Andreatta. The University of Calabria pioneered a new, somehow revolutionary, organizational approach consisting of Departments' creation. Such an organizational layout was completely different from the model upon which the academic scientific activity had been based up to that moment.
Thus, our University started a real academic and cultural, and organizational reform that would mark its experimental and innovation-oriented character.
Parallel to this innovation, another important project was also in the pipeline: a University that would play a vital role in the development and relation-making processes. Our University is the only one built as a Campus at a national level: it is a development outside the city boundaries, with vast spaces stretching over 200 hectares of land, and with buildings developed on a total covered area of 400 thousand square meters.
The excellence of the project and of its unique character is also supported by the numbers: about 34 thousand students, 900 teachers, 760 technical and administrative staff 6 Faculties, 25 Departments and over 80 study courses (comprising Master's courses and single-cycle, specialist degree courses) 13 Interdepartmental Centres 3 Excellence Centres, 2 Postgraduate Schools (in Clinical Pathology and Secondary Education), a School of Advanced Studies in Public Administration 170 classrooms with a total capacity of 14,273 seats the most extensive library facility in the south of Italy (approximately 400 thousand volumes, 900 seats and 300 computer access points) 3 common service centres a Botanic Garden a Museum of Palaeontology a Language Service Centre a total accommodation capacity of 3,000 beds refectories with 1,200 seats (3,500 daily meals, over 1 million meals every year) 5,000 car parking spaces public transport for over 28 thousand students a day advanced sports facilities for any sport activity, also at a professional level. Furthermore, the Campus Campusvided with a Health Care Centre with a first-aid post, a bank branch, a Post Office, two theatres (with two hundred and seven hundred seats, respectively), two cinemas, with 250 seating capacity every two outdoor theatres and a day nursery (one of the few of this kind in Italy) for over 50 three-month to six-year-old children.
The University has also promoted more than 220 bilateral agreements with European universities participating in the LLP - Lifelong Learning Programme (former Socrates and Leonardo programs), for study and research activities (with approximately 320 outbound students and over 110 inbound students every year), and with consortia established with other Italian and foreign universities to develop services for students' placement in European companies or research centers and to organizing Doctoral Courses.
These figures place the University of Calabria in a leading position among the most extensive Italian universities for service quality and efficiency standards. But figures are not the only benchmark to measure the success of our University. It has gained significant positions on a national scale, having obtained considerable resources to be allocated to teaching and research activities through competitive means, only after having passed rigorous selection testing.
The teaching staff comprises more than 900 professors - including full professors, associate professors, researchers, and assistant researchers.
This University is one of the few residential university campuses in Italy and one of the largest ones. Management and services, which include accommodation and leisure facilities to students, are provided by the Centro Residenziale. In the residential area, relevant centers are located in the Sports Centre, the Health Centre, and the Centre for Fine Arts, Music, and Performing Arts. Moreover, there is a Radio and Television Centre, the University Press, the Language Centre, and several other interdepartmental centers.
The University Library is one of the largest and unique libraries in Southern Italy. It offers a wide range of materials in three different sectors: the scientific, the humanistic, and the social-economic sectors. Besides, its attractive interior provides students with pleasant and comfortable study areas.
Research is often financially supported by organizations that are external to the University. Indeed, the University of Calabria provides scientific backup for many projects in the Region of Calabria. These projects are often developed in collaborations with other prestigious institutions. The University of Calabria is making significant efforts to promote the region's development both at the national and international level.
This innovative academic environment proves to be a thriving and ever-growing reality in Southern Italy and the Mediterranean area, which has been attested to by a recent CENSIS survey. Indeed, the University of Calabria has been ranked in the first place among the medium-sized universities (20000-40000 students).

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