MECCPolimi Competitors

ETH Zurich – Where the future begins Freedom and individual responsibility, entrepreneurial spirit and open-mindedness: ETH Zurich stands on a bedrock of true Swiss values. Our university for science and technology dates back to the year 1855, when the founders of modern-day Switzerland created it as a centre of innovation and knowledge. At ETH Zurich, students discover an ideal environment for independent thinking, researchers a climate which in-spires top performance. Situated in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, ETH Zurich is pioneering effective solutions to the global challenges of today and tomorrow. Some 530 professors teach around 20,500 students – including 4,100 doctoral students – from over 120 countries. Their collective research embraces many disciplines: natural sciences and engineering scienc-es, architecture, mathematics, system-oriented natural sciences, as well as management and social sci-ences. The results and innovations produced by ETH researchers are channelled into some of Switzer-land’s most high-tech sectors: from computer science through to micro- and nanotechnology and cutting-edge medicine. Every year ETH registers around 90 patents and 200 inventions on average. Since 1996, the university has produced a total of 380 commercial spin-offs. ETH also has an excellent reputation in scientific circles: 21 Nobel laureates have studied, taught or researched here, and in international league tables ETH Zurich regularly ranks as one of the world’s top universities.

The University of Pisa, formally established in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in the world and it has been extraordinarily successful in updating its structures and human resources in order to meet the new challenges of international research and education at the highest level. It has an excellent international reputation in all areas, not only in natural sciences but also for example in humanities, social sciences, medicine, engineering, agricultural and other applied sciences. It leads important international research and education networks, and incorporates their findings into its programmes. The University of Pisa is committed to promoting quality in all areas of research and teaching, and to making all its programmes available to an increasing number of international students and researchers. Nowadays it is organised in 20 departments. It has about 54.000 students, 1517 faculty members, and 1477 technical and administrative staff members. It offers 127 bachelor and master programmes, and 20 PhD programmes, along with 56 third cycle specialisation programmes, and about 55 post graduate programmes, including an MBA. The city of Pisa, where our University has always had its roots, offers students and researchers an ideal environment for living, studying and working: Pisa has a pleasant climate, excellent food and world famous cultural and leisure attractions. Both sea and the mountains are close by, as are the cities, museum, monuments and the beautiful countryside for which Tuscany is rightly celebrated. With its large and intellectually stimulating scholarly community, Pisa is an attractive environment for researchers in all fields.

Politecnico Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and designers. The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer. Research has always been linked to didactics and is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system. Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, also favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belongs, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development. The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico take part in the European and world network of leading technical universities and offers several beside many which are entirely taught in English.