Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
University in Pisa, Italy
The Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies) is a public university institution in Pisa, Italy, focused on research and selective training. Its teaching is organised in four areas: first-level training for students of its first- and second-level honours courses, Seasonal Schools, advanced training (MSc degrees, PhD programmes and university master's) and higher education courses.
Admission to the honours courses is by public competition; the areas are economics and management, law, political sciences, data science, industrial and information engineering, agricultural sciences and plant biotechnology, and medical sciences, and students live together on a collegial model. MSc degrees, run with the University of Pisa and other universities, are taught mostly in English for international applicants (for example Bionics Engineering or International Security Studies). PhD programmes last three or four years and all positions are fully funded, with no tuition fees.
According to the school, it ranked 13th worldwide and 1st in Italy in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2024. It is part of EELISA, a network of nine European universities, and its International Relations Office helps foreign students with visas, residence permits, tax codes and health service registration.
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Programmes
The honours courses (first- and second-level courses) cover these areas:
- Economics and Management
- Law
- Political Sciences
- Data Science
- Industrial and Information Engineering
- Agricultural Sciences and Plant Biotechnology
- Medical Sciences
Admission is by public competition; the call for first-level courses is published each year by March. Seasonal Schools offer intensive courses for undergraduate and graduate students from all over the world.
Graduate programmes
- MSc degrees, mostly taught in English and run with partner universities: Bionics Engineering; Innovation Management; Economics; Molecular Biotechnology (with the University of Pisa); International Security Studies (with the University of Trento); Nursing and Midwifery Sciences
- PhD programmes (three or four years, fully funded): BioRobotics; Agrobiodiversity; Agrobiosciences; Health Science, Technology and Management; Economics; Law; Management; Human Rights, Global Politics and International Studies; Emerging Digital Technologies; Translational Medicine; and national PhDs in Sustainable Development and Climate Change, Artificial Intelligence and Space Science and Technology
- First- and second-level university master's (Master universitari)
Scholarships and financial aid
All PhD positions at Sant'Anna are fully funded: the doctoral scholarship is renewed each year after a successful assessment, and there are no tuition fees for PhD enrolment. There are additional PhD positions for students from Palestine and ISSNAF scholarships for enrolled PhD students. For 2026-27, the school also offers 14 en-suite single rooms for rent to first-year PhD students at the Santa Croce in Fossabanda facility.