University of Turin

Overview

The University of Turin (in Italian Università degli Studi di Torino or UniTO) is a public university located in Turin, Italy. It was founded in 1404 by Prince Ludovico of Savoia-Acaja. UniTO boasts of being one of the largest, oldest, and most prestigious universities in Italy. The university’s mission includes carrying out research in traditional fields like law, history, medicine, philosophy, and economics and also in new sectors like IT, food science, social politics, performing arts, and communication sciences. It also aims to generate knowledge outside the classroom in furtherance of social, cultural, and economic development.

UniTO offers over 60 undergraduate programs, more than 70 postgraduate programs, and over 30 PhD programs. They also offer more than 50 first-level and over 30 second-level continuing education programs. Academic programs are organized into six schools and 27 departments that cover various fields of knowledge, except engineering and architecture. It also has 53 specialization schools and one institution for higher education, the Scuola di Studi Superiori Ferdinando Rossi or School of Government.

The establishment of UniTO was approved by Pope Benedict XIII through papal bull in 1404. However, it was Prince Ludovico of Savoia-Acaja, Lord of Piedmont and Prince of Acaia, who was responsible for founding UniTO on his land. He envisioned it to be similar to the main universities in Paris and Bologna. In the 1400s, it was moved to Chieri, then to Savigliano, before returning to Turin in 1436. From 1720–1721, King Victor Amadeus II introduced radical reforms to the university. He set up a Chair in Italian Rhetoric in addition to its Latin counterpart, raising the cultural linguistic standards of the Duchy.

In the centuries that followed, UniTO became the center for new ideas to spread, like the Italian Positivist school of thought in the early 19th century and the Italian anti-fascist movement during World War II.

Notable alumni from UniTO include philosopher and scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, one of the foremost scholars of the northern Renaissance; former Italian presidents Luigi Einaudi and Giuseppe Saragat; and novelist Umberto Eco.

UniTO is regarded as one of the top 10 universities in Italy. It has received rankings within the top 200 to 600 universities in the world, receiving top marks for its offerings in oncology, physics, medicine, and agricultural sciences.

Recently, the Interdepartmental Innovation Center of the University of Turin supported research for an electric, self-driving 3D-printed shuttle known as Ollie. This self-driving vehicle is the first of its kind in Italy and was deployed in the United Nations campus and selected cities around the world.