Governance

Professor Andrea Romanino has been the Director of SISSA since 1 November 2021.

CURRICULUM VITAE

The Director is the legal representative of SISSA and oversees the School’s scientific, educational, administrative, and disciplinary activities. They are responsible for promoting and coordinating all institutional functions and ensuring the achievement of SISSA’s strategic goals. Each year, the Director submits a detailed report to the School Council, reviewing the School's progress, strategic choices, and the implementation of multi-year development plans.

The main duties include:

• Submitting and managing budgets and strategic plans
• Appointing:Chairing the School Council, Academic Senate, and Board of Directors
• Ensuring academic and research autonomy
• Issuing the Statute and internal regulations
• Overseeing the School’s structures and services
• Managing disciplinary matters concerning staff and students
• Conferring degrees and academic titles
• Appointing
• Secretary General
• Members of governing and advisory bodies (Board of Directors, ISAC, Evaluation Unit, Discipline Board)
• Signing contracts and agreements on behalf of the School
• Reporting to the Ministry as required by law
• Taking urgent actions with ratification by relevant bodies
• Delegating functions to professors or external experts when necessary

The Director is elected for a single, non-renewable six-year term. Eligible candidates must be full professors or equivalent figures from universities or high-level research institutes. He is appointed by the Ministry of Education, University and Research, following the internal election process. A Vice Director is designated to act in their place when necessary.

The Academic Senate contributes to defining the School’s overall strategy. It proposes and coordinates initiatives related to teaching, research, and scientific planning. The main responsibilities include the strategic direction for scientific and educational activities, coordination across the School’s Areas and general planning of academic development.

It is composed of the Director, who chairs the Senate, the coordinators of the Scientific Areas, an elected representative of the professors, two elected representatives of the PhD students and one elected representative of the research staff.

Minutes
Calendar 2026

The Board of Directors is the governing body responsible for overseeing the School’s overall strategic and financial management. It approves strategic guidelines, the annual and three-year budget and staffing plan, and ensures the financial sustainability of SISSA’s activities. The main responsibilities include the approval of strategic and development plans, financial and staffing oversight (annual and triennial) and monitoring of economic sustainability.

• It is composed of the Director, who chairs the Board, two elected PhD student representatives, seven members with proven experience in scientific, cultural, or managerial fields, selected as follows:
• Two external members, including one proposed by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region
• Four university professors, at least one external to SISSA, appointed by the Director based on a shortlist from the Academic Senate
• One representative of the School’s technical-administrative staff

Marco Rucci is the Secretary General of SISSA.

He is responsible for managing and organizing the School’s administrative and technical services, in line with the strategic directions set by the Director and the governing bodies. In this role, the Secretary General ensures that the School’s plans and decisions are implemented, assigns responsibilities to staff, supervises the work of managers, and submits an annual report on administrative activities to the academic bodies.

The position is conferred by the Board of Directors, on the Director’s proposal and with the opinion of the Academic Senate, to a highly qualified individual with proven management experience. A Deputy Secretary General may also be appointed to assist and substitute the Secretary General when needed.

The appointment is based on a private-law contract lasting up to four years and is renewable. The contract can be terminated in case of serious inefficiencies, following a formal procedure. The Secretary General operates under national regulations governing equivalent university roles.

The Board of Auditors is composed of a Chairman, appointed from among the administrative and accounting magistrates and the Government legal service lawyers by the School's Board of Directors based on the Director's proposal, a permanent and a substitute member, appointed by the Ministry of Economy and Finance; said members must be registered in the Register of Auditors and a permanent and a substitute member chosen by the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research from among the managers and civil servants of the Ministry itself; said members must be registered in the Register of Auditors.

The Board is appointed by decree of the Director, the individual mandate shall last two years and can be renewed only once. The School staff cannot be part of the Board.

The Evaluation committee, regulated by art. 10 of the Statute, carries out a surveillance role to evaluate the overall efficacy of the School’s QA system ex-post. It also puts forwards proposals for improvement. In fulfilling its role as internal and external evaluator, it operates to increase the culture of quality assurance and the development of the School’s QA system and, at the same time, supports ANVUR and the Ministry for Education, University and Research (MIUR) within the purpose of monitoring compliance with the requirements of the initial and periodic Accreditation of study courses and of premises. It draws up an annual evaluation report according to the guidelines issued by ANVUR, in which it provides information regarding compliance with QA requirements and any initiatives implemented to promote quality. On the basis of this document, the Quality Assurance Unit and the Governing Bodies are ready to receive opinions and suggestions.

As foreseen by art. 11 of the Statute, SISSA has an advisory/evaluation/strategic body, the International Scientific Advisory Committee - ISAC, with the purpose of analysing the progress and development of the School’s scientific activity in relation to the development of international. It meets every three years and draws up a written report making recommendations for the future.

The School Council is the advisory body that gathers all the School professors as well as the representatives of the students, of the researchers and of technical-administrative staff.

It is the School Council duty to:

• discuss the Director's annual final balance on the scientific and didactic activity of the School and provide indications on the future lines of action;
• examine the annual report submitted by the Students Council;
• formulate opinions, based on the proposal of the Academic Senate, on the activation, the modification or the suppression of Scientific Areas or of other structures, to be submitted to the Board of Directors.

The School Council generally meets at least once a year on invitation of the Director, or whenever requested by at least one third of its members.

The School Council, in the restricted composition foreseen by current laws and by the School's regulations that discipline the recruitment procedures of professors and researchers:

• expresses a non-binding opinion on the announcement of competitions and calls for transfer regarding the positions of full and associate professors and researchers, based on a reasoned proposal by the Academic Senate;
• formulates proposals on the call for recruitment of full and associate professors and researchers.

The Students Council is an advisory body concerned with the decisions related to the students' activities in the School, with a particular focus on didactic activities, and is composed of the student representatives within the School Council and the Area Councils.

The Council elects the President and the Vice-President. The President transmits the requests of the Council to the Director and to the Academic Senate, and submits an annual report on the didactic activities and of students' life in School during the ordinary meeting of the School Council.

The Students Council meets on invitation of the President or upon request of at least one third of its members. The School's students may gather for assembly anytime they deem it necessary, if compatible with the School's running requirements, within the premises of the School itself.

The Student-Professor Joint Committee, regulated by art. 13 of the SISSA Statute, has the task of annually drawing up a comprehensive report for each PhD course which considers the overall educational offer, with particular reference to the results of the survey on students’ opinions, highlighting any specific problems of individual PhD courses.

The Technical and Administrative Staff Council meets to discuss topics related to work organization and staff well-being.

It is composed of the Director (Chair), the Secretary General, a professor appointed by the Academic Senate upon proposal of the Director, and three representatives elected by the technical-administrative staff currently employed at the School.

The Disciplinary Board is a dedicated body that carries out the disciplinary measures towards full and associate professors and researchers.

The Board operates in accordance with the principle of peer judgment and in respect of cross-examination procedures. For such purpose, the Board is composed of three sections, each one consisting of full-time professors and researchers holders of an open-ended contract, of which three are regular members and two are substitutes. The first section is composed of full professors and is only concerned with full professors, the second one is composed of associate professors and is only concerned with associate professors, and the third section is composed of researchers and is only concerned with researchers. A substitute member shall replace a permanent member in the following cases:

• when a permanent member has a consanguinity or affinity relationship within the 4th degree with a professor or researcher who is the subject of disciplinary measures;
• in all cases of absence or other impediment on the part of a permanent member.

In order to compose the Board, each Area proposes a list of three names (a full professor, an associate professor and a researcher holding an open-ended contract) elected from among its members by secret ballot. On the proposed names the Academic Senate expresses its opinion, choosing both the permanent and the substitute members.

The Board deliberates by absolute majority of the members and in case of a tie vote, the vote that is more favorable to the professor or researcher who is the subject of disciplinary measures shall prevail.

The members of the Disciplinary Board remain in office 4 years and their mandate is not renewable.

Functions: Every task related to the research activity, including its evaluation.

• Director
• Vice-Director
• Secretary General or a representative
• Director's Delegate for research
• Head of the Research Fundings and International Relations Office

Functions: All activities related to technology transfer, such as spin-offs, contracts with public institutions, companies and industries, third party or similar.

• Director
• Vice-Director
• Secretary General or a representative
• Director’s Delegate for Valorisation, Innovation, and Industrial Cooperation
• Director of Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Natural Science and Humanities or a representative
• Head of Valorization and Innovation Office

Functions: Didactic related to PhD and non PhD courses and related topics

• Director
• Vice-Director
• Secretary General or a representative
• Director's Delegate for Didactic
• Head of Student's Secretariat

Functions: Services and resources, such as maintenance, security, canteen, kindergarten, and related matters.

• Director
• Vice-Director
• Secretary General or a representative
• Coordinator of Economic and financial resources area

Funcions: Allocating, managing and equipping spaces and related topics

Support:

Representative of Health and Safety Service - dott. Alessio Baroni

Head of Technical and Logistics Office

Director of ITCS

• Director
• Vice-Director
• Secretary General or a representative
• Desk management manager
• Director of Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Natural and Humanistic Sciences or a representative
• Representative of the research personnel in the Academic Senate