Free University of Bozen – Bolzano Trilingual and Intercultural
2
Content 5 A Multifaceted Approach to Study 7 In the Heart of the City 8 Study Programmes 11 Made to Measure 12 The Glocal University: Locally Rooted and Internationally Networked 15 Quality Free Time
Imprint Editorial Office: Press and Event Management Free University of Bozen – Bolzano Printed: August 2014
A Multifaceted Approach to Study Multilingualism and interculturalism characterise the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano. This young university is located at the crossroads between the Italian and German cultural and economic worlds. The University’s premises are in three different cities: Bozen – Bolzano (where economics, computer science, agricultural science, engineering and design are studied), Brixen – Bressanone (education and communication science) and Bruneck – Brunico (tourism, sport and event management).
The five faculties, reinforced by their international academic staff, deal with the main fields of knowledge in economics, the natural sciences, technology, computer science, aesthetics, social and pedagogical sciences. The teaching offered and the research criteria applied are of the highest quality and are strongly linked to international networks of excellence. The aim of unibz is to offer knowledge transmission that is firmly rooted in theoretical principles, but continually applied to practical issues. Studying in small groups allows our students to develop direct relationships with their lecturers. As well as providing solid, high quality training for the managers of the future, the unibz aims to contribute to the development of a forward-looking society, capable of critical thinking and reflection. The University’s academic community is approachable, open to opportunities to learn, and acts as a role model for future generations. The ’Free University’ is named as such also because this refers to one of its fundamental principles: to encourage great respect for freedom both in teaching and research. The University, with its learner-centred approach to teaching, treats every student as an individual; the opportunities to communicate via electronic means are also made use of to the full in order to achieve this goal.
4
The Free University of Bozen – Bolzano’s student population now exceeds 3200, coming from 63 countries. They benefit from stateof-the-art infrastructure and facilities and study in the three teaching languages: English, Italian and German. This very special language model is the feature that sets unibz apart from other universities and makes it one of a kind. It expects ’added value’ from its students and staff, in other words, a greater interest in and passion for language and interculturalism. Multilingualism is not seen as an obstacle but as a means of increasing awareness and achieving greater success in the twenty-first century, arguably the most complex and diversified ever. Attention to language issues is the common thread that unites all the faculties and subjects at the University. In Bozen – Bolzano, Brixen – Bressanone and Bruneck – Brunico, German and Italian are used on a daily basis at the local level; English is being used more and more in local society and is the key to the global scientific community. Internationalism implies that there are study programmes that serve the local community, but are international in focus, and academic staff who come from many different countries. Further, the University encourages its students to spend time studying abroad at one of its partner universities. These periods abroad have a particular value and mostly count as a part of the study programmes themselves. In order to facilitate this, the University has built up an international network of more than 100 high quality partner higher education establishments from many different countries (including the USA, Australia, Argentina, Canada, Taiwan, South Africa and many European countries).
5
In the Heart of the City Free University of Bozen – Bolzano is not a university for the masses, but is more modestly sized, so right from its beginnings its campuses have always been located right in the heart of the old city centres of Bozen – Bolzano, Brixen – Bressanone and Bruneck – Brunico. As a result, everything is just around the corner: student halls of residence are mainly just a few minutes’ walk or bike ride away and university life blends effortlessly into local events. The Italian and German cultures also mix naturally on the three campuses of the University.
The Bozen – Bolzano University Campus is situated in the central piazza Università, a couple of hundred metres from the famous medieval Arcades. The canteen, UniBar and the well-stocked, airy Library act as meeting points not only for the University community but also for local people. The Language Centre, meanwhile, offers students all they need to learn languages. Bozen – Bolzano, with its 100,000 inhabitants, is the capital of South Tyrol, and it is there that you can find the Faculty of Economics and Management, the Faculty of Computer Science, Design and Art and Science and Technology. Teaching and research take place in well-equipped, spacious lecture and seminar rooms, modern laboratories and brand-new workshops and ateliers. The University has close links with other institutions in the city that work in the research and innovation fields: Eurac (European Academy), the TIS Innovation Park, the Fraunhofer Institut Italia and the Technology Park, which is currently in the planning stage. The city’s industrial area, located in the south of Bozen – Bolzano, is the location for many companies that work at a national and international level.
6
unibz Brixen – Bressanone
The city of Bozen – Bolzano is the perfect place for sports fans: trekking, climbing, mountain biking, swimming, windsurfing, skiing, snowboarding… all this just around the corner, either in the city itself or in the immediate surroundings. In Brixen – Bressanone, the Episcopal see, the Faculty of Education is also to be found right in the city centre, housed in a brand-new building which has won various architectural awards. The city still has solid philosophical-theological traditions, which have formed its basis for centuries and there is still the Theological-Academic School, which was established some 400 years ago, in 1607. Financial and economic life is centred in the industrial area to the south of the city, in the industrial area in Vahrn – Varna and in the lively service sector. If students are looking for a break from their studies, Mount Plose is easy to reach, where there is a variety of ski slopes and a plethora of trekking opportunities, as well as the chance to take a dip in the lake at Vahrn – Varna. Bruneck – Brunico, in the north-east of South Tyrol, is where the Bachelor in Tourism, Sport and Event Management – part of the Faculty of Economics and Management – is located. The modern University Campus is right on the main street of the town. Modern-day Bruneck – Brunico’s economic life is based on the industrial and service sectors and the surrounding area, due mainly to the vast skiing area of Kronplatz – Plan de Corones, is an extremely popular all-year-round tourist destination. Furthermore, in Kronplatz – Plan de Corones the MMM CORONES, the sixth museum conceived by the alpinist Reinhold Messner, is being built.
7
Study Programmes With its 5 faculties, 26 undergraduate degree courses (bachelor degrees), postgraduate programmes (masters) and PhDs, the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano has undoubtedly taken up the traditions and innovations that characterise higher education in Europe. Further training courses complete the academic offer.
Since its institution in 1997, the University has been organised following the Bologna Process’s guidelines for higher education, in other words, three-year undergraduate programmes, two-year master programmes and three-year PhDs. Further executive master courses and vocational training courses complement and complete the course offer. 16% of students come from abroad, with 63 different nationalities. In the Faculty of Computer Science this quota reaches almost 52%. A good 28% of academic staff have been recruited from abroad and besides these permanent members of the academic body, there are also many contract and visiting professors who come from famous European universities. 79% of graduates find a graduate-level position within a year of being awarded their degree (the national average is 52.7%). While in the rest of Italy only 43.8% of students graduate after three years for an undergraduate degree (or two years for a master), this percentage rises to 73.8% for students from unibz. (Source: AlmaLaurea 2014) It is partly on the basis of these data that in the CENSIS ranking “Grande Guida Università 2014-2015”, published by the leading Italian newspaper La Repubblica, the university has been ranked on the first place among the small size non-state-run universities in Italy.
8
Study Programmes currently: Faculty
Study Programmes
Economics and Management
Bachelor
– Economics and Management – Tourism, Sport and Event Management – Economics and Social Sciences
1st Level Master
– Executive Master in Hospitality Management
Master
– Economics and Management of the Public Sector – Entrepreneurship and Innovation
PhD
– Management and Economics on Organizational and Institutional Outliers
Bachelor
– Computer Science and Engineering
Master
– Computer Science – European Master in Computational Logic
PhD
– Computer Science
Bachelor
– Social Work – Social Education – Communication Sciences and Culture
Master
– Primary Education (One Cycle Master Programme) – Innovation and Research for Social Work and Social Education
PhD
– General Pedagogy, Social Pedagogy and General Education
Design and Art
Bachelor
– Design and Art – Major in Design
Science and Technology
Bachelor
– Agricultural Science and Technology – Industrial and Mechanical Engineering
Master
– Energy Engineering – Horticultural Science (international Master) – Environmental Management of Mountain Areas
2nd Level Master
– Building Energy Performance. Design, Optimization and Service – CasaClima
PhD
– Management of Mountain Environment – Sustainable Energy and Technologies
Computer Science
Education
9
Made to Measure A learner-centred approach to teaching is one of the distinguishing features of the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano. This is a mission that presents itself as a course offer that is based on the different requirements of the individual student, at whatever stage of his/her life, age or needs in his/her educational career.
Most of the courses that make up the three levels of university education do not require compulsory attendance: this means that people who work, or other people who for one reason or another cannot dedicate themselves to full-time study, will find it easier to attend university courses. Furthermore, the unibz has always offered in-service courses for qualified teachers, which allows them to continue their professional development while working. Following guidelines adopted by the Italian university system, the unibz offers first and second level master courses. Italian masters are postgraduate vocational courses that focus on specific skills and knowledge required in specialised areas. This is the case of the 1st level Executive Master in Hospitality Management offered for the first time in 2014 by the Faculty of Economics and Management in cooperation with the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (USA) and the Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group (FMTG). It is a specialized postgraduate programme aimed at tourism sector professionals and prospective professionals in management positions.
10
The 2nd level CasaClima master organised by the Faculty of Science and Technology trains architects and engineers to plan constructions following extremely stringent standards linked to highest energy and quality efficiency. This master is organised in joint cooperation by the Faculty of Science and Technology and ClimateHouse Agency of the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol. Since 2011 unibz is offering the Studium Generale, which is a programme of interdisciplinary subjects offered to anyone who wishes to improve their general knowledge and culture. The programme contains a series of lectures in different subject areas: ethics, regional history, natural sciences, law, computer science and languages. Participants can just attend single subjects if they prefer and the course is open to anyone, regardless of their academic background. However, in order to be able to acquire credit points that could be used at academic level elsewhere (e.g. to apply for other university courses), participants need to have secondary school qualifications. In order to familiarise children with lifelong learning, unibz also offers the JuniorUni with classes aimed at children between the ages of 6 and 13. These classes seek to motivate the younger generations to become passionate about learning and knowledge. The Senior Student Card initiative addresses a different target group of people normally far-removed from the university system because of their age: people aged 60+ can participate in University lectures and make use of some of the University services.
11
The Glocal University: Locally Rooted and Internationally Networked The work of a university predominantly involves research and the transmission of knowledge based on that research. Without research, a university cannot really exist, but without an academic network supporting research, it is not possible either. The Free University of Bozen – Bolzano, although a young university, is already firmly rooted in international research networks, which allows the academic staff the opportunities to develop their research areas towards international perspectives. The Free University of Bozen – Bolzano is a driving force in the transmission of knowledge with its partner universities, research centres and companies that it works with. To this purpose, in 2013, by means of the framework agreement among the Universities of Bozen – Bolzano, Trento and Innsbruck, the first steps towards a structured and sustainable cooperation among universities were taken to build a “Euregio University”. This cooperation should foster both effort sharing and knowhow transfer to enhance competitiveness in the collection of third party funds for research and didactics. The University engages in research that has great international significance as well as in research with immediate relevance for the local community. Research at unibz is undertaken by 104 permanent professors and researchers. The University is currently involved in 202 research projects, 8 of which being funded by the European Union (euro 2,044,523); 4 projects are funded by the Italian state (euro 393,568) and 20 by the Autonomous Province of South Tyrol (euro 2,834,551). The Free University of Bozen – Bolzano is also the driving force behind the province’s Technology Park, which is currently in the last planning stages. This project, which is being managed by the university, aims to prepare the way for long-term, sustainable innovation.
12
The five faculties are involved in the following research areas: Faculty of Economics and Management – Entrepreneurship and Innovation – Tourism, Marketing and Regional Development – Financial Markets and Regulation – Law, Economics and Institutions – Quantitative Methods and Economic Modelling Research Centres: – TOMTE, Competence Centre in Tourism Management and Tourism Economics – CRELE, Centre of Research in Law and Economics
Faculty of Education – Educational and Developmental Processes and Projects in Different Contexts and Stages of Life – Languages and Linguistics for a Multicultural, Multilingual Society – Social Dynamics, Cohesion, Citizenship and Solidarity Systems Research Centres: – Languages – Regional History – Research and Documentation of South Tyrol‘s Educational History – Social Innovation and Quality Control in Social Professions
Faculty of Design and Art – Visual Culture and its Impact on Society – Theories and Forms of Expression in Design, Art and Visual Culture – Structural, Digital, Material: Three-dimensional Design and its Processes, Phenomena and Results
Faculty of Science and Technology – Agricultural Production and Food Technologies – Management and Technologies for Mountain Environments – Engineering Methods and Technologies for Products and Processes Innovation – Energy Resources and Energy Efficiency
Faculty of Computer Science – Analysis, Development and Commercialisation of Software Systems – Management Technology and Data Analysis for the Development of Innovative Information Systems – Knowledge Representation Systems, Information Systems and Semantic Web Research Centres: – CASE, Centre for Applied Software Engineering – KRDB, Research Centre for Knowledge and Data – IDSE, Centre for Information and Database Systems Engineering
13
Seiser Alm – Alpe di Siusi
Foto: SMG
Museion Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Bozen – Bolzano
14 Foto: SMG
Quality Free Time Studying at the Free University of Bozen – Bolzano guarantees not only a high quality academic education, but also high quality free time! South Tyrol, where two cultures coexist, is also the place where the Mediterranean climate mixes with the Alpine climate; an ideal situation for sports lovers and everyone else who enjoys the great outdoors.
Also those who prefer city life have plenty to choose from: in the central streets of Bozen – Bolzano, Brixen – Bressanone and Bruneck – Brunico there are various bars and restaurants with their own individual atmosphere, as well as a varied cultural life. Bozen – Bolzano is the home of Ötzi, the oldest mummy in the world, for example. Art and culture fill the city’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the Museion, as well as the theatres, in particular the Teatro Comunale with its full programme comprising opera, dance, musicals and plays. But this isn’t the only stage in the area: in Bozen – Bolzano and Brixen – Bressanone there are several smaller theatres with their own, sometimes quirky, programmes. The jazz and dance festivals that take place throughout the year in the three university towns make time spent here even more varied and exciting. During Advent time, for those who love the atmosphere of Christmas, there are famous Christmas markets organised all over South Tyrol. The University’s student sports club, S.C.U.B., organises various events throughout the year, including courses, races and tournaments, ranging from climbing to handball, and everything in between. The other student organsations, kikero, PRO – Students For Business and Talìa UniLife also organise various free time events. And for those people who enjoy keeping moving and being outside, South Tyrol is really the place to be: jogging, cycling, walking in the mountains, climbing and last, but certainly not least, skiing and snowboarding. All of this in the stunning landscape afforded by the beautiful Dolomites declared in 2009 a UNESCO World Heritage Site – quality free time!
15
Free University of Bozen – Bolzano Bozen – Bolzano Universitätsplatz 1 – piazza Università, 1 I–39100 Bozen – Bolzano T: +39 0471 011 000 F: +39 0471 011 009 Brixen – Bressanone Regensburger Allee 16 – viale Ratisbona, 16 I–39042 Brixen – Bressanone T: +39 0472 014 000 F: +39 0472 014 009 Bruneck – Brunico Universitätsplatz 1 – Piazzetta dell‘Università, 1 I–39031 Bruneck – Brunico T: +39 0474 013 600 F: +39 0474 013 609 info@unibz.it
www.unibz.it