Universita Degli Studi Di Palermo

The University of Palermo, officially founded in 1806, is at present an internationally acknowledged public research organization which covers almost all main fields of study, fostering an interdisciplinary approach. It counts today more than 42.600 enrolled students.
The academic structures include: 16 Departments, 1 School of Medicine, 21 libraries, 3 decentralised premises (Agrigento, Trapani, Caltanissetta), the Museum System, the Language Centre, ITASTRA - Italian school for foreign students, the Guidance Centre.
The University of Palermo relies on a large research infrastructure called ‘ATeN – Advanced Technologies Network Center’, which is regionally acknowledged and is part of the 2021-2027 PNIR – National Plan of Research Infrastructures. ATeN Center is one of the few R&D centres in Europe in the field of Biotechnology applied to human health to offer laboratories that range from the synthesis of materials to in vivo tests. Equipped with over one hundred items of scientific equipment spread over 3,000 square meters, it is a competence centre attracting new project ideas and technology transfer activities for researchers and companies in the Mediterranean basin.
In 2022, the University Centre for Sustainability and Environmental Transition was established, gathering experts in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of UN 2030 Agenda.
The educational offer for the academic year 2022/2023 consists of 146-degree courses (first and second cycle), 40 master courses, 34 specialization schools, 31 PhD programmes.
In 2022, the internationalization strategy envisages 12 international courses at Master and Bachelor levels, 55 double-degree study courses and some 20 integrated study programmes (data from the university website) in addition to more than 420 English-taught courses. In 2023, the University has attracted 138 fresh international students, whereas the total number of enrolled international students equals 373.
In the academic year 2021-2022, more than 500 incoming students from EU and extra-EU countries chose the University as their host in the framework of Erasmus+ individual mobility. The University also encourages outgoing mobility both to EU and extra-EU countries, counting more than 1000 outgoing students in the same academic year. Palermo, in fact, is active in more than 1.000 Erasmus agreements, and 200 Framework Agreements apart Erasmus’s as of 2023.
Since 2019 UNIPA is partner of the FORTHEM Alliance – Fostering Outreach within European Regions, Transnational Higher Education and Mobility, thus being one of the two sole representatives from Southern Italy to take successfully part in the pilot call.
In 2012 the University of Palermo has been acknowledged by the European Commission among the institutions which respect the principles of the European Charter and Code for Researchers and has been awarded the HR Excellence in Research logo, still in force.
Thanks to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – Next Generation Europe, the University of Palermo has obtained significant financial resources for investments (about € 130.000.000) under Mission 4, Component 2, in particular for no. 3 National Centers (Drugs and Gene Therapy, Sustainable Mobility, Biodiversity), 5 Partnerships (energy transition, health, resilience and sustainability, Made in Italy), 1 innovation ecosystem in the field of micro and nanotechnologies, 6 research infrastructures (big data, geosciences, astrophysics, bioeconomy, religious sciences and ICT, environmental, natural and anthropogenic risks), 2 innovation infrastructures, as well as 2 research initiatives for innovative technologies and pathways in the health and welfare fields and to build an innovative health ecosystem financed on the PNC - National plan for complementary investments.