ACADEMIC YEAR
A 12-month period, spanning two calendar years, during which teaching activities take place, such as lectures, exercises and laboratory work.

AREAS OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY COUNCIL (CONSIGLIO UNIVERSITARIO NAZIONALE  – CUN)
The National University Council is a consultative and advisory body to the Italian Minister for Education, Universities and Research. As an elected representative body of the university system, it issues opinions, formulates proposals and recommendations, and conducts studies and analyses on matters of interest to the university system. The areas established by the CUN are organised into 14 categories:

  • Area 01 Mathematical and computer sciences
  • Area 02 Physical sciences
  • Area 03 Chemical sciences
  • Area 04 Earth sciences
  • Area 05 Biological sciences
  • Area 06 Medical sciences
  • Area 07 Agricultural and veterinary sciences
  • Area 08 Civil engineering and architecture
  • Area 09 Industrial and information engineering
  • Area 10 Antiquities, philological-literary and historical-artistic sciences
  • Area 11 Historical, philosophical, pedagogical and psychological sciences
  • Area 12 Legal sciences
  • Area 13 Economic and statistical sciences
  • Area 14 Political and social sciences

RESEARCH FELLOW
A research fellow is an individual who has been awarded a research grant to conduct research activities. Fellows are selected through a public procedure in response to a specific call, and must have the scientific and professional background necessary to carry out the research.

DEGREE CLASS
A “container” which identifies a group of study programmes belonging to the same cycle. Each degree class has a name and a class designation expressed by a number. The characteristics of these classes are defined by specific National Ministerial Decrees and are therefore common to all Italian universities.

DEGREE PROGRAMME
Each degree programme is identified by its name and class designation, expressed by a number. This applies to all degree programmes, whether three-year, master’s or single-cycle master’s level. For instance, the Degree Programme in Economics, Institutions and Finance is class 28, encompassing all degrees in economic sciences.

THREE-YEAR DEGREE PROGRAMME
A three-year educational programme in which students are required to obtain 180 credits in order to graduate, equivalent to 60 credits per year.

MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMME
A two-year educational programme for students who have completed a three-year degree. In order to graduate, students are required to obtain 120 credits.

SINGLE-CYCLE MASTER’S DEGREE PROGRAMME
An educational programme extending over five or six years, in which students are required to obtain 300 or 360 credits, respectively, in order to graduate.

INFORMATION DASHBOARD
A system for visualising information that is characterised by its readability and immediacy. The current system is distinguished by its informative and interactive nature. It provides one or more pieces of information, which can be navigated through direct interaction with the data and visualisations.

DATASET
A collection of data, generally relating to the same organisation, that is delivered and managed together.

OPEN DATA
Data that is freely available for anyone to use and redistribute, subject to limited restrictions such as the requirement to cite the source or the use of copyleft licences.

LECTURERS AND RESEARCHERS

Lecturers: The term “lecturer” refers to both permanent faculty members and fixed-term researchers. A lecturer is someone who teaches a subject at the university level. Their role also includes scientific research and some administrative activities. Their responsibilities include teaching (preparing and delivering lectures, holding student reception hours, running seminars and examinations, supervising dissertations) and all research-related activities (e.g. scientific publications), as well as managing competitions and handling the necessary bureaucratic and administrative requirements. In the Italian university system, the following academic positions are recognised:

  • Full professor (or first-tier professor), appointed through a competitive procedure;
  • Associate professor (or second-tier professor), appointed through a competitive procedure;
  • Aggregate professor;
  • Contract professor;
  • Permanent University researcher;
  • Fixed-term researcher type A;
  • Fixed-term researcher type B;
  • Research fellow.

The title of emeritus professor is an honorary recognition awarded after the conclusion of the academic career.
Each lecturer and researcher belongs to a Scientific-Disciplinary Sector (Settore Scientifico Disciplinare – SSD). These sectors are grouped into fourteen broader competitive areas. According to Italian Law 240/2010 (also known as the “Gelmini Law”), a national scientific qualification is a prerequisite for access to the first and second tiers of professorships.

  • Fixed-term researchers (Ricercatore a Tempo Determinato – R.T.D.) carry out research and supplementary teaching activities. Contracts have a maximum duration of three years and may be renewed for a total duration of six years.
  • Fixed-term researcher (R.T.D.) type A (junior) and type B (senior): Article 24 of Italian Law No. 240, dated December 30 2010, outlines the hiring and career progression criteria. Type A researchers are offered a three-year contract, which is renewable for up to two additional years. Type B researchers have a non-renewable three-year contract. At the end of this period, their performance is evaluated. If the evaluation is positive and the researcher has obtained a national scientific qualification, they progress to the role of associate professor.
  • Research fellows hold a study grant, also known as a research grant, to carry out research activities. They are selected through a public competition based on a specific call, and they must have the scientific and professional qualifications necessary to carry out such activities.

PUBLIC RESEARCH BODIES (ENTI PUBBLICI DI RICERCA – EPR)
Research institutions defined by Italian Legislative Decree 218/2016.

TUSCAN PUBLIC RESEARCH BODIES
Public research bodies with their registered office or operational headquarters in Tuscany.

ERASMUS+:
A European Union programme that, from 2014 to 2020, supported education, training, youth and sport across Europe. With a budget of 14.7 billion euros, it offered study and training opportunities abroad to more than four million young people.

FP7
Commonly known as the “Seventh Framework Programme”, this was a directly managed European programme for research and technological development in force from 2007 to 2013. FP7 was designed for both the public and private sectors, with a total budget of 53.2 billion euros.

HORIZON-2020
Horizon 2020 is the European Union programme for research and innovation that ran from 2014 to 2020. The EU allocated significant funds to support high-level scientific and innovative research projects, with the aim of making Europe a global leader in science by fostering international and interdisciplinary collaboration and encouraging private investment in research.

PERCENTAGE INCIDENCE
The percentage incidence of funding is the ratio between the total funding obtained by the region or selected institution in a given thematic area and the total amount allocated by the European Union for the chosen area, expressed as a percentage.

INTEGRATION
Refers to all processes required to combine data from different sources in order to provide the user with a unified view of that data. Integration enables synchronisation of databases carried out in a “virtual” manner, that is, without extracting data from the source.

ENROLLED STUDENTS AND FIRST-TIME ENROLMENTS
The term “enrolled students” refers to all students enrolled in any degree programme, whether first-year or subsequent years. A student enrolling in a university programme for the first time is called a “first-time enrolment”. This status is acquired only once. Therefore, “first-time enrolments” refers to students enrolled in the first year of the three-year degree (commonly called “degree”) or the single-cycle master’s degree.

LINKED OPEN DATA
A term coined in 2006 by Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web, referring to a set of best practices for structuring, linking and publishing datasets using the languages and methods of the Semantic Web. Publishing Linked Open Data allows developers to establish links between information from different sources more easily, enabling the creation of new and innovative applications.

ONTOLOGY
In the field of computing, this is a formal and shared representation of the concepts and mutual relations that characterise a specific domain of knowledge.

FULL PROFESSOR
The full professor (also called a first-tier professor) is a lecturer who holds a chair and represents the highest rank in the academic career.

EXTRAORDINARY PROFESSOR
An extraordinary professor is a lecturer who has been appointed for a three-year period before their appointment as a full professor. Under the previous university system, three years were required before progressing to a permanent first-tier role, after which a scientific and teaching evaluation would be carried out. However, this is no longer provided for in current legislation.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
An associate professor, also known as a second-tier professor, is a lecturer who holds a chair. They differ from full professors in that they occupy a lower position in the academic hierarchy.

NON-CONFIRMED ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
A non-confirmed associate professor is a lecturer who has been appointed to a position within three years of being confirmed as an associate professor. Under the previous system, individuals had to complete a three-year probationary period before taking up a permanent position in the second-tier role, after which they underwent a scientific and teaching evaluation. This requirement no longer exists under current legislation.

ORIGIN OF MAIN PARTNERS
Main partners, whether public or private, are categorised based on their place of origin. Due to the way data is structured at the source, it is important to note that partners are recorded according to the location of their headquarters. Consequently, if the headquarters of a partner are located in Rome but the branch collaborating with a Tuscan university is in Tuscany, that partner will be listed as “Rest of Italy” and not “Tuscany”. This distortion mainly affects so-called national research organisations (e.g. CNR, CNRS and CSIC), and is known as the “headquarters effect”.

ORIGIN OF FIRST-TIME ENROLMENTS
The origin of first-time enrolments is calculated based on the residence recorded by universities during the enrolment phase.

RDF (Resource Description Framework)
RDF is a set of specifications developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to provide a metadata modelling tool in various formats.

PERMANENT RESEARCHER
A permanent researcher contributes to the development of the scientific research of the university and performs additional teaching duties. This role is currently being phased out.

NON-CONFIRMED PERMANENT RESEARCHER
A non-confirmed permanent researcher is someone who has been employed as a researcher for three years before being confirmed as a permanent researcher. Under the previous system, three years were required before taking up permanent service in this role, followed by a scientific and teaching evaluation. This is no longer required under current legislation.

FIXED-TERM RESEARCHER TYPE A (Junior) AND TYPE B (Senior)      
The roles of fixed-term researcher (R.T.D.) Type A and Type B were introduced by Article 24 of Italian Law No. 240, dated December 30 2010. This legislation establishes hiring and career criteria. Type A involves a three-year contract, renewable for up to two additional years, while Type B involves a non-renewable three-year contract, after which an evaluation is carried out. If the research assessment is positive and the candidate holds a national scientific qualification, promotion to the position of associate professor is granted.

FIXED-TERM RESEARCHER
A fixed-term researcher carries out research and additional teaching duties. Contracts have a maximum duration of three years and can be renewed up to a maximum overall duration of six years. This role is currently being phased out.

SCIENTIFIC-DISCIPLINARY SECTOR
This is a disciplinary categorisation used in Italy to organise higher education. The current sectors are defined by Ministerial Decree No. 855, dated October 30 2015, and have been in effect since their publication in the Official Journal on November 20 2015. There are 367 scientific-disciplinary sectors, which correspond to 188 competitive sectors (Settori Consensual – S.C.), 88 macro-sectors, and 14 areas. Each university lecturer, therefore, belongs to a single defined sector.

SPARQL Endpoint
The acronym for “SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language”. It is a formal language for querying data represented in the RDF (Resource Description Framework) format. It is one of the standard languages recommended by the W3C, characterising the Semantic Web.

SPIN-OFF:
An enterprise created from a pre-existing organisation or unit that generates a new source of activity, which is sometimes supported by the original organisation. Academic or university spin-offs are enterprises created from universities and research centres, characterised by their ability to transfer innovations produced by academic research to the productive sector.

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS         
National students hold Italian citizenship. Consequently, international students are those who do not hold Italian citizenship, even if resident in Italy. This definition does not include international mobility students, such as participants in Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus and similar programmes.

TYPE OF DIPLOMA
The reorganisation of the second cycle of the national education system provides three different educational programmes:

  • Lyceums, structured into six types: classical, linguistic, scientific (with the new optional “applied sciences” path), human sciences (with the socio-economic option), music and dance, and artistic lyceum.
  • Technical institutes, organised into two sectors: economic and technological, within which there are 11 study paths.
  • Vocational institutes, organised into two sectors: services, and industry and crafts, within which there are 6 study paths.
[/fusion_table]