Tufts Announces Agreement with the University of Pavia

Tufts University has entered into a cooperation agreement with the University of Pavia, a research university with 18 departments and more than 26,000 students, located in the Lombardy region of Italy.

Tufts and the University of Pavia have existing relationships in a range of areas, including exchanges between faculty in the sciences and engineering. The two universities' music departments have offered both short-term and semester-long residencies, the former in Italy and the latter at Tufts. In addition, Tufts Global Education has had for several summers a successful program at the University of Pavia in data, computer science, and Italian.

The new agreement, signed on January 20 in Pavia by Tufts University President Sunil Kumar and Francesco Svelto, rector of the University of Pavia, opens the door to a range of new opportunities between the two institutions.

During his visit to Pavia, Kumar addressed the university community as a distinguished lecturer and received the Teresian Medal, the highest honor conferred by the university. The event marked 1,200 years since the establishment of Pavia as a center of learning. Photo courtesy of the University of Pavia

Among the potential academic collaborations are possible joint degrees in electrical engineering and bioinformatics, biology, chemistry, and data analytics. Other possibilities include certificates and specialized online master's programs in nutrition and global business administration. In the area of experiential education, joint initiatives could include research stays, co-op programs involving companies in the United States and in Italy, and student research immersion through participation in programs like VERSEor the Laidlaw Scholars.

Also cited in the agreement is the opportunity to leverage research with University of Pavia faculty to build on Tufts' efforts in disciplines including regenerative medicine, climate and energy, healthy aging, brain health, and infection and immunity.

"We are very pleased to have this chance to formalize-and extend-our relationship with our friends at the University of Pavia, to the significant benefit of both our universities," said Cigdem Talgar, vice provost for education at Tufts. "This agreement will also deepen our mutual understanding of economic, cultural, and social issues, enriching the experience of our faculty and students, our researchers and scholars."

The University of Pavia ranks among the leading research institutions in Europe. Along with three Nobel Laureates, others who have served on Pavia's faculty include physicist Alessandro Volta (the inventor of the electric battery) and Cesare Beccaria (the 18th-century advocate for the abolishment of the death penalty).