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The Italian city of Parma was once called “Chrysopolis,” which means the “city of gold.”
To say once is probably glossing over it — that’s what it was called back in 183 BC. It was the centre point of economic and socio-cultural exchange; the place of a meeting between King Charlemagne and the Anglo-Saxon monk Alcuin in 781 which led to the birth of the Palatine Schools, the first contribution to the cultural and political renaissance of the West.
The University of Parma was founded in 962 AD, making it one of the oldest universities of the Western world. By then, the city of gold had grown its number of liberal arts schools, scholars and artists taking residence, and students from Italy and beyond the Alps. After the “Constitutions for New Royal Studies” in 1768, the streets were graced with institutions like the Palatine Library, and the university gained its fair share too, from anatomy theatres to a veterinary school.
To put it simply, the University of Parma has plenty of wisdom to impart.
The school’s age isn’t the only staggering number. The mid-sized university has 32,000 students with 960 teaching staff and researchers. They’ve got 102 degree courses and 111 postgraduate courses, with a track record of preparing many for the professional world.
As one of the oldest universities in the world, the university has built a strong foundation for leading its students to success. Source: University of Parma
“Many of the successes in my research career are really down to the outstanding engineering foundation that I was given,” Francesco Poletti says, now an alumnus. “Not only is it the quality of the teaching — in my view, second to none in Italy — but also the quality of the research produced by its main professional body.”
Poletti studied at the University of Parma from 1994 to 2000. He’s now a professor at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton where he leads a hollow-core fibre team. And, he’s a co-founder to a spinoff recently acquired by Microsoft. He’s co-authored more than 190 journals and 330 conference publications, is a holder of a European Research Fellowship Consolidator Grant, and has cemented himself as a prominent scholar in the UK.
That’s the kind of roadmap of success that the University di Parma gives you.
The university provides a few different methods to pursue your postgraduate studies: their Professional Master Programmes, PhD programmes, specialisation schools, training courses for recent graduates, teacher training, and it’s a centre for professional examinations.
If like Poletti, engineering’s your ball game, and you seek a new challenge as you wrap up your undergrad, then the Department of Engineering and Architecture is the place to jump into next. Università di Parma offers the MS in Communication Engineering, a course taught fully in English — perfect if you are an international student looking to study in Italy, with the programme spanning two years.
Through the MS in Communication Engineering, students will learn how technology runs our day-to-day communication — whether it’s nearby or in another country. Source: University of Parma
Think of how you video call your parents when you’re overseas, or all the Zoom calls you had during the pandemic. That’s possible through telecommunications — when you’re exchanging information through technology, like your phone or laptop, through long distances. Nowadays, with the internet. When taking on communication engineering at the university, you’ll be studying each facet of how that works. You’ll be equipped with a solid theoretical course in telecommunications, covering topics and research in fibre optical communications, and satellite, wireless, and Internet of Things (IoT) Communications, and more.
You’ll explore current technology in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) field, and work with faculty professors who have global reputations. They focus their research on three major ICT areas — telecommunications, computer engineering, and electronics. To add to that, research collaborations with international universities and institutions, alongside scientific and technical consulting with both local and foreign companies and public institutions. That’s a wide spectrum of experiential learning to give you real-world experience, making you workforce ready.
Such is the case for Dr. Marco Bertolini, who’s now the head of optical networks systems product line management at Nokia. He took on telecommunications at the University of Parma in 2001, studying there until 2009 when he graduated with a PhD in information technology. He’s co-authored more than 40 papers for conferences and peer-reviewed journals, and joined Nokia — then Alcatel-Lucent — in 2010.
Like him, MS in Communication Engineering graduates have made their mark in research centres all across Europe, like the Nokia Bel Labs France, and the European Space Agency (ESA).
And, the programme is offered at one of the most competitive prices in Europe, with numerous scholarships available to students.
“The programme combines a team of high-quality professors, great resource teams, and excellent industrial partnerships in Europe and North America,” Dr. Bertolini says. “Such a combination allows capable students to travel and the opportunity to work in research centres.”
The campus is located in one of the most picturesque, ancient towns in Italy, and they take pride in preserving their cultural heritage. Whether it’s through renowned chefs, food museums, and local fairs that showcase their cuisine on a silver platter. Or it’s through music — Parma’s known for opera, with several historic venues built in the city like the Regio Theatre, opened in 1829 and now a recipient of worldwide fame. Regardless, when you move to Parma, there’s always something new to explore.
Learn more about University of Parma and their MS in Communication Engineering.
