LUMSA University

LUMSA (Libera Università degli Studi Maria Ss. Assunta di Roma) is a public non-state Italian university formed on Catholic principles. It is the second oldest university in Rome after Sapienza, and was founded by Luigia Tincani in 1939. LUMSA is accountable to the state university system and awards qualifications equivalent to those issued by state universities.

Professionalism, growth and development are the University’s fundamental principles, along with teaching, employment, research and the student experience.

Students are the lifeblood of the university. The teaching staff maintain a direct and ongoing relationship with their students, and programs are designed to deliver specific high-level technical and cultural skills. With around 7.200 students, LUMSA is not just a high profile internationally recognised academic institution, it is also a place for personal development.

University life provides many opportunities for debate and participation, so the close links between humanistic tradition, technological innovation and our Catholic roots are at the very heart of the university.

University teaching is distributed across three departments: Law, Economics, Politics and Modern languages - Rome campus; Law - Palermo campus; Social Sciences - Communication, Education and Psychology. With around 300 internationally recognised tutors, the University provides both qualified education for young people and professional development programs for mature students.

Over the years the University has developed an impressive track record in helping students to find employment. At the end of their programs, students have the opportunity to embark on work placements or internships with leading public or private organizations with which the University has developed mutual relationships.

LUMSA has exploited its long-standing employment-focused tradition by creating the LUMSA Talent Academy a project aimed at creating direct links between our students and the managers of major national and international companies.

LUMSA’s Rome and Palermo campuses are both accredited test centres for major international qualifications in business, IT, languages and the professions. These qualifications include TOEFL Test Of English as a Foreign Language, CELI Certificazione Ufficiale della conoscenza della Lingua Italiana (recognised certificate of competence in Italian language).

LUMSA promotes and supports basic and interdisciplinary research through the University Centre for Research and Internationalization (Centro di Ateneo per la ricerca e l’internazionalizzazione - CARI) and the Ethics Committee for Scientific Research (Comitato Etico per la Ricerca Scientifica - ESRB) whose remit is to evaluate and advise on research proposals submitted by scholars working at LUMSA.

These centres support research, seminars and conferences in conjunction with Italian and international colleagues from the most prestigious universities in the world. LUMSA is a member of the Agency for the Promotion of European Research (Agenzia per la Promozione della Ricerca Europea - APRE), part of the EURAXESS network - Researchers in Motion - and Eduroam (Education Roaming).

The University was established on 26 October 1939, the date it received both its canonical erection and civil recognition by the Italian State. Unusually for that time, it was established by a woman, Luigia Tincani, together with Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, and has enjoyed the protection and support of the Holy See from the very start.

LUMSA is a private Italian university open to the public, which awards recognised qualifications; it has been supported and encouraged by each successive pope. It reflects the principles of Catholicism in the training it offers and in the education of the young people who study here, both in the direction that the teaching takes and the higher values attached to its research, such as fraternity, solidarity, equality and peace.