Opportunities for refugees
The University of Padua encourages various initiatives for receiving refugees, asylum seekers and persons in a refugee-like situation.
The Academic Senate has encouraged discussion about migration, rescuing and receiving people with migration backgrounds among students, professors and staff members. The aim is to restrict the issue within the principles of reasonableness and to promote the full respect of human rights, a core value of the University and the civil society alike.
The University of Padua provides staff with resources and support that ensures an inclusive work environment.
Full waiver from tuition fees
Students with refugee status or under subsidiary protection recognised as such by the Italian Government are fully exempted from the annual full tuition fee. They only need to pay the stamp duty and the regional tax for the right to higher education.
To benefit from the waiver, students must contact the Student Service Office at benefici.studenti@unipd.it by attaching a document proving their status (e.g. valid residence permit).
Refugee status
Students who wish to inform the University of Padua about their refugee status can fill in the relevant form below and send it by email to unipd.rescuefund@unipd.it together with the required documentation.
Opportunities and resources
Students at risk: scholarships to support students A.Y.2023/24
The University of Padua offers up to 22 scholarships to support students at risk.
More informations: www.unipd.it/en/students-at-risk
University Corridors for Refugees - 5.0 (Kenya, Niger, Nigeria, Sudafrica, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, 2023/2025) A.Y.2023/24
In cooperation with UNHCR, the University of Padua offers 2 scholarships for the A.Y. 2023/24 to refugee students.
More info: www.unipd.it/en/unicore
Unipd 4 Myanmar: scholarships to support Burmese students A.Y.2023/24
The University of Padua offers 2 scholarships to support Burmese students finding themselves in a difficult situation following the worsening of the situation in Myanmar.
Amount of scholarship: fee-waiver + € 8,000 scholarship (gross amount). The only amount to be paid by beneficiary students for a.y. 2023/24 consists of an admission fee, corresponding to the regional tax and marca da bollo.
Duration: The Scholarship is granted for one (1) academic year.
Who can apply: you can be considered for the selection procedure, under penalty of exclusion, if you meet the requirements below:
- possess a Burmese citizenship;
- do not reside in Italy;
- hold a non-Italian foreign secondary school diploma (for Bachelor's or Single-cycle degrees applicants) or a non-Italian Bachelor's degree (for Master's degrees applicants) allowing admission to the Italian University system;
- apply to one or more degree programmes completely taught in English at the University of Padua. Please remember that you can apply up to 3 degree programmes.
How to apply: All the students fulfilling the above-mentioned requirements applying for A.Y. 2023/24 are automatically considered for the selection procedure.
Selection criteria: Scholarships will be awarded to the most deserving candidates, on the basis of the quality and results of their previous academic career, their linguistic competence, and motivation.
Selection results: Scholarships will be mainly reserved for candidates applying for the first application period; on an exceptional basis, they might be awarded to eligible candidates of the second application period.
Scholarships selection results will be published at www.unipd.it/en/assessement-results according to the timeline indicated in the Call for applications.
In the case of unlimited access degree programmes, scholarship results will be published from 11 March 2023.
Acceptance: selected candidates will receive a specific communication from the Admissions and Welcome Unit of the Global Engagement Office indicating the methods and timing for accepting the financial benefit.
Detailed information are available in the Call for application for A.Y. 2023/24.
Info: Global Engagement Office - Admissions and Welcome Unit – unipd.rescuefund@unipd.it
Unipd 4 Afghanistan: scholarships to support Afghan students
A.Y.2022/23 - expired programme
For the academic year 2022/23, the University of Padua offered 50 scholarships to support Afghan students finding themselves in a dangerous situation following the worsening of the political situation in Afghanistan.
The programme is now closed.
Information at www.unipd.it/en/unipd-4-afghanistan
Scholars at Risk (SAR)
Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of higher education institutions. Its main objective is to promote academic freedom and protect scholars who are risking their lives or whose jobs are at stake.
The University of Padua is a member of SAR Italy.
Arqus Enabling Refugees
Arqus is one of the 17 thematic consortia selected by the European Commission under the European programme ‘European Universities’.
Under Action line 2, a whole team of experts is working on mapping and planning activities for refugees: 2.6 Enabling refugees: a shared policy for the academic recognition and admission process of refugees.
Manifesto for Inclusive Universities
Schools and universities are fundamental stages and important opportunities for young refugees to seize in their social inclusion path. According to the UN Refugee Agency statistics (UNHCR), only 3% of the refugees worldwide have access to higher education while the global average accounts for 37%.
To meet these challenges, Italian universities have signed the Manifesto dell’Università Inclusiva (Manifesto for Inclusive Universities) promoted by UNHCR. The manifesto aims to facilitate access to higher education for refugees and promote social inclusion and active participation in academic life.
The Manifesto includes general and guiding principles to which the signatories have committed themselves. The universities involved are implementing and working on the range of activities and programmes for refugee students, e.g. services for information and tutoring, recognition of qualifications obtained abroad, scholarships and benefits, and university corridors as regular immigration channels for refugee students living in third countries.
This initiative is part of the Global compact on refugees. This document, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 2018, commits governments, civil society and universities to promoting support and integration pathways for refugees.
Following the decision by the Academic Senate on 12 November 2019, the University of Padua has responded to the UNHCR’s appeal by signing the Manifesto for Inclusive University (Manifesto dell’Università Inclusiva).
National Coordination for the Evaluation of Refugee Qualifications - CVNQR
CIMEA, the Italian information center on academic recognition, pursuant to the Lisbon Recognition Convention, has activated the National Coordination for the Evaluation of Refugee Qualifications (CNVQR). This is an autonomous decision by CIMEA, in line with its institutional tasks and responsibility, following the increase in migration flows towards Italy and Europe that has resulted in more and more requests for recognition of refugee qualifications by Italian higher education institutions.
The CNVQR is an informal network of experts from the administrative sector within higher education institutions. It deals with recognition of qualifications and shares evaluation procedures, problem cases, sources of information and methodological practices to follow when evaluating qualifications held by refugees, even with little or no documentation.
Participating in CNVQR implies:
- participation as an institution on a voluntary and self-financing basis;
- involvement of the whole institution, on behalf of its legal representative;
- appointment of one representative per institution;
- CIMEA is responsible for coordination, through the implementation of tools to exchange information among experts and a specific email address to use for the purpose.
The University of Padua has joined CNVQR on 20 September 2017.
Call for applications 100 scholarships for students with international protection – CRUI and the Italian Ministry of Interior
The Italian Ministry of Interior, together with the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI) and ANDISU (Italian Association of Right to Education Organizations), offers 100 scholarships for the A.Y. 2023/24 to refugee students or with international protection obtained by August 26, 2023 in Italy. The deadline to submit the application is September 4, 2023.
