100 students coming from 35 different countries are enrolled in the 2021/2022 edition of the Foundation Course at the University of Pisa. Since 2016 it has been the first Italian Programme allowing non-EU students to fulfil the minimum learning requirements the Italian Law lays down for university enrollment.
Due to the Covid-19 emergency, the 50 students coming from 20 different countries, who enrolled in last edition of the Foundation Course, had to attend classes remotely. This year, traditional countries of origin (such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Uzbekistan, Brazil, Peru, Russia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Ecuador, Thailand, Rwanda, Belorussia, Azerbaijan, Kirgizstan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Botswana, Ukraine) are alongside with new ones: Armenia, Australia, Bulgaria, Colombia, India, Iraq, Jordan, Nigeria, Serbia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Turkey, United States and Zimbabwe.
On 23 September a “Virtual Welcome Day” remotely opened the new edition of the Foundation Course with the participation of all the students and coordinators of the University of Pisa: Prof Silvia Bruti, director of the University Language Centre (CLI – Centro Linguistico Interdipartimentale), Prof Arturo Marzano, coordinator of the Foundation Course Humanities, Prof Marco Polini, coordinator of the Foundation Course Science, Ms. Paola Cappellini, Head of the International Cooperation Unit, Mr. Adio Terranova and Ms Arianna Biancani as logistic contact persons.
Despite the difficulties and the international uncertainty due to the pandemic emergency, the University of Pisa has reached a great result with 100 enrolled students, twice the number of last year’s students. This edition of the Foundation Course can be attended in three modes: remote, blended or in-presence. Despite the uncertainty due to the Covid-19 emergency, most students are going to attend the whole programme in Pisa, in compliance with all the safety and social distancing parameters, thanks to the classrooms’ availability provided by the University.
The Foundation Course is a one-year programme including two different courses (Humanities e Science) aiming at the personal skills implementation and the learning requirements fulfillment of international students applying for enrollment at Italian Universities. For both courses, an Italian Language course is provided to achieve the B2 level, which is mandatory to access any Degree Programme held in Italian language.