As top university in Italy, and also - for the first time ever for an Italian university - in the top 100 of the world's academic standings, the Politecnico di Milano is the big surprise this year in the QS World University Rankings, one of the most authoritative indexes in the world.
For the fourteenth consecutive year the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston is the best university on the planet, followed by Imperial College London and Stanford (USA), which gains three positions.
Fourth is the British Oxford, while in fifth place is the American Harvard, a protagonist in the last few weeks of a very tough clash with President Donald Trump.
The report, which considers over 1500 universities of 106 university systems in the world, also records the growth of Asian universities (the Nus of Singapore is eighth, Hong Kong eleventh and Beijing fourteenth), but reserves a big surprise at the bottom of the top 100, with the best placement ever for an Italian university.
Thanks to a leap of 17 positions, the Polimi Milan Polytechnic therefore enters history, driven by improvements in 'employer reputation', 'academic reputation' and 'employment outcomes'.
"A significant achievement - commented the rector Donatella Sciuto - In the last decade we have achieved an improvement of 89 positions, which we owe to our community for its unwavering dedication and a long-term development strategy.
Our strength lies in the quality of research and teaching".
In the Italian ranking it is followed by the 'Sapienza' of Rome, which rises four positions in the world ranking, where it is 128th.
"Being the first generalist university in Italy - exults the rector Antonella Polimeni - is a source of great satisfaction and profound pride.
It is the best positioning ever achieved by Sapienza in this prestigious global ranking".
Third in Italy is the Alma Mater of Bologna, followed by Padua and the Polytechnic of Turin.
The QS report allows for a detailed analysis of the state of the Italian university. Italy continues to be recognized globally for its academic excellence: four universities are among the top 150 in the world for reputation, and they are Sapienza (65th), Bologna (66th), Polimi (84th) and Padova (119th) but the picture is not homogeneous beyond these leaders.
The best Italian universities in fact also continue to gain credibility with global employers, but this only applies to the universities at the top of the ranking.
Sapienza leads the ranking of the 'employment outcomes' indicator (92nd in the world), but only seven Italian universities are among the top 500 in the world in this parameter.
The academic reputation of Italian researchers is also growing; with respect to sustainability, in Italy there is "a core of universities that invest with conviction", in particular Padua, first in the country and 110th in the world, but the overall trend is declining.
The QS report also photographs the critical issues of the Italian university. Internationalization, for example, is still a critical area, and only four universities are in the world's top 500 for percentage of foreign students: few courses taught in English and few resources, while on the other hand there is too much bureaucracy.
Another sore point is what QS defines as "the Achilles heel" of the Italian academy, that is, overcrowded classrooms and understaffed faculties. Why? Insufficient funding, slow academic recruitment and rigid public hiring frameworks. "Italy's entry into the world's top 100 - comments QS CEO Jessica Turner - represents a milestone, but now is the time to transform individual successes into structural and lasting progress.
To truly compete on the global stage, Italian universities must enhance their strengths in research, expand investments in internationalization and decisively address the critical issues related to the employability of graduates and the resources of the teaching staff. The foundations are there: now we need courageous and coordinated action".
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