| Scuola superiore di catania | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1998 |
| Type | Higher learning institute |
| Rector | Giacomo Pignataro |
| Students | about 90 |
| Location | Catania, Italy |
| Website | www.scuolasuperiorecatania.it |
Scuola Superiore di Catania (SSC) is a high excellence learning institute in Italy. It was founded in 1998 on the model of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.
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The aims of Scuola Superiore di Catania are:
Ordinary students, admitted through a concourse, live for free within a collegial structure.
In 2004, after a positive valuation by the Minister, Scuola Superiore was institutionalized within University of Catania.
In September 2006 several ex-students founded their own association, called “Alumni Scuola Superiore di Catania”.
The students of Scuola Superiore di Catania attend the ordinary courses at University of Catania; they are required to maintain good academic standing in their exams at the public university (average grade of at least 27/30 and no grade below 24/30) in order to maintain their scholarship. Moreover, they are required to attend seven internal courses, two of which are interdisciplinary, held by important Italian and foreign professors. Scuola Superiore provides each ordinary student with free board and lodging housing, the reimbursement of tuition fees and a monthly contribution, beside residential services.
The students are actively involved in the organization of every day's life within Scuola Superiore, both by managing the library service and organizing a book society, a cinematographic review, cultural meetings, conferences and sport activities.
Scuola Superiore promotes study and research activities abroad by funding international mobility and stages with public and private companies or universities.
In 2009/2010 Scuola Superiore counts approximately ninety undergraduate students and fifty postgraduate students. Some of them come from other regions of Italy, and others from other Mediterranean countries.
Scuola Superiore is currently located in the Etna Building, near the University, though it will soon be moved to Villa San Saverio, a nineteenth-century noble palace restructured as campus. Students stay generally in single or double rooms. Among the services offered to the students there are a canteen, a library, a wireless LAN, several study rooms with multimedia material, some recreation rooms, a football pitch and a volleyball field.
The admission is subject to a concourse for students in possession of a high school diploma. The admission concourse, which generally takes place in September, consists of two written tests and an oral exam which focus on the topics of the chosen first degree course. In order to be admitted to the oral exam it is necessary to obtain a minimum average score of 7/10. Within the oral test, the knowledge of English is also tested.
During the period of the concourse, Scuola Superiore offers board and lodging to candidates from other regions or other nations. In winter and summer Scuola Superiore organizes short periods of educational guidance for high school students.
During their university career, students of Scuola Superiore must successfully attend a minimum of seven internal courses. Five of these courses regard specialistic topics pertaining to a specific degree course, while two of them are interdisciplinary, regarding topics which can be interesting for students from different degree courses (e.g. neuroinformatics, rhetoric, contemporary history). Specialistic courses are proposed by both teachers and students, and need to be approved by the didactic commission of the Scuola Superiore.
Apart from the seven mentioned courses, students must attend auxiliary courses of foreign languages and computer science. The students are trained to obtain international certifications of English and attend at least another language class among French, German and Spanish.
Scuola Superiore currently comprises the following laboratories
The following International PhDs are at the moment present at Scuola Superiore:
In September 2006 the Association of ex-students of Scuola Superiore was founded, with the name “Alumni Scuola Superiore di Catania”. The Association aims at maintaining relationships between former students and contributing to the purposes of Scuola Superiore by promoting activities for current students. The Scientific Director of the Scuola Superiore is an honorary member of the association. As of September 2009, the Association is composed by 42 members. Among its activities, the meetings of professional guidance are important occasions in which the ex-students expose a clear outlook of postgraduate choices in Italy and abroad.[1]