Brief Statement The University of Milan is a public teaching and research university, the only Italian among the 21 prestigious members of LERU (League of European Research Universities), and an internationally highly ranked university. With a teaching staff of about 2,000 tenured professors and with about 60,000 students the University of Milan is the largest university in Lombardy, one of the most dynamic and internationally-oriented EU regions and leader in the Italian economy. The University of Milan’s Faculties offer a number of study programmes, which can be grouped into three macro-disciplinary areas: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law; Medicine and Healthcare; and Natural Sciences. The broad range of subjects taught, which currently consists of 64 Undergraduate programs, 56 Masters programs, 9 Single-cycle programs, 33 Doctoral programs, and several Advanced Vocational programs, attracts students from Italy and the whole world. The University’s research and teaching activities have developed over the years and have received important international recognitions. The University’s main campus is located in a 15th century monumental complex in the heart of Milan, a city with countless artistic points of interest in the north of Italy, known throughout the world for fashion, design, publishing, theatre, music, sports, food and its international trade fairs. Mission Statement The University of Milan is a research-intensive university. The key objectives of its strategy are the development of highly-skilled human capital and of high-quality scientific research. Its inclusion in the League of European Research Universities (LERU) as the only Italian institution, as well as its top position among Italian universities in all the international rankings based on scientific productivity, are indicators of success in pursuing such strategy. At the same time, the University of Milan acknowledges the plurality of missions that universities are currently expected to perform vis-à-vis the challenges of globalization and of knowledge-based economies. For this reason, it pursues all the functions deemed necessary to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA): production of new knowledge through cutting-edge scientific research, formation of human capital with varying degrees of specialization, provision of life-long learning, knowledge exchange, contribution to local development, international exchange of knowledge and human capital. In performing each of these functions, the University of Milan aims at the highest level of quality that can be achieved given the available resources. Its strategic plan incorporates such objectives. Internal as well as external evaluation is then used to assess the degree to which such objectives, and especially high quality standards in each of the functions assigned to the University structures, have been achieved. Rector: Prof. Gianluca VAGO rettore@unimi.it Vice-rector: Prof. Maria Daniela CANDIA daniela.candia@unimi.it Pro-rector for Research: Prof. Chiara TONELLI chiara.tonelli@unimi.it Pro-rector for Teaching: Prof. Giuseppe DE LUCA giuseppe.deluca@unimi.it Head of Research Division: Angelo CASERTANO angelo.casertano@unimi.it Responsible International Relations Office: Egill BOCCANERA egill.boccanera@unimi.it