BYLAWS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS NORMALE, SANT’ANNA AND IUSS CONSORTIUM CAME INTO FORCE ON FEBRUARY 25, 2018. RECTORS ANNOUNCE NEW JOINT PROJECTS
The Consortium of Higher Education Institutions Normale, Sant’Anna (Pisa) and IUSS (Pavia) has been established to foster access and research excellence in higher education. The new bylaws came into force on February 25 through the publication in the Official Gazette. The Consortium shall be governed by a Board of Directors. Subject to the provisions of bylaws articles 19, 23, 24 and 33, the Consortium shall have a Joint Board of Auditors and a Joint Committee for Higher Education Evaluation.
Having committed to research and the development of research excellence, the new Consortium will use the 2018 Budget to reiterate its commitment to strategic partnerships that set out proposals for a global knowledge economy. To help tackle social challenges and drive economic growth, the Consortium, as a vital center of competence, will hire 14 new researchers (5 at Normale, 6 at Sant’Anna and 3 at Iuss). A new joint department for Climatology (a research field which combines basic science with mathematics, physics, and computer science) will prepare students for a changing workplace that requires many areas of expertise: agricultural technology, economics, telecommunications, and robotics.
The Consortium will also offer joint master programs and a PhD course in ‘Transnational Governance’ starting in the academic year 2018/2019. The doctoral program aims to assess the multilayered global governance and participatory practices for the conduct of effective governance, and forms of rulemaking power.
“Our cross-disciplinary expertise contributes to the formation of a new multidisciplinary culture and curricula – said Vincenzo Barone, Director of Normale. A multidisciplinary approach involves partnerships that establish academic programs in which researchers pursue solutions to complex problems, such as global warming pollution and the climate change, that require cross-disciplinary expertise. We will work together across a number of disciplines, such as chemistry, mathematics, physics, and biology. Through the establishment of a consortium that would support PhD students working on innovation issues, we are seeking new ways to define areas of research and enhance our ability to tackle air pollution and develop solutions to reduce it”.
The rector of Sant’Anna School, Pierdomenico Perata, outlined the development plans “Our Consortium will go beyond the basic framework of universities aiming to create new research areas. It will contribute to the protection of the environment, for which demand is increasing on a global scale, and develop tools to make sure that we can address new problems and the potential effects of the different chemicals we are exposed to. Tackling air pollution takes a combination of approaches, including regulation and land use planning. A new department for climate change will play a key role in developing technological solutions”.
“The Consortium of Higher Education Institutions Normale, Sant’Anna and Iuss– said Michele Di Francesco, rector of Iuss– will produce a growing number of professors and graduate students who can work together to define common strategic goals. The agenda for the innovation of our higher education systems has the priority to strengthen the links between education and research. We share partnership ideas and strategies to highlight the increasing role our consortium can play to modernize curricula and improve the skills of future graduates; Iuss can help to increase the quality of research by creating the Neuro-X Center project for cognitive neuroscience. Joint initiatives will include the provision of academic support for activities on seismic risk analysis, risk management and integrated disaster risk management”.
The conference “Tre Scuole un solo futuro” on February 25, has focused on the Consortium’s commitment to joint research in the longer term. Minister of Education, University and Research Valeria Fedeli discussed the considerable investment by the Ministry of Education in research and academic positions which have increased the volume and quality of research undertaken in the Centers of Excellence at Normale, Sant’Anna and Iuss.
