The Sapienza University of Rome (Italian: Sapienza – Università di Roma), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ("wisdom"), is a public research university located in Rome, Italy.^[7] It was founded in 1303 and is as such one of the world's oldest universities,^[8] and with 122.000 students, it is the largest university in Europe.^[9] Due to its size, funding, and numerous laboratories and libraries, Sapienza is a major education and research centre in Southern Europe.^[10] The University is located mainly in the Città Universitaria (University city), which covers 44 ha (110 acres) near the Tiburtina Station, with different campuses, libraries and laboratories in various locations in Rome.

Sapienza was founded the 20th of April 1303 by decree from Pope Boniface VIII as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies more under more control than the free universities of Bologna and Padua. In 1431 Pope Eugene IV completely reorganized the studium and decreed that the university should expand to include the four schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy, in addition to the existing Theology. In the 1650s the university became known as Sapienza, meaning "wisdom", a title it still retains.^[11] After establishment of the Italian Republic in 1870, La Sapienza rapidly expanded as the main university of the new capital of Italy. In 1935 the new university campus, planned by Marcello Piacentini, was completed.^[12]

Sapienza teaches and conducts research in all pure and applied sciences and humanities. It is often considered the best in the world for classics and ancient history.^[13][14] Sapienza houses 50 libraries with over 2.7 million books, most notably the Alessandrina University Library, built in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII, housing 1.5 million volumes.^[15] It in addition has 19 museums, a botanical garden, and three university hospitals.^[16] Sapienzas alumni includes 10 Nobel laureates, Italian prime ministers, one pope, Presidents of the European Parliament and European Commissioners, as well as several notable religious figures, supreme court judges, and astronauts.^[17]

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The Sapienza University of Rome was founded in 1303 with the Papal bull In Supremae praeminentia Dignitatis, issued on 20 April 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII, as a Studium for ecclesiastical studies more under his control than the universities of Bologna and Padua,^[18] making it the first pontifical university.^[12]

In 1431 Pope Eugene IV completely reorganized the studium with the bull In supremae, in which he granted masters and students alike the broadest possible privileges and decreed that the university should include the four schools of Law, Medicine, Philosophy and Theology. He introduced a new tax on wine to raise funds for the university; the money was used to buy a palace which later housed the Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza church.

However, the university's days of splendour came to an end during the sack of Rome in 1527, when the studium was closed, some of the professors having been killed and others dispersed.^[19] Pope Paul III restored the university shortly after his election to the pontificate in 1534.

In the 1650s the university became known as Sapienza, meaning wisdom, a title it retains. In 1703, with his private funds, Pope Clement XI purchased some land on the Janiculum, where he created a botanical garden, which soon became the most celebrated in Europe through the labours of the Trionfetti brothers. The first complete history of the Sapienza University was written in 1803–1806 by Filippo Maria Renazzi.^[20]

University students were newly animated during the 19th-century Italian revival. In 1870, La Sapienza stopped being the papal university and became the university of the capital of Italy. In 1935 the new university campus, planned by Marcello Piacentini, was completed.

On 15 January 2008 the Vatican cancelled a planned visit to La Sapienza University by Pope Benedict XVI who was to speak at the university ceremony launching the 2008 academic year^[21] due to protests by some students and professors.^[22] The title of the speech would have been 'The Truth Makes Us Good and Goodness is Truth'.^[23] Some students and professors protested in reaction to a 1990 speech that Pope Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) gave in which he, in their opinion, endorsed the actions of the church against Galileo in 1633.^[12][21]

Sapienza University has many campuses in Rome, but its main campus is the Città Universitaria (University city), which covers 44 ha (110 acres) near the Roma Tiburtina Station. The university has satellite campuses outside Rome, the main one of which is in Latina.

In 2011 a project was launched to build a campus with residence halls near Pietralata station, in collaboration with the Lazio region.^[24] To cope with the ever-increasing number of applicants, the Rector also approved a new plan to expand the Città Universitaria, reallocate offices and enlarge faculties, as well as create new campuses for hosting local and foreign students.

The Alessandrina University Library^[25] (Biblioteca Universitaria Alessandrina), built in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII, is the main library housing 1.5 million volumes; it has some important collections including collezione ciceroniana and Fondo Festa.

Since the 2011 reform, Sapienza University of Rome has eleven faculties and 65 departments. Today Sapienza, with 140,000 students and 8,000 among academic and technical and administrative staff, is the largest university in Italy. The university has significant research programmes in the fields of engineering, natural sciences, biomedical sciences and humanities. It offers 10 Masters Programmes taught entirely in English.^{[citation needed]}

As of the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), Sapienza is positioned within the 151–200 group of universities and among the top 3% of universities in the world.^[32][33]

In 2016, the Center for World University Rankings ranked the Sapienza University of Rome as the 90th in the world and the top in Italy in its World University Rankings.^[34]

According to the QS Graduate Employability Ranking 2020, Sapienza places first amongst Italian universities for the indicator on Alumni Outcomes thanks to the number of university graduates employed in large companies and in managerial positions.^[35]

In 2024, Sapienza University of Rome ranked 134th in the world in QS World University Rankings.^[36] The subject Classics and Ancient history of Sapienza is ranked the 1st in the world by QS World University Rankings by subject.^[37] As the same ranking, the subject Archaeology ranks the 10th.^[38] The subject Physics & Astronomy of Sapienza is ranked 36th,^[39] Arts and Humanities is ranked 39th,^[40] and Psychology is ranked 70th.^[41]

To cope with the large demand for admission to the university courses, some faculties hold a series of entrance examinations. The entrance test often decides which candidates will have access to the undergraduate course. For some faculties, the entrance test is only a means through which the administration acknowledges the students' level of preparation. Students that do not pass the test can still enroll in their chosen degree courses but have to pass an additional exam during their first year.^{[citation needed]}

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