The Polytechnic of Milan is too big compared to the others
The Polytechnic of Milan is the best among Italian universities: it is in 47th place in the ranking of the best universities in Europe and remains an excellence of our country. Everything OK? Not exactly. According to what Affaritaliani.it can report, in fact, of the four polytechnic schools in Italy (in addition to that of the Lombardy capital there are also Turin, Bari and the Marche), the Milanese one has an operating result between ten and 30 times higher than that of the other universities. And this is starting to make others not like it so much. There is talk of unfair competition, there is fear that the attractiveness of Milan could overshadow other cities, in particular Bari, which is starting to complain about excessive “protagonism” of the university which was led until last year by Ferruccio Resta. A name that had even circulated as a possible candidate for the Lombardy Region and which was able to create an ecosystem with companies. A particularly strong bond if you consider that today Resta is on the board of directors of Allianz, Leonardo, Fiera Milano and is a member of the scientific committee of the Enel Foundation.
The Piedmontese capital, in fact, has a sort of “life insurance” which is represented by the presence of Stellantis – which has decided to make Mirafiori its center of excellence for the production of electric cars – and by the startup incubators that guarantee all in all fertile ground for young innovators. But the comparison is merciless. In 2022, Milan closed with an operating result of 94.48 million euros, which was also down compared to 2021 due to an increase of more than 10% in personnel costs. Turin ended the year with 9.58 million (increasing compared to 7.14 the previous year). Bari closed 2021 (last balance sheet available on the site) with a result for the year of 3.17 million, up compared to 2.98 million in 2020. Yet, if you only look at the members, Milan reports 47,959 and 1,893 doctoral students; Turin 38,700 total; Bari “over 10,000”. Not a numerical difference that justifies the gulf in turnover that separates them.
And, apparently, the grumbling is starting to grow. Proof of this is that the governor Michele Emiliano, during the States General of Export, launched the proposal for a “federation” of the other Polytechnics. A joke, probably, but it makes it clear that there is some dissatisfaction.
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