Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

Scuola Normale of Pisa

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
Type	State-supported
Established	1810
Director	Prof. Vincenzo Barone
Administrative staff	ca. 120
Undergraduates	ca. 150
Postgraduates	ca. 120
Doctoral students	ca. 190
Location	Pisa, Italy
Website	www.sns.it/

The Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (SNS) is a public higher learning institution in Pisa, Italy.

The Scuola Normale, together with the University of Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, is a part of the Pisa University System. It is one of the three officially sanctioned special-statute public universities in Italy, being part of the process of Superior Graduate School in Italy (grandes écoles), or Scuola Superiore Universitaria.

According to the World University Ranking 2016 made by the Times, Normale is considered to be the best university in Italy and one among the best 50 in Europe.

The Scuola Normale Superiore was founded in 1810 by Napoleonic decree, as twin institution of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, itself dating back to the French Revolution jurisdiction.

The term école normale (scuola normale) was coined by Joseph Lakanal who, in submitting a report to the National Convention of 1794 on behalf of the Committee of Public Instruction, explained it as follows: "Normales : du latin , règle. Ces écoles doivent être en effet le type et la règle de toutes les autres."

Napoleon I rethought the project of an école normale in 1808, by establishing a hall of residence in Paris to house young students and train them in the art of teaching the humanities and sciences. The project was replicated in Tuscany by a decree dated 18 October 1810, with the foundation in Pisa, seat of one of the Imperial University Academies, of a branch of the École Normale Supérieure of Paris, called the Scuola Normale Superiore.