Francesco Guicciardini and Pico della Mirandola among the students, Galilei, Falloppio, Vesalio and Morgagni among the professors: these are just a few of the names that the history of the University of Padua, founded back in 1222 and since then a forge of research, experimentation and progress, has boasted. There are many famous names, testifying to the attractiveness and international vocation of the University of Padua, and its continuing prominence in the world of research.
Alongside the great figures of the past are more recent personalities, but no less significant in the national and international spheres: from Enrico Bernardi, the first engineer in the world to create a vehicle powered by a petrol combustion engine, to Giuseppe “Bepi” Colombo, the “celestial mechanic” who collaborated, among other things, on the launch of the Giotto Probe; from Melchiorre Cesarotti, translator of Homer and Ossian, to Vittore Branca, author of the discovery of the autograph of the Decameron, and the entire linguistic and philological school of Folena, Tagliavini, and Pellegrini; from academics Concetto Marchesi, a Latinist, and Egidio Meneghetti, who contributed to the development of chemotherapy drugs, to jurists Alfredo Rocco and Enrico Opocher; from philosopher Norberto Bobbio to poet Diego Valeri; from mathematician Tullio Levi Civita, whose work formed the basis of the mathematical structure of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, to surgeon Vincenzo Gallucci, who performed the first heart transplant in Italy in 1985.
Padua has been a university of firsts, with the world’s first university botanical garden, created in 1545 and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the first anatomical theatre to survive intact (commissioned by Girolamo Fabrici d’Acquapendente and inaugurated in 1594), and the world’s first female graduate, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro.
Today’s records are evidenced by the rankings that see Padua constantly at the top of the large universities in terms of the quality of teaching, research and services, and collaborations with major international research bodies.
The numbers also underline the size of the University: 64,000 students, over 2,200 lecturers, almost 2,300 administrative technicians, 12,000 graduates per year, over 5,000 scholarships, 32 departments, over 2 million books in 41 libraries, 82 three-year degree courses, 81 master’s degree courses, 8 single-cycle degree courses, 65 master’s degrees, 65 specialisation schools, 37 postgraduate courses, 4 higher education courses, 35 doctoral schools, 2 international doctoral courses. The number of English-language and online courses is constantly increasing.
In addition, there is the School of Excellence, the Scuola Galileiana di Studi Superiori, to which the best students are admitted every year through a competition, with the possibility of choosing between the Moral Sciences, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences classes.
Universa universis patavina libertas: always free, always a protagonist in international research.
Source: Università di Padova
Here’s our mentors!
Hey! I am Elena and I am a Master’s student in Community Psychology in Padova. I am currently doing my internship on LGBTQI+ rights and well-being, organizing educational workshops for highschoolers
and teachers, and I also work as a Tutor for incoming international students. My goal is to is make sure that the least number of people experience discrimination basing on whatever part of their identity.
Hello everybody! My name is Olivia and I am a student of Modern Philology at the University of Padua. I am a sunny girl and I love being among people. I love discovering new countries and knowing people from different cultures. This passion has brought me close to the Mentorship Project. Since I was little, my dream is to become an italian teacher and I can’t wait to make it come true.
I really love Literature, because it makes me free!
My name is Letiția and I am a Master student in Human Rights. I speak four languages fluently and I am keen to take on new experiences and to become a better version of me every single day. With a huge passion about human rights, I am specializing myself in refugee and asylum seekers international protection, and I am working on making people highly aware of their rights.
I am Maryna, last year Master of Business Administration student at the University of Padova. I was born in Ukraine, completed my bachelor in Russia and therefore I am an international student in Italy myself. I am a tutor buddy for first year international students and very much aware of all the challenges we face. I am convinced that diversity is a benefit for every university and happy to help participating in this project.
Hi, I’m Marco! I am a Master student at the University of Padua. I study European and American Languages and Literatures. I speak English, French and Spanish. Since September, I’ve been working as a Tutor Buddy for International students at Unipd. I’m also taking part in the Mentorship Project, promoting inclusion in the university world. I’m in love with French language and literature. One day I’d like to teach them and become a literary translator. See you soon!
My name is Margherita and I’m 24. I am in the last year of Medical school in Padova, but whenever I can, I go on some “international getaways”, like my erasmus in Belgium or some volunteer projects in India and Greece, in order to cultivate the international dimension and treasure everything I can get from the meeting with such a different reality from mine.
Hello! My name is Isotta and I am a first year Master student in International Relations and Diplomacy. I have been a Tutor Buddy from October 2020 till April 2021. My passions are foreign languages, travels, and Public International Law. I think that the Mentorship project is a great opportunity both for international students and the entire university community.”
