Polytechnic University of Milan

The Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano) is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students.[2] The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest university in Milan.

Polytechnic University of Milan
Politecnico di Milano
TypeState-supported Technical University
Established29 November 1863
RectorFerruccio Resta
Academic staff
1,400[1]
Administrative staff
1,200[1]
Students42,496[2]
Undergraduates27,663[3]
Postgraduates14,331[4]
900[1]
Location
Milan
,
Italy
Campusurban
ColorsWhite and blue-gray
   [5]
AffiliationsPEGASUS, NEREUS, TIME, CESAER, EUA, EASN, IDEA League, UNITECH International
Websitewww.polimi.it/en

The Polytechnic University of Milan has two main campuses in the city of Milan, Italy, where the majority of the research and teaching activities are located, as well as other satellite campuses in five other cities across the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions. The central offices and headquarters are located in the historical campus of Città Studi in Milan, which is also the largest, active since 1927.

According to the QS World University Rankings for subject area 'Engineering & Technology', it ranked in 2020 as the 20th best in the world.[6] It ranked 6th worldwide for Design, 9th for Civil and Structural Engineering, 9th for Mechanical, Aerospace Engineering and 7th for Architecture.[6] Its notable alumni or professors include Nobel laureate Giulio Natta, novelist Carlo Emilio Gadda and architects Renzo Piano and Aldo Rossi.

History
Francesco Brioschi (1824-1897), founder and first rector of the Polytechnic University of Milan.
Città Studi buildings in 1930
List of rectors of the Polytechnic University of Milan[7]
RectorTenure
Francesco Brioschi (1824—1897)1863—1897
Giuseppe Colombo (1836—1921)1897—1921
Cesare Saldini (1848—1922)1921—1922
Luigi Zunini (1856—1938)1922—1926
Gaudenzio Fantoli (1867—1940)1926—1940
Carlo Isnardo Azimonti (1876—1943)1940—1943
Gino Cassinis (1885—1964)1944—1960
Gino Bozza (1899—1967)1960—1967
Bruno Finzi (1899—1974)1967—1969
Francesco Carassa (1922—2006)1969—1972
Luigi Dadda (1923—2012)1972—1984
Arrigo Vallatta (1930—2001)1984—1987
Emilio Massa (1926—1998)1987—1994
Adriano De Maio (b. 1941)1994—2002
Giulio Ballio (b. 1940)2002—2010
Giovanni Azzone (b. 1962)2010—2016
Ferruccio Resta (b. 1968)2017—2022

The Polytechnic University of Milan was founded on 29 November 1863 by Francesco Brioschi, secretary of the Ministry of Education and rector of the University of Pavia. It is the oldest university in Milan. Its original name was Istituto Tecnico Superiore ("Higher Technical Institute") and only Civil and Industrial Engineering were taught. Architecture, the second main line of study at the university, was introduced in 1865 in cooperation with the Brera Academy.[8]

There were only 30 students admitted in the first year. Over the decades, most of students were men: the first female graduate from the university was in 1913.[8]

In 1927 the university moved to piazza Leonardo da Vinci, in the district now known as Città studi (City of Studies), where the university's main facilities are still today. At the time, it was named Regio Politecnico ("Royal Polytechnic"). The word Regio was removed as Italy was proclaimed a republic at the end of World War II. The historical building still in use today was designed and built by engineers and architects all graduated from the university itself.[9]

The present logo, based on a detail of the preparatory sketch of Raphael's School of Athens, was adopted in 1942. Until then, there was no official logo for the institution.[10]

In 1954, the first European centre of electronic computation was opened at the university by Gino Cassinis and Ercole Bottani. In 1963 Giulio Natta received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on crystalline polymers, polypropylene in particular. In 1977, the satellite Sirio, jointly developed by the university and other companies, was launched.

Since the end of the 1980s, the university has begun a process of territorial expansion that would have resulted in the opening of its satellite campuses in Lombardy and Emilia Romagna. A university program in industrial design was started in 1993. In 2000, the university's faculty of design was created with new courses in undergraduate and postgraduate programs of graphic & visual, fashion and interior design along with the already existent industrial design.

Former rector Giovanni Azzone with the Education Minister Stefania Giannini and Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Bovisa campus in 2015

In April 2012, the university announced that, beginning in 2014, all graduate courses would be taught only in English.[11] This decision was then partially revised, after the decision of the Italian Supreme Court, that stated Italian language could not be totally abolished nor downgraded to a marginal role.[12]

Campuses
Entrance to the Design area of the Bovisa campus (Durando)

The University is spread over seven campuses: two main campuses in Milan and another five satellite campuses across Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.[13]

Milan Leonardo

Milan Leonardo is the oldest of the university's campuses still in use. The first buildings on Piazza Leonardo da Vinci were inaugurated in 1927. Over the years, the complex has been expanded and is now generally referred to as "Città Studi", City of Studies, which also refers to some faculties of the University of Milan in the same area. The campus extends over several streets: Leonardo, Bonardi, Clericetti, Mancinelli, Gran Sasso and Colombo.

The Leonardo Campus is the main campus of the university, and comprises the central administration offices, the rectorate, and most of the research departments.

Milan Bovisa

The Milan Bovisa campus is located in the Bovisa district of Milan and became active in 1989; campus Bovisa is today composed of campus Durando, opened in 1994, and campus La Masa, inaugurated in 1997. The first is the seat of the School of Design, while the second is dedicated to Industrial, Mechanical, Aerospace, and Energy Engineering faculties. Bovisa also houses the related research facilities, including the wind tunnel.[14]

Other campuses

The first satellite campuses opened in 1987 in Como and in 1989 in Lecco. During the 1990s other three branches opened in Cremona (1991), Mantua (1994), and Piacenza (1997).[15]

Polimi Leonardo campus main building

Academics

The Polytechnic University of Milan offers several three-year undergraduate courses, two-year graduate courses, one-year master courses and PhD programs in the fields of engineering, architecture and design. The university offers 32 first level (Bachelor) degree programs.

The academic year is divided into two terms, or semesters, the first from mid-September to late January and the second from March to late June. There are 3 exam sessions: those at the end of each semester (in February and July) and one more in September. Students need to achieve 60 "university credits" (CFU or Crediti Formativi Universitari) per year during their Bachelor and master's degrees. Therefore, the 3-years Bachelor requires 180 credits while the 2-years Master 120. The university, like most universities in Italy, is organized to comply with the framework of the Bologna Process.

The university maintains several relations with foreign universities and offers a wide range of international projects for student exchange,[16] The university encourages the enrollment of foreign students by providing several courses in English, German and Spanish.[17] It participates in the ENTREE network for student exchange among Electrical Engineering colleges in Europe and it is a member of Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) network.[18]

The Alta Scuola Politecnica is a joint institution of the Polytechnic University of Milan and Polytechnic University of Turin addressed to young talents who want to develop their interdisciplinary capabilities for leading and promoting innovation, and runs in parallel to the two-year programs of laurea magistrale (graduate courses).

International opportunities

PoliMi offers several opportunities for students that want to integrate their studies with an experience outside Italy.[19]

Some of them are:

PhD students may also take advantage of "Progetto Rocca MIT-PoliMi Program", an international program that allows them to spend a visit period working at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[20]

Rankings
University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[21]201-300 (2019)
QS World[22]137 (2021)
THE World[23]301-350 (2019)
Global – Science and engineering
ARWU Engineering & computer sciences[24]51-75 (2016)
QS Engineering & Tech.[25]20 (2020)
THE Engineering & Tech.[26]100 (2020)
National – Overall
ARWU National[27]4-7 (2020)
QS National[22]1 (2021)

According to the QS World University Rankings the university is ranked as 137th overall in the world, the first Italian university in this ranking.[6] By field of study, it is ranked 6th for Design, 11th for Architecture, and 16th for Engineering and Technology.[6] More specifically, it was also ranked as the 7th best university in the world regarding civil and structural engineering topics.[6]

As for Italian national rankings, the university was ranked the best university for Engineering and among the top big universities in Italy in the CENSIS-Repubblica Italian University rankings for academic year 2011-2012.[28] In 2009 an Italian research ranked it as the best in Italy over indicators such as scientific production, attraction of foreign students, and others.[29]

Engineering

The admission in the undergraduate program in engineering at the university is bound to an admission test, aimed to verify the starting preparation of every student. The main goal of this test is to point out the lacks of the aspiring students and, in case, to assign them an extra course. Only some programs have a strictly limited number of places, even if the Academic Senate fixes an approximate maximum number of students for every program. The admission test for any Engineering school, except Construction Engineering, is divided in four parts, each about one of the following general subject: English Language; Logic, Mathematics and Statistics; Verbal Comprehension; Physics.[30]

Architecture, Design and Construction Engineering

Architecture, Design and Construction Engineering schools have a limited number of students admitted every year and the selection is based on a national test administered by the Ministry of Education. The test is divided into five parts, each about one of the following general subject: Logic and General Knowledge; History; Drawing and Representation; Mathematics and Physics.[30]

Graduate programs

Admission to the graduate programs in the university requires an undergraduate degree and a set of requirements specific for each school, such as the time spent in obtaining the undergraduate degree or the grade point average scored during the undergraduate program.[30]

The university also offers courses of study for the title of Dottore di Ricerca (Ph.D.), MBA courses, and other postgraduate courses. MIP Business School is one of the most prominent management school in Italy and was ranked as 96th best business school in the world by Financial Times in 2011.[31]

Departments

The Polytechnic University of Milan is organized in 12 departments:[32]

Library System and publishing

The library system of the university counts more than 470,000 records distributed over the libraries in the campuses.[33] The system comprises four central libraries along with teaching libraries (department libraries). The titles registered in the library system can be searched through an online public access catalogue (OPAC).[34]

Since autumn 2004, the Polytechnic University of Milan has owned a publishing trademark, Polipress,[35] created mainly to publish researches by the university community. Polipress publishes also the free Politecnico periodical.[36]

Scientific research

The Polytechnic University of Milan participates in European and international networks of scientific research. In year 2004 alone, about 60 large scale, multi-year international research projects have been initiated or participated by the university, just in the context of the European Research framework.[37] As of 2012, the university takes part in over 132 current FP7 research projects. The University raised almost 80% of its research funds from external sources in 2008,[38] from participation in national and international calls for proposals by its researchers and from research contracts stipulated with companies. The Polytechnic University of Milan was the first university in Italy for total number of European research funding awarded under the Horizon 2020 program, with 296 projects and a total of €125.7 million.[39]

The university has a long history of research. Many scientists working in the university have received awards and recognition by the scientific community: among them, the most famous is Giulio Natta, the only Italian Nobel laureate for Chemistry, in 1963, who was the head of the Department of Industrial Chemistry. The University also operated the first research nuclear reactor in Italy, the 50 kW LM54, from 1959 to 1979 in the "Enrico Fermi Nuclear Research Institute"[40] and now operates several important laboratories such as one of the biggest wind tunnels in Europe.[41]

As of 2005, a number of professors at the Polytechnic University of Milan are ACM or IEEE fellows. The university participates in associations and consortia for applied research, has offices to assist technological transfers and continuing education for professionals. The university supports the establishment of research spin-offs (20 spin-offs from 2000 to today), and also of high-tech companies during their start-up phase, with a structure named Acceleratore d'Impresa (Start-up Incubator).[42]

According to the SIR 2013 World Report about the quality of scientific research produced, the university has a normalized impact factor of 1.42, and 16.62% of the articles produced fall within the 10% most cited in the international bibliography.[43]

Governance

The Rector, the Academic Senate and the Board of Directors (Consiglio di Amministrazione) are the governing bodies of the university. Internal Financial Auditors (Collegio dei revisori dei conti) controls the management and finance of the University. There are several other consulting bodies, among them the Students' Council, which is directly elected by students and serves in an advisory role.

The Rector represents the University and coordinates the Academic and Research activity. The tenure of the Rector is six years, and can serve only one term.[44]

Student life
Exterior of the main engineering building, Bovisa campus

Tuition fees at the Polytechnic University of Milan depend on each student's family income. They range between about 150 €/year and 3726 €/year.[45] Students with an outstanding GPA (usually ≥ 27/30 or 29/30) are granted partial or full rebates, in addition to various kinds of scholarships.[46] There are many scholarships for international students as part of the recent university internationalization strategy.

Most Italian universities do not offer accommodation for their students on campus. The university manages a limited number of approximately 2000 beds available for students. Most students from outside the city are either commuters or renters. It is common for both Italian and international students to share flats due to the expensive real-estate market of the city.

All the university campuses are covered by a Wi-Fi network, connected and interoperable with the Eduroam service.[47]

Organizations

The Istituto per il Diritto allo Studio Universitario (ISU) manages additional student facilities such as scholarships, student housing, open libraries, lending of computers, cafeterias and study spaces.[48]

Educafe is a cultural center in the Leonardo campus, where students can meet and events are held regularly.[49]

Among the student organizations:

  • BEST Milano[50] (Board of European Students of Technology) a European non-profit and politically neutral organization, focus on Empowered diversity, done by students for the students and present in more than 30 countries.
  • ESN[51] (Erasmus Student Network) a non-profit organization, gathering exchange student and encouraging exchange project.
  • Euroavia,[52] an organization founded to gather aerospace students of the Polytechnic University of Milan and make easy to contact other aerospace students in Europe.
  • Associazione Ingegneri Ambiente e Territorio[53] (Environment and Territory Engineers Association), a student association composed by students in Environmental Engineering.
  • Teatro delle Biglie[54] ('Theatre of the Marbles'), an independent non-profit organization, born as a theatre association.
  • POuL[55] (Politecnico Open Unix Labs), a student association for students interested in promoting open source and free software.
  • POLI.RADIO [56] is the student web radio.
  • IEEE Student Branch[57] of the Polytechnic University of Milan.
  • BEA - Biomedical Engineering Association,[58] an independent bioengineering students organization to create a network between students and professors, to promote activities and projects
  • Skyward Experimental Rocketry,[59] an association with the goal of design and developing small sounding rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Professional opportunities and statistics

The 2007 graduate survey shows that 80% of graduates of the Polytechnic University of Milan find a job within three months from graduation, and almost 95% within six months.[60] The figures are similar for the bachelor and the masters level graduates. A specialized "Career Service" facilitates contacts between graduates and the industry, it invites companies for presentations and prepares statistics about graduated students. It posts several stage and job offers every day both for students and graduates.[61]

Approximately 55% of undergraduate students complete their studies on time, and approximately 80% of them graduate within an additional year. Similar figures apply to graduate students.[60]

Student politics

Students at the university elect representatives in the Academic Senate, the Board of Directors and in the Boards of Schools.[62] Currently, there are three main political groups in student's elections:

  • La Terna Sinistrorsa ("The left-hand coordinate system"),[63] the left-wing organization. The name is a pun on the Cartesian three-dimensional coordinate system.
  • Lista aperta per il diritto allo studio ("Open list for the right to study"), a movement based on the value of student's quality, generally considered as conservative because of its affinity to the Catholicism and Communion and Liberation, even if it defines itself as not politically oriented;
  • Svoltastudenti - La Students' Union del Politecnico di Milano ("The Students' Union of the Polytechnic University of Milan"),[64] which takes inspiration from the Anglo-Saxon student-groups, is not politically oriented or religiously sided and its main purpose is to provide services to students.

There are also other smaller groups. However, participation in student elections is generally low, as a result of low participation in the extra academical activities. In the last elections it figured out a new wave of interest, with 20% of participation (after the 16% of the previous ones).[65]

Notable alumni
Renzo Piano with the President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano in 2007
Giulio Natta

See also

Notes and references
  1. "I Numeri". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  2. "Politecnico di Milano". Anagrafe Nazionale Studenti. Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  3. "Anagrafe Nazionale Studenti". anagrafe.miur.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  4. "Anagrafe Nazionale Studenti". anagrafe.miur.it (in Italian). Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  5. "politecnico di milano - manuale di corporate identity" (PDF). Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  6. "QS World University Rankings". QS Top Universities. QS. Retrieved January 2020. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  7. "I rettori nella storia". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  8. "Le origini". La storia. Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  9. "Le sedi storiche". La storia. Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 14 March 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  10. "The logo and its history". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  11. Michael Day, "Italian university switches to English" The Independent April 14, 2012
  12. Politecnico, la Consulta: "Sì ai corsi solo in inglese, ma l'italiano non deve sparire" Il Giorno February 24, 2017[IT]
  13. "Poli territoriali". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  14. "Overview of Milano Bovisa campus". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  15. "Towards the present". History. Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  16. "Fai un'esperienza all'estero". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  17. "Politecnico di Milano: English version". Polimi.it. 2013-03-08. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  18. "List of members". time-association.org. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  19. "PoliMi - Mobility projects". Archived from the original on 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-04-21.
  20. "Progetto Rocca webpage".
  21. "ARWU World University Rankings 2019 | Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019 | Top 1000 universities | Shanghai Ranking - 2019". www.shanghairanking.com.
  22. "QS World University Rankings 2021". Top Universities. May 28, 2020.
  23. "World University Rankings". Times Higher Education (THE). September 26, 2018.
  24. "Polytechnic Institute of Milan | Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2020 | Shanghai Ranking - 2020". www.shanghairanking.com.
  25. "Politecnico di Milano". Top Universities. July 16, 2015.
  26. "Polytechnic University of Milan". Times Higher Education (THE). June 27, 2020.
  27. http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2020.html
  28. "LE CLASSIFICHE DI CENSIS E REPUBBLICA 2011-2012 DELLE UNIVERSITÀ ITALIANE". universita.net. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  29. "Università - La nuova classifica di Vision" (PDF). Vision. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  30. "Come si accede". PoliOrientaMi. Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 31 December 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  31. "Global MBA Rankings 2011". Financial Times. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  32. "Departments". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 26 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  33. "Using the Politecnico Libraries" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  34. "OPAC - Online Catalogue". Opac.biblio.polimi.it. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  35. "PoliPress Editore". Polipresseditore.polimi.it. Archived from the original on 2015-02-08. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  36. "Politecnico - Rivista del Politecnico di Milano". Rivistapolitecnico.polimi.it. Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  37. http://www.cri.polimi.it/IRO/index.html Archived March 11, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  38. "Financing Research". Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  39. "La ricerca fa impresa, al PoliMi 300mila euro fondi Ue". Adnkronos. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  40. "Batte il cuore atomico del Politecnico | Milano la Repubblica.it". Milano.repubblica.it. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  41. "Galleria del Vento - CIRIVE - Boundary Layer and Aeronautical Wind Tunnel" (PDF). Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  42. Acceleratore d'impresa - Politecnico incubator
  43. SIR-Scimago Institution Rankings-http://www.scimagoir.com/pdf/SIR%20Global%202013%20O.pdf
  44. "Statuto del Politecnico di Milano - Titolo II" (PDF).
  45. "Politecnico di Milano: Student contribution". www.polimi.it. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  46. "Politecnico di Milano: English version". Polimi.it. 2013-03-08. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  47. "Wi-Fi Polimi". Politecnico di Milano. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  48. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-08-28. Retrieved 2006-08-22.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  49. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-03-25. Retrieved 2013-03-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  50. BEST Milano - official website
  51. ESN - official website
  52. Euroavia Archived 2006-09-02 at the Wayback Machine - official website
  53. Associazione Ingegneri Ambiente e Territorio - official website
  54. Teatro delle Biglie Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine - official website
  55. Poul - official website
  56. Poli.Radio - official website
  57. "IEEE Student Branch". Archived from the original on 2009-04-02. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  58. - official website
  59. "Home". Skyward Experimental Rocketry.
  60. "Indagine occupazionale dei laureati e laureati specialistici del Politecnico di Milano usciti nell'anno 2007" [survey on occupational levels for alumni of the Polytechnic University of Milan graduated in 2007] (PDF). Politecnico di Milano. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  61. www.careerservice.polimi.it - Politecnico di Milano - Career Service
  62. "Carta degli Studenti, VI, 33 p. 4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  63. www.ternasinistrorsa.it - official website
  64. www.svoltastudenti.it - official website
  65. "Results of the last elections are available on-line at". Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2006.

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