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InItaly, thelaurea is the mainpost-secondaryacademic degree. The name originally referred literally to thelaurel wreath, since ancient times a sign of honor and now worn by Italian students right after their official graduation ceremony and sometimes during the graduation party. A graduate is known as alaureato, literally "crowned withlaurel" and is awarded the title ofdottore, or Doctor.
In the early Middle Ages Italian universities awarded both bachelor's and doctor's degrees. However very few bachelor's degrees from Italian universities are recorded in the later Middle Ages and none after 1500.[1] Students could take the doctoral examination without studying at the university. This was criticised by northern Europeans as taking a degreeper saltum because they had leapt over the regulations requiring years of study at the university.[2]
To earn alaurea (degree) undergraduate students had to complete four to six years of university courses,[3] and finally complete athesis.
Laureati are customarily addressed asdottore (for a man) ordottoressa (for a woman), as are holders of at least alaurea (Legge n. 240/2010 art. 17 comma 2 Riforma Gelmini). This is in contrast with the convention in countries where the title ofdoctor is restricted to holders of aPhD (or in some cases to medical doctors).
Until the introduction of thedottorato di ricerca (PhD-level education) in the mid-1980s, thelaurea constituted the highest academic degree obtainable in Italy and gave the holders access to the highest academic positions. Nobel prize winners such asEnrico Fermi,Emilio Segrè,Giulio Natta,Carlo Rubbia andGiorgio Parisi held it as their highest degree.
The pre-Bolognalaurea degree (formally namedDiploma di laurea orLaurea vecchio ordinamento orLaurea), is now equivalent under Italian law[4] to the new Italian master's degree namedLaurea magistrale.
Spurred by theBologna process, a major reform was instituted in 1999 to align its programmes with the more universal system of undergraduate (bachelor's degree) and postgraduate studies (master's anddoctoral degrees). This allowed for greater mobility of university students via exchange programmes to other countries such as the United States andCommonwealth nations. The oldlaurea was split into undergraduate and postgraduate studies, and their programmes have been reformed.[5]
The Laurea (180ECTS credits), afirst cycle degree that is equivalent to abachelor's degree, includes bachelor-level courses, simpler than those of the oldlaurea, and its normative time to completion is three years (note that In Italyscuola secondaria superiore orLyceum, high school, takes five years, so it ends at 19 years of age). To earn alaurea, the student must complete a thesis, but a less demanding one than required for the oldlaurea (typically, a non-research thesis). A graduate is granted by law the title ofdottore (shortened dr. or dott.), or Doctor.
TheLaurea magistrale (formerly known as Laurea Specialistica, 2002–2006) is asecond cycle degree equivalent to amaster's degree (120ECTS credits) which can be earned in a two-year programme after the laurea and requires an extensive thesis (usually, 150–250 pages).
In some fields (particularly Medicine, Law, Engineering and Architecture) theLaurea magistrale a ciclo unico is awarded. This is a five or six yearsecond cycle (master's) degree (300 or 360ECTS), which does not require a previousfirst cycle degree for the admission (like an Integrated master's degree in the UK).[6]
TheLaurea magistrale should not be confused with the ItalianMaster, which is not a master's degree, but a one-year diploma (60 ECTS) which guarantees a more practical education but does not give access to further levels of studies (it can be considered similar to apostgraduate certificate or apostgraduate diploma). AI level Master (Master di I livello) is adiploma which can be obtained after a Laurea; aII level Master (Master di II livello) can be gained after a Laurea magistrale and is useful for pursuing further studies (like a PhD) or for professional achievements.
A graduate is granted by law the title ofdottore magistrale (shortened as dr. mag. or dott. mag.), or Magistral Doctor. However, the title is not commonly used, and graduates are simply addressed as "doctor".
TheDottorato di ricerca (equivalent to aDoctor of Philosophy) is athird cycle degree which can be undertaken only after achieving a Laurea magistrale. It was introduced in the mid-1980s[7] and consists of three/four years of PhD-level courses and experimental work, including the final defense of an innovative thesis.
Other than the PhD, another third-cycle title is theDiploma di Specializzazione, gained after a two-year (Law,Diploma di Specializzazione in Professioni legali) or a three-to-six year (Medicine, depending on the particular field) course of study and research.[8] To enrol for aDiploma di Specializzazione, a Laurea magistrale (in Law or Medicine, respectively) is required. TheDiploma di Specializzazione in Professioni legali is one of the ways to access the competition for appointment as a judge,[9] whereas theSpecializzazione in a specific medical field is required to be recognized as a Specialist Medical Doctor.[10]
A graduate is granted by law the title ofdottore di ricerca (shortened as dr. ric., dott. ric. or PhD), or Research Doctor. However, the title is not commonly used, and graduates are simply addressed as "doctor" or append "PhD" to their name following theEnglish system of post-nominals.