The Scuola Normale Superiore is a university institute of higher education, research and high-level training with a special status, whose prestige in the research and educational fields is recognised at an international level. Three of its former students – Giosuè Carducci, Enrico Fermi and Carlo Rubbia – have been awarded the Nobel prize; more recently, Alessio Figalli won the Fields Medal. The Normale promotes culture, teaching and research in the disciplines of the Humanities, mathematics, and natural and social sciences, and the exploration of their interconnections. It is a place where scientific, technological and cultural challenges find a fertile, open and stimulating ground, where the critical knowledge, scientific rigour and intellectual curiosity necessary for interpreting the complexity in which humanity is immersed contribute to the growth of our country and of Europe. The talent of its students, the high level and innovativeness of its research and its interaction with society, are the values that make up its identity.The curriculum of the Normale offers two possibilities: the undergraduate course (corresponding to a three-year degree course and a master's degree) and the PhD course. There are three faculties: the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy and the Faculty of Sciences, both sited in Pisa, and the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences (sited in Florence).