In brief
The University of Salerno is ideally linked to the oldest academic institution in the Old Continent: the Schola Medica Salernitana. Founded in the eighth century AD, the School reached its peak between the 10th and 13th century. In addition to medicine, its lectures included philosophy, theology and law. The School, which earned Salerno the title of Hippocratica Civitas (City of Hippocrates) after the famous Greek physician and treatise writer, was closed by royal decree in 1811 under Joachim Murat’s Napoleonic government. In 1944, by decree of king Victor Emmanuel III, the Istituto Universitario di Magistero “Giovanni Cuomo” was founded. This became state-owned in 1968, changing its name into Facoltà di Magistero dell’Università degli Studi di Salerno. Within a few years, the Faculty was joined by many others, which contributed to the formation of a major university. The Faculty of Arts was established in 1969. This was followed by the Faculty of Economics (1970); the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, and the Faculty of Law (1972); the Full Degree in Engineering (1983); the Faculty of Pharmacy (1991); the Faculty of Political Science (1992); the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature (1996); finally, the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (2006). As of 1987, the University is located in the town of Fisciano, a few kilometers from Salerno, at the junction of motorway intersections that make it central and easy to reach. The university is a very large compound in continuous expansion, covering around 100,000 square metres. Organized in the form of a campus (comprising the campuses of Fisciano and Baronissi), the university is equipped with residence halls for students and teachers, and boasts modern facilities and efficient services for orientation, teaching, studying and leisure activities. It currently counts about 40,000 students from Campania, Basilicata, Calabria and Apulia.
The University of Salerno in national and international rankings.
A "green" university
The University of Salerno has for years implemented specific policies for the sustainability of the campus in the economic, social and environmental sectors, in terms of improving and reducing the environmental impact of its activities, thus outlining the profile of what a sustainable campus aims to be.
In particular, the university’s energy planning focuses on three fundamental directions: the self-production of electricity and thermal energy from renewable sources, the improvement of the energy performance of the buildings in the two campuses, and finally the “Costruendo UNISA” program, i.e. the construction of new LEED Gold energy class buildings which bring about significant energy savings with lower atmospheric emissions compared with traditional building technologies. The university’s energy planning will receive an additional boost from the already funded Renewable Energy Plan, aimed at making the campuses totally self-sufficient. Furthermore, for the purpose of optimizing the integrated waste management, a new plan for separate collection and the “Plastic Free” project were recently launched. The commitment of the University of Salerno and the results achieved in the field of sustainability are evidenced by the results of the survey “UI Green Metric World University Rankings 2018”, which ranks the commitment of academic institutions worldwide in the development of “environmentally friendly” university infrastructures. The University of Salerno, on the basis of the scores received for each indicator, ranked 214 among the world universities, recovering 80 positions compared to 2017 (294th place). Among the indicators for which Salerno performed best are the organization of spaces and new infrastructures created for energy saving and environmental sustainability. In the Italian ranking, the University of Salerno is in 12th place and is the only university in the Center-South, together with Bari, to have entered the top “green” universities in Italy.
The campus of art
For a number of years now, the Fisciano university campus has been promoting and welcoming architectural projects and contemporary artworks in its interior and exterior spaces. Such a commitment has grown and consolidated over the years, beginning in 1991 with the installation of "Mnemata" by Pietro Lista, a bronze assembly of twelve elements that preserves the memory of the peasant locations on which University of Salerno was built. With "Furia Selvaggia" (Wild Fury) dating back to 1975, the Fisciano campus welcomes the work of Umberto Mastroianni, a brilliant and eclectic and Italian sculptor of the 20th century. His works are reminiscent of monumental sculpture in the use of abstract structural patterns of cubist-futurist derivation. The large sheet iron sculpture, donated by Mastroianni's heirs in 2001, confirms the artist's connection with the linear and dynamic structures of his peculiar sculptural language. In 2006, the University entrusted Ettore Sottsass Jr. and Enzo Cucchi with the rearranging of the area between the Rettorato building and the Great Hall. The two artists designed the "Chiostro della Pace” (Cloister of Peace), a 21mx30m structure covered by four long slightly sloping blue ceramic plates resting on large steel pillars covered with gray, blue, black and white stones. Inside are four fountain sculptures in glazed ceramic and terracotta by Enzo Cucchi – "Sphere with skulls", "Horse Head", "Mountain with Skulls", "Bust of a Supine Man" – donated by the Comune di Salerno, Provincia di Salerno and Regione Campania. Sottsass Jr's design, together with Cucchi's sculptures, received the PAALMA Award at the Triennale di Milano in 2008. In 2013, the Cloister underwent important restoration works, carried out under the supervision of Maria Passaro. In 2007, inside the university chapel, Paolo Cibelli created the sculpture "Legni Parlanti" (Talking Woods) by carving an altar and a lectern from an ultra-centenarian olive tree trunk. The campus community today can also enjoy "Orizzonte Due" (Horizon Two), an imposing site-specific sculpture in steel and glass by Greek artist Costas Varotsos, located at the campus' south entrance and realized as part the national exhibition project "L'Albero della Cuccagna. Nutrimenti dell'Arte", curated by Achille Bonito Oliva. For the campus, the artist thought up a “horizon” in reference to the future, a symbol of the inexhaustible and unsettling wealth of reality. It is composed of a slender, sinuous, corrugated steel ribbon featuring two curves touching the ground filled with strips of glass, reminiscent of water flowing in vases and then immediately returning to the ground, whereby every tree is nourished. A tree extending horizontally, Varotsos' sculpture is loosely based on the theme of the Albero della Cuccagna (Greasy Pole), according to the concept of the exhibition curated by Achille Bonito Oliva. In 2018, Rotondi-based Neapolitan artist Lucio Perone designed "Ombre" (Shadows), a steel and fiberglass sundial placed in Piazza del Sapere. A reference to history, art, craftsmanship and science, this piece of art tells the time of day based on the apparent motion of the sun in the sky. The acquisition of new public art works has therefore increased over the years, and has found its future development in the project "Art on Campus. OverAll, in situ and in progress", wanted and supported by Rector Vincenzo Loia.