Polytechnic University of Milan

Polytechnic University of Milan

Politecnico di Milano
Former name	Istituto Tecnico Superiore (1867–1927) Regio Politecnico di Milano (1927–1945)
Motto	Scambia la tua mente (Italian)[1]
Motto in English	"Exchange your mind"
Type	Public technical university
Established	29 November 1863
Founder	Francesco Brioschi
Rector	Donatella Sciuto[2]
Total staff	2,919 (2022–23)[3]
Students	47,959 (2022–23)[4]
Doctoral students	1,893 (2022–23)[5]
Location	Milan, Lombardy, Italy 45°28′41″N 9°13′42″E / 45.47806°N 9.22833°E / 45.47806; 9.22833
Campus	Urban university
Language	English, Italian
Colors	White   Livid[6]
Affiliations	PEGASUS NEREUS TIME CESAER EUA EASN Association IDEA League UNITECH
Website	www.polimi.it/en

The Polytechnic University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano, abbreviated as PoliMi) is an Italian university located in Milan. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design.

Established in 1863 by Francesco Brioschi, PoliMi is the oldest university in Milan; inspired by German and Swiss polytechnic institutes, Brioschi founded the school in the hope of bettering Italy's scientific and technological progress. By the 20th century, the school had gained international recognition thanks to its influential faculty and a strong emphasis on largely modernist principles.^[7]

Politecnico di Milano is made up of two central campuses in Milan, called Bovisa and Leonardo, where the majority of the research and teaching activities are located, as well as other satellite campuses in five other cities across Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. The university’s central offices and headquarters are located in Città Studi’s Leonardo Campus, active since 1927.

The university provides a diverse selection of graduate programs. Of its 40,000 students, about 8,000 are international from more than 100 countries.^[8] The university also has established partnerships with several other institutions around the world, including ETH Zurich, TU Delft, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As of 2024, the Polytechnic University of Milan had an acceptance rate of 28%.^[9]

It is considered one of the leading technical universities in Italy and in Europe, and is consistently ranked as one of the best schools for architecture and engineering in the world. According to the QS World University Rankings for the subject area 'Engineering & Technology', it ranked in 2022 as the 23rd best in the world;^[10] It also ranked 7th worldwide for design, 12th for civil and structural engineering, 9th for mechanical and aerospace engineering and 7th for architecture.^{[11][12][13][14]} In 2024, SCImago Institutions Rankings listed the school 6th for architecture and amongst the top 50 schools for engineering in the world.^[15]

Some of the most notable alumni and professors from the school include Nobel laureate Giulio Natta, engineer, inventor, and aeronautical pioneer Enrico Forlanini, astrophysicist Amalia Ercoli Finzi, novelist Carlo Emilio Gadda, musician Demetrio Stratos, and architects Renzo Piano and Aldo Rossi.