International School for Advanced Studies (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati di Trieste) – SISSA

(www.sissa.it)

SISSA was established in Trieste (Italy) in 1978 as a dedicated and autonomous scientific Institute when the City was living a momentous period of scientific development.
The students are selected yearly by means of an entrance examination held in Trieste; non-EU students can also be admitted through a preselection based on academic qualifications only.
Being the first Italian School to set up post-laurea courses aimed at attaining the PhD degree (Doctor Philosophiae), which is equipollent to the national Dottorato di Ricerca, SISSA pursues three major goals:

1. developing top-level research in mathematics, physics, astrophysics, biology and neuroscience
2. providing qualified post-university expertise to Italian and foreign laureates, to train them to research and academic teaching
3. synthesizing among different fields and disciplines by merging various expertises

The School has the following established sectors:

• Astrophysics
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Condensed Matter Theory
• Elementary Particle Theory
• Functional Analysis and Applications
• Mathematical Physics
• Neurobiology
• Statistical and Biological Physics

Among the activities of the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Advanced Studies (ILAS), noteworthy is the Master in Science  Communication, a 2-year part-time degree established in 1993.
The SISSA Library contains more than 14.000 books, 12.716 bound journals, all SISSA theses (Ph.D. and Magister) and currently subscribes to about 320 scientific journals.