First in physics, first in neurosciences, second in mathematics. The aggregate data issued by ANVUR - the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research Systems – prove beyond doubt SISSA’s absolute prominent role in these research areas within the national panorama.
Already in the university rankings published by Anvur in December, SISSA held the first position in Northern Italy. This morning, during a public presentation in Rome, Anvur announced the details of its report on the Evaluation of the Quality of Research (VQR) of Italian universities, according to which SISSA ranks:
- first among medium-sized universities in physical science, in consideration of number of products, with a 22% positive variance compared to the Italian average;
- first among small-sized universities in biological science, owing to the activity carried out in neuroscience, with a remarkable 64% positive variance;
- second among small-sized universities in mathematical and computer science. With reference to the latter, the positive variance in the scientific production corresponded to 46% compared to the national average, placing SISSA only 1% away from the Scuola Normale of Pisa.
Very positive data also concerning SISSA’s strength of attraction, that is its ability to hire the best researchers. In what is technically called “recruitment contribution,” SISSA earned the first absolute position in mathematics and ranks first among the medium-sized universities in physics. In order to understand Anvur’s classification, it is important to highlight that the evaluation agency classifies the size of universities not in absolute terms, but on the basis of the research area considered.
The VQR examination lasted 18 months involving 450 experts helped by 65,000 professors and researchers in charge of evaluating almost 120,000 scientific publications produced by Italian universities from 2011 to 2014.
“I am absolutely proud of the result achieved,” said Stefano Ruffo, SISSA’s current Director. “We owe this outstanding position especially to the work carried out by who preceded me. It is a huge motivation to maintain in the future the same levels of excellence reached in the period examined. I do want to highlight, though,” Ruffo continued, “that SISSA’s results cannot be dissociated from a territory such as Trieste’s and of Friuli Venezia Giulia rich in very high value research centres, as proven by the VQR data on the other universities in the Region. Our PhD students should be proud to live in such a stimulating reality and to work in an environment capable of giving them important perspectives for the future.”
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