The University of Trento and the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna offer an two-year international joint Master of Science program, named Graduate Program in Information Science and Technology (Laurea Magistrale in Scienze e Tecnologie dell’Informazione).

The objective of the program is to educate high profile professionals and researchers in Information Science and Technology. The perfect candidates for this course are highly motivated young students wishing to pursue a higher educational path that will lead to either industrial or academic research positions.

In brief:

• Candidates must possess (or achieve before August 31 2010) a
  Bachelor (Laurea Triennale) (see http://www.unitn-sssa.org/admissions)
• It is reserved to 5 EU students and 5 non-EU students, admission
  is by a public selection procedure (see
  http://www.unitn-sssa.org/admissions).
• It is an international program. All courses are taught in English
• Scolarships are available (see http://www.unitn-sssa.org/fundings)The call has been issued and the application website is now open.

About the Program

The programme will form graduate students in four specialization areas of Computer Sciences:

• Embedded Systems
• Data Media and Knowledge
• Systems and Networks
• Software Technologies

These areas have been chosen for their growing impact on the society and for the resulting interest that they arouse in industry and academia.

The programme is reserved for highly talented and motivated students and will offer a balanced blend of classical lectures (to increase the knowledge of foundational topics) and of practical laboratory courses (to improve the skills of the student in tackling real life problems).

At the end of the programme, the student that has complied with all the requirements will be awarded with a Master Level degree by each of the two institutions. The degree issued by University of Trento has legal validity in Italy as “Laurea Magistrale in Informatica” (LM18).

All courses will be taught in English. Non-Italian students will also undertake courses on Italian culture and language. The programme is residential.

The programme will start in September 2010 and the first edition will have a duration of two academic years. Roughly half of the admitted students will spend their first year at the University of Trento, and their second year at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (in Pisa). The other half of the students will spend their first year in Pisa and the second year in Trento. Work towards the thesis will be jointly supervised and evaluated by two professors, one from each partner institution.

Calls

The call for applications for academic year 2010/2011 is now open. The text of the call:

CALL 2009 for both EU and non- EU students(English)

The call can also be downloaded in its italian version:

Bando di concorso per il 2009 (studenti sia EU che non EU (Italiano)

The deadlines for the application are:

• March 15th, 2010 for non EU applicants;
• May 15th, 2010 for EU applicants.

Applications can be made through the website:

http://disi.unitn.it/edu/appform/login.xml
Important dates

• Non-EU Session
  • March 15, 2010: Deadline for on-line application
  • March 15, 2010: Deadline for surface mail application
  • March 25, 2010: Notification of admission and of scholarship
• EU Session
  • May 15, 2010: Deadline for on-line application
  • May 15, 2010: Deadline for surface mail application
  • End of June 2010: Notification of admission and of scholarship
• September 2009 Start of Master courses

Application
The application is a 2 step process

1. Online application: The first step is to insert the required information into the S.A.R.A. website http://disi.unitn.it/edu/appform/login.xml. Before starting the submission, the applicant is required to provide his/her name and a valid email address. After this step, she/he can log in to insert the required information and upload the documents. This operation can be carried out in different sessions. Only when all the required information has been validated can the applicant finalise the application choosing the appropriate option in the website. After the application is finalised no further changes can be made.
2. Surface Mail application: After finalising the online application, the S.A.R.A. system generates a form that has to be printed out and signed in original by the applicant. The applicant is also required to indicate in the form the Italian Embassy he/she will submit their visa application to in case he/she is admitted to the program. The printed form will be sent by fax, or physical mail (using the mail service or the favourite carrier of the candidate) to the following address:

Divisione Formazione Universitaria
Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33,
56127 Pisa. ITALY

E-mail: info-ist@sssup.it
Tel: (+39) 050882189
Fax: (+39) 050883250
Required documents

• A scanned or electronic copy of the applicant’s passport or identity card (Only the pages with picture and personal data)
• A scanned or electronic copy of all academic degree certificates (i.e. Bachelor or equivalent, Master or equivalent) or other postgraduate degrees/academic qualifications. Note: if the degree is not in English, German, or Italian, an English translation is needed, made by an officially recognised translator, or by your University. Students who have not yet completed their first degree, but who predict to graduate before August 31 2010, can apply to the master. If selected, their admission will be conditional on the receipt of the degree certificate by the master’s secretariat no later than August 31, 2010.
• Copies/photocopies of all transcripts or other academic records that give proof of the higher education studies (i.e. Bachelors, Masters etc. ) including credits and grades achieved in each single subject
• For non-EU candidates, a scanned or electronic copy of the IELTS, TOEFL, or CAE certificate (not older than 2008), or equivalent certification of good knowledge of the English language (for example, the GRE test). This is not required for EU applicants because the required knowledge of the english language will be a part of the oral examination
• For non-EU candidates: a complete Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum, covering education program, cultural and professional experiences and all other information that might help in the evaluation.
• For non-EU candidates the scores obtained in the GRE general test. (this is optional but highly recommended).

Note

Unreadable documents or documents without an application ID number will not be considered. On-line applications not submitted by March 15, 2010 or applications whose paper copies of have not been received by March 15, 2010 will not be considered as well. The master’s secretariat does not accept responsibility for loss of applications due to address errors or other postal-related problems. The personal data inserted in the website will be treated and utilised exclusively for the purpose of the selection process.

Admission and Selection

Admission Requirements

Applicants must possess one of the following degrees:

• Laurea di I livello (Bachelor of Science – First Cycle Degree) awarded by an Italian University in one of the following subjects:
  • Computer Science (corresponding to Classe 26 – Scienze e Tecnologie Informatiche, according to the Italian system of first cycle degrees classes as per DM 509/99);
  • Computer Science (corresponding to Classe L-31 – Scienze e Tecnologie Informatiche, according to the Italian system of first cycle degrees classes as per DM 270/04);
  • Information Engineering (corresponding to Classe 9 – Ingegneria dell’Informazione, according to the Italian system of first cycle degrees classes as per DM 509/99);
  • Information Engineering (corresponding to Classe L-8 – Ingegneria dell’Informazione, according to the Italian system of first cycle degrees classes as per DM 270/04).
• Laurea di I livello (Bachelor of Science – First Cycle Degree) awarded by an Italian University in other subjects will be also accepted only in case of completion of at least the following Courses:
  • 12 CFU overall in one or more of the following scientific-disciplinar sectors MAT/01, MAT/02, MAT/03, MAT/04, MAT/05, MAT/06, MAT/07, MAT/08, MAT/09, FIS/01, FIS/02, FIS/03);
  • 60 CFU overall in one or more of the following scientific-disciplinar sectors INF/01, ING-INF/03, ING-INF/05.
• Bachelor of Science or equivalent first cycle degree awarded by a foreign University after the completion of at least three-year course of study, in one of the subjects previously listed in a) and b) or equivalent (Bachelor in Computer Science or Computer Engineering).

Applicants who have not yet completed their first degree, but who expect to graduate before August 31 2010, are allowed to apply sub-condicio: if selected, their admission will be conditioned to the receipt of the degree certificate not later than August 31 2010.

In addition to the academic degree, applicants are required to have a good knowledge of the English Language, at least corresponding to the intermediate level (B2 Level in the European Framework for foreign languages, equivalent to IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 550 (paper-based) / 217 (computer-based) / 81 (internet-based), or CAE level C.

Selection Procedure

Candidates are admitted to the programme through a public competition. The competition is divided in two sessions:

• The first session will be reserved to citizens of countries who are not resident in the EU (from now on non-EU candidates). At most 5 positions are reserved to non-EU citizens, depending on the number of candidates and the results of the selection process.
• The second session is reserved to citizens of European Union and non-EU candidates resident in Italy (from now on EU candidates). 5 positions are reserved for this selection.

At most 10 students will be selected with the public competition. If less than 5 students are selected in any of the two sessions, the number of position available on the other session will include the positions left vacant. The selection aims at evaluating the candidates background and education, assessing their potential skills and attitude to attend an interdisciplinary and innovative educational program.

First Session

The first session of the selection concerns with non-EU candidates. Selection of non-EU candidates will be solely based on the submitted documents. Candidates are requested to apply on-line at http://www.unitn-sssa.org/submission by March 15th, 2010.

Candidate must provide:

• The academic transcript with the full list of courses and grades (in English, in French or Italian). This list should contain information regarding credits, units (or equivalent) received, the grades received for each class taken, and the date when the final examination (if applicable) was taken, provided by attaching the copy of the University Transcript or completing the template provided by the application form;
• A copy of the English Language Certification
• A copy of the *Graduate Record Examination (GRE)* General Test (optional but recommended). See http://www.ets.org/gre/ for more information.
• A copy of valid passport;
• A recent photo (passport size);

The Commission will evaluate the documents of all candidates, and each candidate will be assigned a numerical score between 0 and 100. The candidates scoring more than 70 points over 100 (henceforth named eligible) will be ordered by decreasing scores in a ranking list.

The first 5 candidates in the ranking list of the eligible candidates will be selected to participate to the programme. If the number of eligible candidates is lower than 5, then only the candidates in the eligible list will be selected to participate to the program. In case of candidates declining, the next candidates in the ranking list will be invited until 5 candidates have accepted, or there are no more candidates in the list.

The selected candidates will be requested to send their written assent along with the documentation required for the enrollment.

The calendar for the first session is as follows:

• March 15th for evaluation of curricula
• March 20th for publication of the ranking list

Second Session

The second session of the selection concerns with EU candidates, which will be based on the submitted documents, a written test and an interview.

Candidates are requested to apply on-line at http://www.unitn-sssa.org/submission by May 15th 2010.

• a copy of their complete Curriculum Vitae et Studiorum covering their education program, cultural and professional experiences and all other information that might help in the evaluation of the candidate;
• the academic transcript with the full list of courses and grades (in English, in French or Italian). This list should contain information regarding credits, units (or equivalent) received, the grades received for each class taken, and the date when the final examination (if applicable) was taken, provided by attaching a copy of the University 1 Transcript or completing the template provided by the application form;
• a copy of the English Language Certification
• a copy of valid passport or identity card;
• a recent photo (passport size);

Each candidate will be assigned a score based on their curriculum, up to 40 points. All candidates that obtain more than 24 points will be invited to the written test examination.

The written test will be consists of questions on general topics concerning informatics, computer science and engineering. The test will be evaluated assigning up to 40 points. All candidates that obtain a cumulative score of at least 48 points in the curriculum examination and in the written test will be invited to the interview.

The interview will consist of questions on general topics concerning informatics, computer science and engineering, and the candidate curriculum. After the interview each candidate will be assigned up to 20 points.

The final ranking list will be based on the cumulative scores obtained in the three steps (curriculum, written test, interview). Candidates whose cumulative score is between 70 and 100 are eligible. Eligible candidates will be ranked in a list according to their cumulative score.

The first 5 candidates in the eligible list will be selected to participate to the programme. If the number of eligible candidates is lower than 5, then only the candidates in the eligible list will be selected to participate to the programme. In case of candidates declining the invitation, the next candidates in the list will be invited. In case of vacant positions in the first session, the same number of additional positions will be made available to EU candidates.

The selected candidates will be requested to provide their written assent along with the documentation for the enrollment.

The calendar for the second session is as follows:

• June 10th for evaluation of curricula
• June 15th for the written test
• June 16th for the interview

Tuition Fees and Scholarships

The Tuition fee depends on the family income of the applicant, according to the rules of the University of Trento, the maximum rate being 2800 euros per year.

Scholarships provided by the Opera Universitaria of Trento are available depending on the family income, up to 4700 euros per year. The applicants that are eligible to the scholarship are also extempted from paying the tuition.

In addition, the first 8 admitted students in the admission rank will be offered

• free housing at SSSA and UniTN premises, or in alternative 3000 euros per year, regardless of their financial situation;
• students not entitled to any scholarship will be offered free meals at SSSA and UniTN premises, or in alternative 2500 euros per year.

All students will be provided access to the facilities of SSSA and UniTN (library, computers, laboratories, Internet).

Source:

http://www.unitn-sssa.org/science/

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