Bocconi University


Bocconi University is a private university in Milan, Italy. Bocconi provides undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education in the fields of economics, finance, law, management, political science, and public administration. SDA Bocconi, the university's business school, offers MBA and Executive MBA programs.
Bocconi University is consistently ranked as the top university in Italy in its fields, and as one of the best in the world. In 2020, QS World University Rankings ranked the university 7th worldwide and 3rd in Europe in business and management studies, as well as 1st in economics and econometrics outside the U.S. and the U.K..

History

Bocconi University was founded in 1902 by Ferdinando Bocconi and was named after his son, who died in the Battle of Adwa during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. The university was originally affiliated with the Politecnico di Milano engineering school and incorporated a teaching model that was based on what was in use at the École Supérieure of Antwerp.

Campus

The campus was originally located in Via Statuto near the Pinacoteca di Brera, where its first building was inaugurated in 1902. The current campus is now located beside Parco Ravizza, between Via Sarfatti and Viale Bligny and consists of several buildings, all within walking distance to Porta Ticinese, the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio:
Several other administrative and research offices of Bocconi's individual institutes are scattered across the area, especially around Parco Ravizza and Viale Isonzo.

Dormitories

Bocconi University provides off-campus students with approximately 1800 places in dorms.
Residences for students are Bocconi Residence, Javotte Residence, Dubini Residence, Spadolini Residence, Arcobaleno Residence, the more modern Isonzo Residence, Bligny Residence, and the latest Castiglioni Residence and the former Kramer Residence. The type of accommodation varies between the residences and the choice is among single rooms in apartments for either one, two or four people. The residences offer also services to students such as cleaning services, laundry rooms, study rooms, parking spaces. Many students, however, choose to rent private apartments which are easy to find around the university area.

Academics

Undergraduate programs

The university offers four three-year undergraduate courses in Economics which share a common basis in the first three semesters and then distinguish themselves from one another by focusing on either Finance, Social sciences or Business administration ; the fourth course is entirely taught in English and is targeted at both international students and students pursuing an international career. Students in this course have the choice to major in Economics, Management or Finance during their course of studies.
A fifth separate three-year undergraduate course in Economics focuses on the economics and management of Arts, Culture and Communication.
The University also offers a five-year course in Law, which incorporates the Italian equivalents of the Bachelor of Laws and the Master of Laws.
Both the bachelor's degrees in Finance in Italian and in English have been recognized by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. The partnership is granted to programs which cover at least 70% of the content necessary to take the CFA Program Exam level III, the highest level.
In a joint venture with the Central European University of Budapest, Bocconi also offers a four-year Dual Degree in International Business, the first two years of which are spent in Budapest and the latter in Milan.

Graduate programs

The Bocconi Graduate School mainly offers master programs mainly taught in English, with some also in Italian:
Bocconi has established a number of partnerships for its Master of Science programs: the Master of Science in Finance was among the first six programs in the world to establish a partnership with the CFA institute and the first in continental Europe, while the Masters of Science in Management and International Management enable a select number of students to take part in the CEMS Master of International Management, of which Bocconi is a founding member, along with HEC, ESADE and University of Cologne.

School of Law

Bocconi University School of Law was established in 2006, consolidating the tradition of legal studies at Bocconi under the aegis of the "A. Sraffa" Institute for Comparative Law. The School of Law currently offers a combined LL.B. and LL.M. in Law, runs the Specialization School for Legal professions in cooperation with the University of Pavia, and hosts a Summer Academy in cooperation with the University of Trento, as well as with the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.

PhD School

The Bocconi PhD School offers the following 4-year PhD programmes:
SDA Bocconi is the graduate business school of the University and offers internationally recognised MBA Programs highly ranked by Financial Times and Forbes magazine. The school is also the publisher of E&M, a popular Italian business and management review.
Apart from the MBA, the SDA offers further Master of Science programs in Corporate Finance and Banking, Real Estate Management, Fine Food and Beverage management, Fashion Management, Design Management, Sports Law and Sport Management, and a Master in Stage and Show Management in a joint venture with the Academy for the Performing Arts of the opera house La Scala.
The SDA also offers professional education to executives and managers.
SDA Bocconi also has a combined MBA and Master of Arts in International Affairs with the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Johns Hopkins University's Bologna Center.

Research and endowment

In 2006, research was mainly funded by Bocconi itself, the European Union and the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, in addition to other external sources.
In 2011, the European Research Council assigned around €5 million to five projects in the area "social science and humanities" led by five Bocconi professors.
As of 2007, the University has 20 permanent research centers and four research project centers. Bocconi is a member of the Offshoring Research Network, an international network researching the offshoring of business processes and services.

Departments

Student life

Student associations

The University is home to a number of societies, some of which are directly involved in facilitating students' integration into the campus life environment and in organizing special events ranging from business games to excursions.

Student publications

The University hosts several student run publications:
Bocconi lies in the Navigli area of Milan, making for easy access to all the main landmarks and activities of the city for its students.

Superstitions

In the atrium of the oldest building of the university there are three sets of doors. The central doors, which are larger than the others, have two lions to either side of them. There is a superstition within the university that students who pass in-between the two lions via the central doors risk not being able to graduate. This derives from the old adage "Chi passa tra i Leoni non si laurea alla Bocconi."
The three main buildings of Bocconi, if seen from the top, seem to spell "30L", the maximum achievable grade in any exam. The building in Via Roentgen is the "3", the velodromo is the "0" and the main building is a cross of two "L"s. It is not clear whether it was planned to have such a shape or was just by chance; in any case, it is considered a good omen to the students.

Notable people

Alumni

The title of Alumnus of the Year was given for the first time in 2011 to Fabrizio Saccomanni, former general director of Bank of Italy, and replaced the prizes for Bocconian of the Year and Master of Masters. The prize is given to an alumnus of any of the five schools who has distinguished himself following the Bocconian values of professionality, entrepreneurship, integrity, responsibility and openness.
The prize is given by the Bocconi Alumni Association. Recipients of the previous editions of the prize are: Diego Piacentini e Laura Cioli, Nouriel Roubini e Giovanni Castellucci, Alberto Cribiore e Gaetano Micciché, Enrico Cucchiani e Paolo Cuccia, Vittorio Grilli, Claudio Costamagna, Vittorio Colao, Paolo Scaroni, Marco Drago, Corrado Passera, Renato Soru, Emma Bonino, Alessandro Profumo, Emma Marcegaglia, Isabella Ventura, Carlo Scognamiglio, Marco Tronchetti Provera, Giovanni Giudici, Lucio Stanca, Jody Vender, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Giordano Zucchi, Roberto Mazzotta.