Officially founded in 1343, the University of Pisa is one of the oldest and most renowned
universities in Europe. With around 50,000 students, 20 departments and over 150 degree
programmes, it combines a centuries-long academic tradition with cutting-edge research
and innovation.
Pisa has always been a place where ideas shape the future: it was here that Galileo Galilei
laid the foundations of modern science, and where Nobel laureates like Giosuè Carducci,
Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia once studied. Today, the University remains a dynamic
centre for scientific and cultural progress, consistently ranked among the best in Italy and
Europe.
Beyond the classroom, the University is deeply connected to the city itself. Pisa’s compact
size, lively atmosphere, and strong international community make it an ideal place to study
and live. Students can explore historic buildings, enjoy life along the Arno River, and
engage in a multicultural environment that encourages curiosity and collaboration.
At the University of Pisa, tradition and innovation meet every day, fostering open minds,
global citizens, and a shared passion for discovery.
The University of Pisa and Circle U.
As a member of Circle U., the University of Pisa has been actively contributing to the
alliance’s strategic and academic development. The university currently coordinates the
Knowledge Hub on Artificial Intelligence – together with the University of Belgrade –
fostering interdisciplinary collaboration on the ethical, societal, and technological
dimensions of AI. In addition, it plays a leading role in promoting societal engagement
across the alliance and supports the development of innovative learning opportunities
within the Open Campus. Among the initiatives promoted by the University of Pisa are the
first Summer School on Artificial Intelligence “Towards Human-Centered, Inclusive, and
Equitable Artificial Intelligence”, the “Tenuta Lab: Social Innovation Bootcamp”, and the
“Sustainable Wine Intensive Week”.
Latest news at the University of Pisa
From a Circle U. workshop in Pisa to an open-access book on Constitutional Courts
Events
The INCLUDE Webinar Series – Teaching INCLUsion, Diversity and Equity
Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence - Webinar Series
International Workshop "Meaning, Method, and Practice: Integrating Medical Humanities and Field Philosophy in Health Communication"
WFN "From Potential to Power" Spring Track 2026
Meet the Circle U. team at the University of Pisa
Do you have a question about Circle U.? Get in touch with our local Circle U. coordinator:
Name and address of the local coordinator: Paola Cappellini, Elena Favilli (pisa@circle-u.eu)
Management Board member
Giovanni Federico Gronchi
- Vice-Rector for International Cooperation and Relations
- Chair of the Management Board
Giovanni Federico Gronchi
- Vice-Rector for International Cooperation and Relations
- Chair of the Management Board
Giovanni Federico Gronchi, born in Pisa in 1970, built a dual foundation in classical studies and music before turning fully toward mathematics. After completing both his secondary school diploma and a piano diploma with top marks, he pursued a Master’s Degree in Mathematics at the University of Pisa, earning his laurea with highest honors in 1997 and later completing a Ph.D. in 2002 with a focus on collision singularities in the N-body problem. He continued his academic career at the same university, moving from Researcher to Associate Professor and eventually to Full Professor of Mathematical Physics in 2016.
His work in celestial mechanics has earned him international recognition. He has been active within the International Astronomical Union since 2006, holding several leadership roles, and has contributed to major astronomical projects such as Pan-STARRS as an external scientist. His achievements were honored in 2007 with the naming of asteroid (96217) after him. Gronchi has also held prominent national positions, including the presidency of the Italian Society of Celestial Mechanics and Astrodynamics and the coordination of the expert group evaluating Italian research in mathematics and computer science for ANVUR.
Contact : giovanni.federico.gronchi@unipi.it
Academic Chairs
Prof. Francesco Marcelloni
- Chair KH Artificial Intelligence
- Academic Chair
Prof. Francesco Marcelloni
- Chair KH Artificial Intelligence
- Academic Chair
Profile page and contact details
Francesco Marcelloni is Full Professor at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa (Italy). He serves as Director of the Knowledge Hub on AI of the European university alliance Circle U., and coordinates both the Good AI Lab and the IT2PAO Lab at the University of Pisa. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the University.
His main research interests include federated learning, explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), fake news detection, sentiment analysis, opinion mining, and clustering algorithms. He has co-edited four volumes and four special issues in international journals, and is (co-)author of one book and more than 280 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, books, and conference proceedings.
In the last years, he has received the 2021 IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems Outstanding Paper Award and the 2022 IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine Outstanding Paper Award. Currently, he serves as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems (IEEE), Information Sciences (Elsevier), and Evolving Systems (Springer) journals.
He has served as General Chair and Program Chair of international conferences and has been invited as a speaker at scientific and outreach events. He has coordinated several national and international research projects funded by both public institutions and private organizations.
Prof. Alessio Cavicchi
- Chair InCU.bator
- Academic Chair
Prof. Alessio Cavicchi
- Chair InCU.bator
- Academic Chair
His research activity focuses on the analysis of consumers’ choice on local and quality products, of sustainable tourism and of innovation processes in the agri-food sector and in rural areas.
He published more than 200 papers and chapters in national and international journals and books. He is co-editor of the Book Series “Consumer Science and Strategic Marketing” published by Elsevier.
He has been coordinator and partner of several European projects Horizon, Erasmus+ Knowledge Alliances and Strategic Partnerships on the collaboration between universities, business and territory.
He has been an invited speaker and external expert for the Italian Ministry of University and Research, the World Tourism Organization and the European Commission (specifically Joint Research Center, DG Regio, DG Education and Culture, DG Agri e DG RTD) on topics concerning innovation of agri-food and rural areas and the collaboration between universities and territorial stakeholders.
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Full Professor in Agribusiness, Rural Development and Branding – Rector’s Delegate for the Promotion of Entrepreneurial Culture and Innovation
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment
University of Pisa
Dr. Lara Tavoschi
- Chair KH Global Health
- Academic Chair
Dr. Lara Tavoschi
- Chair KH Global Health
- Academic Chair
Lara Tavoschi is senior researcher in Public Health at the University of Pisa. She worked at the Italian National Institute of Health and the European Centre for Disease prevention and Control on translational research and evidence-based public health. She is dedicated to prevention and control of communicable diseases, with a focus on socially-deprived population groups.
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Senior Researcher in Public Health
School of Medicine, University of Pisa
Prof. Michelangelo Zaccarello
- Chair CU.mil
- Academic Chair
Prof. Michelangelo Zaccarello
- Chair CU.mil
- Academic Chair
After teaching in Dublin, Oxford and Verona, Michelangelo Zaccarello is professor of Filologia italiana at the University of Pisa and held 2 Fulbright terms at Indiana U. and Northwestern (IL): his main research areas are the textual scholarship of early Italian literary texts, mainly comic verse and short stories (with critical editions of Burchiello, Pulci, Sacchetti), and digital philology. He has spent visiting terms in several European and North-American universities and is now President of ICoN academic consortium (www.italicon.education). Of his more than a hundred publications, many appeared outside Italy and Europe. Amongst his recently published books: L’edizione critica del testo letterario (Mondadori 2017), Teoria e forme del testo digitale (Carocci 2019), Leggere senza libri (Cesati 2020).
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Full Professor at the Faculty of Arts
University of Pisa
Dr. Stefano Galatolo
- Chair KH Climate
- Academic Chair
Dr. Stefano Galatolo
- Chair KH Climate
- Academic Chair
Stefano Galatolo is Associate Professor at the Department of Mathematics at University of Pisa. He is vice director for the Inderpartmental Center for the study of Complex systems of the University of Pisa, Section Editor for Chaos Solitons and Fractals (Elsevier) and Journal of Fixed Point Theory and Applications (Springer Birkhauser). His research interests range from the study of the statistical prop-erties of dynamical systems to the applications to the understanding of the behavior of complex sys-tems, including the applications to climate science, computational methods and validated numerics.
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Dipartimento di Matematica
University of Pisa
Prof. Filippo Chiarello
- Chair CU.til
- Academic Chair
Prof. Filippo Chiarello
- Chair CU.til
- Academic Chair
Filippo Chiarello is currently an Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) at the School of Engineering, University of Pisa. He teaches Design and Innovation at the master’s degrees of Engineering Management and Data Science. His research focuses on natural language processing techniques for studying technological innovation and HR-related phenomena. He is responsible for faculty development for his institution.
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School of Engineering, DESTEC
University of Pisa
Prof. Valentina Calderai
- Chair KH Democracy
- Academic Chair
Prof. Valentina Calderai
- Chair KH Democracy
- Academic Chair
Valentina Calderai is Associate Professor of Private Law, Comparative Private Law, and AI Law applied to Biomedicine at the University of Pisa, where she is coordinator of the Private Law curriculum of the Doctoral Programme in Law. She holds master’s degree in Philosophy (University of Urbino), Law (University of Florence) and a PhD in Private Law and Comparative Private Law (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna).
She is currently the holder and coordinator of the Jean Monnet Chair 'Health Law and Development in the European Union' (HeLDEn, 2023–2026), funded by the European Commission, and serves as Principal Investigator for the project 'A Legal Framework and Feasibility Study for Open Access Biobanks' (ALeF, 2023–2025), funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research.
Her research interests span European private law and consumer protection, the regulation of biotechnologies, and the market for reproductive services.
Her recent publications include The Regulation of Health Technologies. A European Perspective (with C. De Maria), Pisa University Press, 2025; The Self and the Commodified Self: Biotechnologies before the Bare Life, in H.W. Micklitz & G. Vettori (eds.), The Future of the Person, Hart Publishing, 2025.
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Associate Professor of Private Law, Comparative Private Law, and AI Law applied to Biomedicine
Prof. Alessandro Balestrino
- Vice-Dean Open campus
- Academic Chair
Prof. Alessandro Balestrino
- Vice-Dean Open campus
- Academic Chair
Alessandro Balestrino is professor of Public Economics at the Department of Political Science, University of Pisa. He teaches and does research on such issues as public expenditure, especially the Welfare State, tax policy, especially the taxation of families, and the economic concept of well-being.
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Department of Political Science
University of Pisa
