IMT School for Advanced StudiesLucca is a public research institution and a selective graduate school located in Lucca, Italy and part of the Italian superior graduate school system. IMT School was founded in 2005 under the name IMT Institute for Advanced Studies. The acronym IMT stands for "Institutions, Markets, Technologies." Its main campus is located in the San Francesco Complex within the historic city walls of Lucca. As an institute for advanced studies, IMT School hosts researchers who carry out methodological research, held to high scientific standards, leading to the development of new knowledge. IMT School's specially designed campus fosters the continual presence of visiting scholars that contribute to creating a stimulating and intellectually lively environment. At the same time, IMT School is also an institute of technology where numerous research projects are undertaken to apply cutting-edge scientific results to solve problems of economic, industrial, and societal interest. IMT School's institutional role is also that of a graduate school where knowledge is transmitted to PhD students. Although the school is relatively young, it has already attracted significant attention from national and international media. Its international advisory board includes a number of prominent scientists, including H. Eugene Stanley, Sanjoy K. Mitter and Gerard Roland.The school consistently performs well in international and Italian research rankings. For several years, it has been ranked as a top school in economics and statistics in Italy and one of the top research institutions in Europe and the world, established post-1980.
History
The desire of the city of Lucca to have its own university dates back to 1369, when Emperor Charles IV gave an official dispensation to the Republic of Lucca to establish a "Studium Generale" in the city. In 1387 this concession was countersigned and confirmed by Pope Urban VI, yet despite these attempts, the university never succeeded and eventually failed. A second attempt to establish a University of Lucca was made in 1785 and was slightly more successful offering courses in Law, Medicine, Mathematics, Engineering and Philosophy. This university was reformed during the Duchy of Maria Luisa of Spain, where it became the "Real Liceo" however the history of the Real Liceo was interrupted in 1847, following the incorporation of the Duchy of Lucca into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1847, disappearing definitively in 1867 shortly before the completion of the Risorgimento. IMT thus represents the third attempt to found a university in Lucca and was established by ministerial decree in November 2005 as an Institute for Advanced Studies.
Academics
The multidisciplinary PhD program of IMT School, integrates scientific competences of economics, engineering, computer science, physics, applied mathematics, statistics, history and sciences of cultural heritage. It offers a unique and characteristic patrimony of competences within the broad framework of the analysis and management of a plurality of systems. Originally envisaged as three-year programmes, since 2019 the programmes are articulated in curricula of four years. The 8 curricula currently offered are field-specific, although in many instances they share a common scientific background. Candidates can apply for one of the following curricula:
IMT School concentrates its activities within a limited number of key areas. Moreover, the School recruits its faculty on a competitive international scale, evaluating, among other elements, their capacity to publish work in top level international peer-reviewed and high-impact journals. The pillars of the School's research model are its thematic research units, highly specialized in a specific field, that often cooperate in interdisciplinary projects:
In 2013, the school's division of economics came out first in the ranking of Italian economics departments. In 2015, IMT School was ranked as one of the top young research institutions in Europe by the EU's ranking U-Multirank. In 2016, IMT School once again confirmed its standing in the EU rankings, placing first among all the research universities in Italy, and third in Europe among research institutions established post-1980. In 2016, the IMT School topped ANVUR Italian university rankings in the area of economics and statistics. In 2017 edition of U-Multirank, the official ranking of the European Commission, IMT School was ranked 8th among the world research institutions established post-1980.
Selectivity
In 2016, the School received a record of 3747 applications for 34 places, a significant increase compared to 1880 applications in 2015. The high number of applications is due to the growing prestige of the School and the simplicity of its application procedure. In 2017/2018, the School received 2286 applications for 36 PhD positions, bringing its admissions rate up to 1.5%.
