On July 17, the award ceremony for the Foundation Course final certificates was held in the historic Aula Magna of the Palazzo della Sapienza, one of the most evocative and representative venues of our University.
The event opened with institutional greetings from the Vice-Rector for Cooperation and International Relations, Professor Giovanni Federico Gronchi, representing the Rector.
Also attending the ceremony were the Director of the Language Centre, Professor Marianne Hepp; the President of the Humanities curriculum, Professor Carlotta Ferrara Degli Uberti; the President of the Science curriculum, ProfessorMichele Burrello; and Adio Terranova representing the International Cooperation Unit, which is responsible for the administrative management of the program.
The ceremony saw the presentation of the first certificates to a delegation of students, representing a diverse student body that this year included participants from 30 different countries. Some of the students have already left Pisa for the summer break, while for those completing the final requirements of the pathway, two subsequent awarding sessions have been scheduled for late July and late September.
The Foundation Course continues to prove itself as a strategic program for the University of Pisa, primarily designed to help international students fulfill the schooling requirements needed to enroll in first-cycle degree courses in Italy.
The program serves as an essential bridge to the Italian and European academic systems, combining English-taught modules with robust Italian language training up to the B1/B2 level.
Launched in the 2016-17 academic year, the program has grown steadily, hosting nearly 200 students in the 2025-26 academic year.
Projections for the upcoming 2026-27 academic year confirm this positive trend, with over 300 students expected and the expansion of the educational offer through the introduction of the new curriculum in Social Sciences.
