The University of Padua was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe, known particularly for the rigor of itsAristotelian logic and science.[4] Together with theUniversity of Bologna, Padua had a central role in theItalian Renaissance, housing and educating a number of Italian Renaissance mathematicians, amongst themNicolaus Copernicus.
As of 2021[update], it is made up of 32 departments and eight schools.[5] Padua is part a network of historical research universities known as theCoimbra Group.[6] In 2021, the university had approximately 72,000 students including undergraduates, postgraduates, and doctoral students.[7]
The university is conventionally said to have been founded in 1222 when a large group of students and professors left theUniversity of Bologna in search of moreacademic freedom ('Libertas scholastica'), although it is certain that schools of law and medicine with students from various nations existed near Padua for a few years before 1222, more precisely inVicenza. In reality, the first place where this group of students and professors from Bologna settled was at theUniversity of Vicenza, where they were welcomed. Due to various vicissitudes, the headquarters was permanently moved to Padua. The first subjects to be taught werelaw andtheology. The curriculum expanded rapidly, and by 1399 the institution had divided in two: aUniversitas Iuristarum forcivil law andCanon law, and aUniversitas Artistarum which taughtastronomy,dialectic,philosophy,grammar,medicine, andrhetoric. There was also a Universitas Theologorum, established in 1373 by Urban V.
The student body was divided into groups known as "nations" which reflected their places of origin. The nations themselves fell into two groups:
thecismontanes for the Italian students
theultramontanes for those who came from beyond theAlps
From the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, the university was renowned for its research, particularly in the areas of medicine, astronomy, philosophy and law. At the time it was the most renowned school of medicine internationally.[8] During this time, the university adopted theLatinmotto:Universa universis patavina libertas (Paduan Freedom is Universal for Everyone). Nevertheless, the university had a turbulent history, and there was no teaching in 1237–1261, 1509–1517, 1848–1850.
TheBotanical Garden of Padova, established by the university in 1545, is one of the oldest gardens of its kind in the world. Its alleged title of oldest academic garden is in controversy because the Medici created one inPisa in 1544. In addition to the garden, best visited in the spring and summer, the university also manages nine museums, including aHistory of physics museum.
The university houses the oldest surviving permanentanatomical theatre in Europe, dating from 1595
The university began teaching medicine around 1250. It played a leading role in the identification and treatment of diseases and ailments, specializing inautopsies and the inner workings of the body.[9]
Since 1595, Padua's famousanatomical theatre drew artists and scientists studying the human body during publicdissections. It is the oldest surviving permanent anatomical theatre in Europe. AnatomistAndreas Vesalius held the chair of Surgery and Anatomy (explicator chirurgiae) and in 1543 published his anatomical discoveries inDe Humani Corporis Fabrica. The book triggered great public interest in dissections and caused many other European cities to establish anatomical theatres.
On 25 June 1678,Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, aVenetian noblewoman and mathematician, became the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree.
The university became one of the universities of theKingdom of Italy in 1873, and ever since has been one of the most prestigious in the country for its contributions to scientific and scholarly research: in the field of mathematics alone, its professors have included such figures asGregorio Ricci Curbastro,Giuseppe Veronese,Francesco Severi andTullio Levi Civita.
Palazzo Bo is the historical seat of University of Padua since 1493Diploma of Girolamo Martinengo, 1582
The last years of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century saw a reversal of the centralisation process that had taken place in the sixteenth: scientific institutes were set up in what became veritable campuses; a new building to house the Arts and Philosophy faculty was built in another part of the city centre (Palazzo del Liviano, designed byGiò Ponti); theAstro-Physics Observatory was built on theAsiago uplands; and the oldPalazzo del Bo was fully restored (1938–1945). The vicissitudes of theFascist period—political interference, the Race Laws, etc.—had a detrimental effect upon the development of the university, as did the devastation caused by theSecond World War and—just a few decades later—the effect of the student protests of 1968–1969 (which the university was left to face without adequate help and support from central government). However, the Gymnasium Omnium Disciplinarum continued its work uninterrupted, and overall the second half of the twentieth century saw a sharp upturn in development—primarily due an interchange of ideas with international institutions of the highest standing (particularly in the fields of science and technology).
In recent years, the university has been able to meet the problems posed by overcrowded facilities by re-deploying over the Veneto as a whole. In 1990, the Institute ofManagement Engineering was set up inVicenza, after which the summer courses atBrixen (Bressanone) began once more, and in 1995 the Agripolis centre atLegnaro (for Agricultural Science and Veterinary Medicine) opened. Other sites of re-deployment are atRovigo,Treviso,Feltre,Castelfranco Veneto,Conegliano,Chioggia and Asiago.
Recent changes in state legislation have also opened the way to greater autonomy for Italian universities, and in 1995 Padua adopted a new Statute that gave it greater independence.
As the publications of innumerable conferences and congresses show, the modern-day University of Padua plays an important role in scholarly and scientific research at both a European and world level. True to its origins, this is the direction in which the university intends to move in the future, establishing closer links of cooperation and exchange with all the world's major research universities.
Since 2022, the University of Padua has been experiencing difficulties with the payments of scholarships for the "right to study", thus leaving 1955 students (207 of that international students) without any kind of accommodation and receiving stipends.
The university foresaw a budget of €831 million for the 2023 fiscal year. Of this, €545 million were contributions paid by theMinistry of Education, University and Research ofItaly, theEuropean Union, local administrations likeregions andprovinces, and other entities. The remaining €232 million were classified as own revenues, of which €106 million came from tuition fees and €125 million from research-related income.[10]
The amount of tuition students pay depends on their major, the financial situation of their household and if they take more time to graduate compared to the established length of their program. Tuition is also significantly lowered for non-EU citizens of certain developing countries. There are also scholarships and fee-waivers based on merit on other factors. Generally, most students who are graduating in time and are not from low income households will pay around €2,700/year for the 2023/24 academic year.[11]
The university is constantly ranked among the best Italian universities.
For 2023, inU.S. News & World Report'sWorld Best Global Universities Rankings, the University of Padua is ranked as the 1st place institution in Italy, taking 43rd place in Europe and the world's 115th.[17]ARWU ranks the university in the Italian top 4, tied for 2nd place with theUniversity of Milan and theUniversity of Pisa under theSapienza University of Rome.ARWU ranks the university in the 151st-200th range globally for 2023.[18]
Coats of arms of professors and students in the Aula Magna,Palazzo Bo. Photo byPaolo Monti, 1966Certificate of medicine of the University of Padua, awarded in 1642 to the Flemish Jan Damman.[23]
Ludovico Trevisan (1401–1465), Cardinal, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop of Florence, Patriarch of Aquileia, Captain General of the Church, and physician.
Theophilos Corydalleus (1563–1546) Greek Neo-Aristotelian philosopher, started Korydalism.
István Szamosközy (1565–1612), humanist and historian from Transylvania, the leading figure of Hungarian historiography at the beginning of the 17th century
SaintFrancis de Sales (1567–1622), double doctorate "in utroque jure", that is, in canon and civil law (1591)
Roger Manners (1576–1612), 5th Earl of Rutland and poet and abettor of Essex's Rebellion
Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684), mathematics lecturer, and the first woman to receive a PhD degree[27]
Antonio Vallisneri (1661–1730) held chairs of practical medicine, and theoretical medicine, between 1700 and 1730
Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1681–1771) held chairs of theoretical medicine, and anatomy, between 1711 and 1771
Tullio Levi-Civita (1873–1941) held the chair of Rational Mechanics, famous for his work on the absolute differential calculus (tensor calculus) and many other important contributions in the area of Pure and Applied Mathematics
^Jerome J. Bylebyl, "The School of Padua: humanistic medicine in the 16th century," in Charles Webster, ed.,Health, Medicine and Mortality in the Sixteenth Century (1979) ch10
^Padova, Università di (2013-06-19)."Bilanci".Università degli studi di Padova (in Italian). Retrieved2023-08-09.
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