Research

The basic mission of universities, which we share, is to contribute to social and economic development by increasing knowledge and favouring its transmission in such a way as to develop the skills and potential of the individual.

The knowledge possessed by university teachers depends on the quality of their research results; the knowledge acquired by students depends on the quality of the teaching staff and the teaching services available to them, in addition to their own efforts.

Well-planned research is thus at the basis of the production and transfer of up-to-date knowledge and the consequent attractiveness of the university to the best potential students and to new financial resources.

Our teaching staff are involved in research-oriented activity at different levels: departmental; interdepartmental; interuniversity and European.
They work in the following interdepartmental research centres: the centre for Cognitive Sciences; the Multimedia Centre for Research into Theatre History; the centre for study and research into the problems of the handicapped; and the centre for study and research on the conservation of the cultural heritage.
They also work in the following interuniversity centres, located in the University of Pavia: Science and Technology of the Image (run in conjunction with the universities of Florence and Rome); the Network of Earthquake Engineering Laboratories (run in conjunction with the Federico II university in Naples and the University of Basilicata) and in the following European centres: Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering and the European, Laboratory for Structural Assessment.

The research carried out by teachers in the Engineering Faculty falls into three categories: free, oriented and commissioned.
Free research is pursued independently by researchers within the university and has the aim of augmenting scientific knowledge and technology mainly for the purposes of higher education. Free research is carried out in all the departments where Faculty of Engineering teaching staff are employed.
Oriented research takes its aims from national and international projects conducted within the EC. The EC identifies sectors where development is needed and allocates resources by competition to public and private research organs who pursue EC-specified research aims. Normally the departments of the Engineering Faculty work on EC projects in consortiums with other organizations.
Commissioned research involves the production and transfer of knowledge to any cultural, social, manufacturing or services organization that requires it to improve the quality, efficiency or effectiveness of their processes. This type of research is financed by a public or private client whose objectives are normally short-term and who needs ready knowledge, generally to solve their own problems.

Masters courses, European Schools of Advanced Study and research doctorates are available to students who wish to undertake post-graduate professional specialization.
The Engineering Faculty promotes and organizes the following European Schools of Advanced Study through the University Institute for Higher Studies: Media Sciences and Technology (also held in Tunisia), Reduction of Seismic Risk and participates in the following: Materials Science and Nuclear and Ionizing Radiation Technologies.
The Faculty also offers research doctorates in the following areas: Civil Engineering; Construction Engineering and Architecture - EU; Bioengineering and Bioinformatics.