Censis ranking of Italian universities: UniPD still in 1st place among the mega-universities
On 14 July, the latest edition of the Censis ranking of Italian universities (the “2026/2027 edition”) was published.
The University of Padua has confirmed, for the third consecutive year, its position as the best Italian mega-university (the category that includes state universities with more than 40,000 enrolled students), consolidating a result that rewards the overall quality of its activities. In the mega-university cluster, the University of Padua is followed (overall score of 91.2) by: the University of Bologna (87.8), La Sapienza (86.0), the University of Pisa (85.5), the University of Milan (85.3), the University of Florence (84.7), the University of Palermo (84.3), the University of Turin (83.8), the University of Bari (79.7) and the University of Naples Federico II (74.2).
The ranking is available on the Censis website (https://www.censis.it/la-classifica-censis-delle-universita-italiane-edizione-2026-2027-2). The results of the University of Padua over the years are also presented graphically on the University website (www.unipd.it/ranking); the attached document illustrates the University’s results for the 2026/2027 edition
Open semester for a.y. 2026/2027: confirmations and new features
Ministerial Decree no. 941 of 10 July 2026, laying down the implementing rules for access to the single-cycle master’s degree courses in Medicine and Surgery LM-41, Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics LM-46 and Veterinary Medicine LM-42 for academic year 2026-2027, substantially confirms the framework of the first year of the reform, with some new features resulting also from dialogue with the student body.
Candidates will have until 3 August to submit their application for enrolment on the universitaly.it portal, and until 6 August to pay the flat-rate contribution (€250, except in cases of full or partial exemption provided for by current legislation).
At the enrolment stage, candidates will be able to indicate a University other than their first-choice institution as the venue for the open semester, while the place on the locally capped national or open-access related course (identified by ministerial decree) will be reserved and not assigned until the national merit rankings have been finalised.
The open-semester teaching subjects remain unchanged: Chemistry and introductory biochemistry, Physics and Biology, each worth six university credits (ECTS credits).
Teaching activities will begin on 1 September and must conclude at least ten days before the date of the first of the two examination sessions: 10 December 2026 and 11 January 2027, allowing more time in practice for teaching and exam preparation.
Some adjustments also concern the examinations. The number of questions remains thirty-one: ten completion questions and twenty-one multiple-choice questions (maximum mark 30 cum laude) but, compared with the first edition, the time available to students has been increased to fifty minutes for each test, with a thirty-minute break between one test and the next.
The national ranking for each single-cycle master’s degree course in Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics, and Veterinary Medicine, which should be published by 22 January 2027, will consist of three sections, according to the number of examinations passed by students. Compared with last year, the best mark obtained in the two examination sessions will automatically be taken into account for ranking purposes. Students who have not passed one or two course examinations during the session and are placed high enough in the ranking will be able to obtain the missing educational credits at their assigned institution in time to enrol in the second semester.
Also this year, the University will offer the possibility of attending classes in person and online (in the first weeks) and exclusively remotely in the following weeks.
Students will also be able to benefit from a multi-level support service provided by the University (https://www.unipd.it/semestre-aperto) and at national level (www.semestreaperto-medodovet.it).
Completion of the PNRR “Hub & Spoke” projects
The intensive implementation phase of the PNRR projects linked to Mission 4, Component 2, Investments 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 came to an end on 30 June 2026. The programmes were coordinated by five National Centres, fourteen Extended Partnerships and eleven Innovation Ecosystems, groupings of public and private entities established mainly in the form of foundations and consortia and organised according to a Hub-Spoke governance structure.
UNIPD figures within the PNRR
The University confirms its leading role at national level:
• it took part in thirteen programmes (five National Centres, seven Extended Partnerships and one Innovation Ecosystem);
• it operated as an affiliate in sixty-eight Spokes and as leader in seven Spokes, as well as being the proposing body of the National Centre for gene therapy and RNA-technology drugs and of the Inest Innovation Ecosystem;
• it obtained total funding of approximately €140 million;
• through its lecturers, it was involved in the “cascade calls” (issued by Spokes of Extended Partnerships and Innovation Ecosystems in which Unipd was not already a Spoke or affiliate) with twenty-two funded projects worth a total of more than €5 million.
Checks and subsequent deadlines
The MUR has reported the achievement of 100% of the expenditure reported for all thirty funded projects. The University of Padua exceeded the allocated budget as early as the end of April. The amounts reported over budget constitute, for all intents and purposes, University co-funding of the project, without prejudice to any reallocation of the amounts recognised by the Ministry following the conclusion of checks on the reported expenditure.
According to estimates provided by the MUR, the disbursement of the final financial balances should be completed by the end of 2026 and, once these closures are complete, any management savings may be entered in the accounts.
2026 adjustment of the three-year staff recruitment plan 2025-2027
The Board has revised the Plan’s allocations in line with the actual number of staff points assigned by the MUR and with the real turnover trend:
• 139.46 staff points for teaching staff, higher than the initial estimates due to departures beyond turnover and early retirements (138.5 staff points compared with the estimated 125 staff points), including 0.96 staff points of additional ministerial turnover. The additional points will be allocated as follows: 9.3 staff points to the University Budget Fund to offset departures for reasons other than retirement, and 5.16 staff points (4.2 from early retirements + 0.96 extra turnover) distributed directly to Departments as a balancing adjustment;
• 65.08 staff points allocated to PTA and CEL, recalculated following a lower number of actual departures (57 staff points compared with the estimated 70 staff points) and the addition of 2.68 residual staff points from the previous planning period, allocated as follows: 33.40 staff points for the PTA/CEL budget, 15.70 staff points for the turnover of laboratory technicians and 13.30 staff points for Strategic Policies. In compliance with the CCIL 2025-2027, 5.4 staff points will be allocated to the permanent increase of the OCF and EP funds for supplementary pay, with the aim of funding pay progression within the areas (PEIA) for 3.15 staff points and organisational and professional roles for officials for 2.25 staff points.
Extraordinary RTT recruitment plan
The adjustment also incorporates the extraordinary ministerial plan (DM 193/2026) for the recruitment of RTTs reserved for RTDa researchers whose contracts expire in 2025 and 2026. The MUR has allocated 85 co-funded positions to the University of Padua (36 of which reserved for PNRR projects); Departments will have to commit 0.45 staff points for each position (0.25 as co-funding and 0.2 for possible progression to associate professor). In order to support Departments and encourage recruitment planning, the Board has decided to advance 8 staff points to the structures immediately on the basis of the performance-related component of the resource distribution model provided for in the three-year recruitment plan, with subsequent recovery charged to the structures’ teaching budget at the time of the RTT upgrade. A further 2 staff points will be distributed through a subsequent measure of the Board of administration.
Tariff adjustment for the University’s cultural and naturalistic sites
The new tariff schedule, which will come into force on 1 September 2026, aims to ensure the economic sustainability and development capacity of the sites, in view of the considerable increase in management, maintenance and support service costs, while taking into account their extraordinary historical, artistic and scientific value (also in relation to the sector’s main cultural benchmarks).
Below are the main new features and concessions:
• Botanical Garden: the full ticket price (unchanged since 2014) is reset at €15. A special reduced rate will apply during the winter season (from November to February inclusive);
• Palazzo del Bo: the full ticket for the “historical tour” (weekdays) will increase to €10, while the weekend route (“Palazzo del Bo and Gio Ponti’s 1900s”) will increase to €12;
• Special reduced ticket: a single rate of €6 for all University sites, aimed at children and young people aged 6 to 26 and guests or participants in conferences organised by the University;
• Promotion of the local area and schools: reduced rates for residents of the Province of Padua. In addition, the integrated ticket for the two “Padova Città della Scienza” sites is extended to school groups as well;
• Season tickets and families: annual subscription options and family-format tickets are confirmed and expanded.
For further decisions taken by the Board of administration, please refer to the report.
