Sant'Anna 2031: Four Special Projects to Accelerate Research, Innovation, and the Public Role of Knowledge
The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies presents its 2026–2031 Strategic Plan and 2026–2028 Three-Year Programme. The new planning cycle introduces four Special Projects—Pisan University and Research System, MeMo, Innovation Hub, and Sant'Anna Forum—designed as cross-cutting initiatives to strengthen the School's position, reinforce Pisa's role as a knowledge ecosystem, and enhance the societal impact of education and research.
The Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies has presented its 2026–2031 Strategic Plan and 2026–2028 Three-Year Programme, the policy documents that set the School's strategic direction through 2031, marking the end of Rector Nicola Vitiello's term of office.
The most significant innovation is the introduction of four Special Projects—Pisan University and Research System, MeMo (Merit and Social Mobility), Innovation Hub, and Sant'Anna Forum—designed to accelerate the School's development through cross-cutting, high-impact initiatives that translate its strategic vision into concrete actions.
The Strategic Plan builds on a period of sustained growth, as reflected in the School's 2025 figures: more than 870 staff members, approximately 700 students enrolled in the Ordinary Courses and PhD programmes, 590 active research projects, 767 scientific publications, more than 250 patent families, 42 spin-off companies, and total revenues approaching €100 million. These results confirm the strength of the Sant'Anna model and mark the beginning of a new phase focused on consolidating growth, strengthening institutional processes, and enhancing the School's national and international standing.
"The 2026–2031 Strategic Plan sets out a concrete roadmap to support the School's growth and strengthen its role within the Italian higher education, scientific and institutional landscape, at a time when the national university system is showing significant signs of development and consolidation," said Rector Nicola Vitiello. "The four Special Projects are operational tools addressing key priorities for Sant'Anna: collaboration within Pisa's academic and research ecosystem, social mobility, technological innovation, and fostering dialogue between scientific knowledge and public policymaking."
"The beginning of my tenure coincides with a crucial stage in the School's development, marked by the launch of the 2026–2031 Strategic Plan and the 2026–2028 Three-Year Programme," said Director General Marina Petri. "This is a multi-level challenge that the administration will support by providing the expertise, processes and tools needed to meet the complexity of the School's ambitions. Implementing the Plan will require a shared, results-oriented approach focused on organisational quality and on strengthening Sant'Anna's public role at both the national and international levels."
"The School's international profile grows stronger as its capacity to generate impact increases," added Vice Rector Gaetana Morgante. "This is the rationale behind initiatives such as the Sant'Anna Forum, which are designed to enable research to contribute more effectively to public debate and policymaking. At the same time, the revision of the School's internal regulations, starting with its Statute and governing rules, will update its organisational model and make it even better equipped to address the challenges of the coming years."
The Four Special Projects
The Special Projects are cross-cutting initiatives with high visibility and impact, designed to integrate different areas of expertise and organisational structures while accelerating the implementation of the Strategic Plan in key areas such as talent attraction, research and education competitiveness, knowledge valorisation, social mobility, infrastructure development, and institutional positioning. Conceived as operational laboratories with measurable outcomes, they provide a clear identity to the Rector's mandate and reinforce the School's profile nationally and internationally.
Pisan University and Research System (SUP). A structured and long-term alliance between the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, the Scuola Normale Superiore and the University of Pisa, open to the area's other research institutions, with the goal of transforming Pisa into an integrated platform for education, research and innovation capable of competing globally as a leading knowledge ecosystem.
The project includes the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by 2026 and a framework agreement by 2027, alongside coordinated initiatives in joint academic programmes, shared research infrastructures, competitive research funding, international communication and global rankings.
MeMo – Merit and Social Mobility. The consolidation of MeMo as a national model for university guidance promoting social mobility. The programme provides an integrated system of personalised guidance, mentoring and educational activities supporting talented students—particularly first-generation university applicants—from secondary school through university enrolment.
Each year, the MeMo ecosystem—including MeMo, STEM – Girls Step Forward, and the Civic Education School—engages around 480 students, with more than 90% of participants continuing into higher education.
Over the next three years, Sant'Anna will work together with the MERITA Network of Italian Schools of Advanced Studies, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM) and the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), to develop a long-term sustainability plan ensuring the programme's continuation beyond Italy's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and enabling it to become a scalable national model.
Innovation Hub. An open innovation hub where universities, public institutions, businesses and investors collaborate to develop, test and transfer into society a new generation of (bio)robotic, omics and digital technologies, supported by artificial intelligence and aimed at enhancing the sustainability and resilience of welfare systems.
Sant'Anna will contribute both through its leading research fields—including (bio)robotics and bionics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, photonics, telecommunications, life sciences and omics technologies—and through its expertise in law, political and social sciences, and economics and management, addressing the regulatory, governance and organisational dimensions of technological innovation.
Sant'Anna Forum. A permanent platform for dialogue between research and public policy, providing decision-makers with evidence-based analysis, data and policy scenarios on issues central to the national and international agenda, including inequalities, rights, welfare, migration, economic policy, geopolitics, climate change, artificial intelligence and One Health.
The initiative will include preparatory satellite events by 2027, followed by the first edition of the Forum in 2028, together with the regular publication of policy briefs and reports designed to make a measurable contribution to public debate and policymaking.
The Nine Strategic Areas
While the Special Projects accelerate key priorities, the core of the Strategic Plan rests on nine Strategic Areas.
Four focus on the School's core missions: Education; Sant'Anna Community and Alumni; Research; Knowledge Valorisation. These are complemented by five cross-cutting areas: Digital Transformation; Identity and Communication; Internationalisation; Organisational Well-being; Infrastructure and Sustainability
It is through the balance between these Strategic Areas and the four Special Projects that the School's vision for Sant'Anna 2031 takes shape.
Further information: https://www.santannapisa.it/it/ateneo/santanna-2031
