Scuola Normale Superiore (SNS)

The Scuola Normale aims to identify and cultivate the talent and qualities of its students, guaranteeing an education aimed at developing individual potential and abilities, in a context of coexistence, dialogue and collaboration. Dozens of young people are selected each year, through competition, on the sole basis of their talent and their potential. They are housed in colleges and they live and work together: with them, every year the Normale chooses its future, and every day nurtures the latter with an investment that has no equal in Italy or Europe.

The Scuola Normale is above all a community that lives, studies and grows together. Professors, researchers and students live together in a unique environment, where teaching and laboratory activities take place and cultural events and experimental initiatives are developed.

The normalisti and normaliste follow a course of study based on a natural mixture of experiences, research, insights and moments of intuition. From the often unexpected merging of diverse experiences, hopes and talents, a unique educational model has been created, which integrates and harmonises the aptitudes of each individual: individual skills progress in collective sharing.

The model of the Normale is based on certain basic principles: the selection of students exclusively on the basis of merit, study courses and accommodation at absolutely no cost, a strong intertwining of teaching and research, community life and a great openness towards international exchanges.

The teaching syllabus is organized into two courses: the undergraduate course (which corresponds to the three-year degree and the master's degree) and the postgraduate course (PhD). The activity of the Scuola Normale is divided into two Faculties, one Department and one Institute: the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, the Faculty of Sciences (based in Pisa), the Department of Political and Social Studies and the “Ciampi” Institute of Advanced Studies (based in Florence).