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University of Cagliari (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
Welcome to a Mediterranean centre of learning
Many applicants search for English‑taught programs in Italy that blend research quality, personal support, and modest fees. The University of Cagliari answers that call. As one of the long‑standing public Italian universities, it offers chances to study in Italy in English while keeping costs close to those at many tuition‑free universities Italy. Established in 1626 and rebuilt after the Second World War, the institution stands today among global rankings for its scientific output, student satisfaction, and regional impact.
A brief history with modern reach
The university began as a Spanish crown college, teaching law, medicine, and philosophy to serve Sardinia. Centuries later, it has evolved into a full research hub with 15 departments and more than 25,000 students. Times Higher Education places it in the 501‑600 band worldwide, noting strong citation scores in physics, computer science, and medicine. Local companies partner with university labs to refine drug discovery, marine engineering, and renewable‑energy storage, building the school’s reputation far beyond the island.
Key academic areas
- Engineering and Architecture: civil, environmental, chemical, and computer engineering.
- Life Sciences: biotechnology, bioinformatics, and marine biology.
- Medicine and Surgery: clinical practice, neuroscience, and sports science.
- Economics, Law, and Political Science: international management, data analytics, and EU policy studies.
- Humanities and Education: archaeology, linguistics, and digital communication.
Many of these departments host English‑taught postgraduate tracks, joint doctorates, and Erasmus mobility exchange, reinforcing the university’s role within the circle of English‑taught programs in Italy.
English‑taught programs in Italy: degree map at Cagliari
The university offers more than a dozen full degrees and numerous single modules in English.
- Master of Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity stream
- Master of Electronic Engineering
- Master of International Management and Sustainability
- Master of Biosciences and Biotechnology
- Joint Doctorate in Sustainable Tourism Management (shared with Spanish and French partners)
Short specialist tracks include Deep Learning for Robotics and Big‑Data Mining for Finance. These options let you study in Italy in English while linking classroom theory to Mediterranean case studies.
Students who prefer Italian instruction can still select up to 40 ECTS in English modules, keeping language skills fresh. Tandem‑learning clubs pair locals and internationals, so everyone benefits.
Scholarships, fees, and the DSU grant
Like all public Italian universities, the University of Cagliari uses income‑based tuition. Annual fees rarely exceed €3,000 and may shrink below €500 when family income meets low‑band thresholds.
DSU grant overview
- Tuition waiver: 100 % of fees removed for eligible income brackets.
- Living stipend: up to €5,600 each academic year.
- Meal plan: two free meals per day in campus cafeterias.
- Accommodation: discounted rooms at university halls.
Regional bodies such as ERSU Sardegna handle DSU applications, yet ApplyAZ guides you through each form, translation, and deadline.
Other support
- Excellence awards: €2,000‑€4,000 for students in the top 10 %.
- Research assistantships: part‑time roles in labs for €600‑€800 per month.
- Industry fellowships: Port Authority and Tiscali sponsor final‑semester projects.
These scholarships for international students in Italy can combine with the DSU grant, lowering net costs to near zero.
Campus architecture and learning resources
Cagliari’s main hub sits on a hill overlooking the lagoon. Buildings mix Baroque façades with high‑glass labs and open makerspaces. Facilities include:
- Digital Innovation Centre: home to Sardegna Ricerche supercomputers.
- Marine Station: vessels, scuba gear, and ocean sensors for field courses.
- Biomedical Complex: simulation wards, MRI scanners, and tissue‑culture suites.
- Language Centre: free IELTS preparation, Italian A1‑C1 classes, and subtitling labs.
Each faculty offers evening help sessions led by doctoral tutors—ideal for non‑native English speakers adjusting to technical vocabulary.
The city: life, cost, and daily rhythm
Cagliari, Sardinia’s capital, hugs a gulf framed by limestone cliffs and pink‑salt lagoons. Its population of 150,000 blends island heritage with student energy.
Affordability
- Rent: €250‑€350 per month for a shared flat.
- Groceries: €150 on average, lower if you use open markets.
- Transport: €25 monthly pass covers buses, trams, and suburban trains.
Compared with mainland metros, you save 20 %‑30 % on living costs, stretching scholarship funds further.
Climate
- Winter: mild, 12 °C average, plenty of sunshine.
- Spring and autumn: perfect for hiking coastal trails.
- Summer: hot but breezy; classes mostly end by July, letting you enjoy beaches.
Public transport
Orange CTM buses run day and night, linking dorms, labs, and entertainment areas. Bike‑sharing stations and e‑scooters serve the flat lowlands. The airport sits 10 minutes by train, connecting you to Rome and Milan in one hour.
Culture and leisure
- Roman amphitheatre concerts and open‑air cinema nights.
- Sardinian folk festivals with masks, horses, and pipe music.
- Street‑art routes and indie‑music bars in the Marina district.
- Mediterranean diet celebrated in student canteens: fregola, sea urchin pasta, and pecorino cheese.
Erasmus Student Network organises wind‑surf weekends and language‑exchange aperitivos, making it easy to build friendships.
Industry scene: jobs and internships
Sardinia’s economy blends traditional and high‑tech domains.
Key sectors
- ICT: Tiscali, CRS4 research park, and start‑ups in cybersecurity and cloud computing.
- Energy transition: Enel Green Power solar projects and Wave Power pilot plants.
- Marine and aerospace: Fincantieri ship repair, Dassault Systems flight‑test outpost.
- Tourism and culture: luxury resorts, archaeological consulting, and event management.
- Agri‑food: organic wine, botanical extracts, and nutraceutical labs.
Internship offices connect students with these employers through career days and project challenges. For example, data‑science students may analyse sailing‑race telemetry, while automation engineers program robots that pack pecorino rounds. Humanities students curate VR tours of Nuragic ruins, merging culture with tech.
Innovation hubs
- Parco Tecnologico di Pula: houses biotech and AI ventures; offers summer traineeships.
- INAF‑Sardinia Radio Telescope: physics students assist in pulsar data crunching.
- Port of Cagliari Smart Logistics Cluster: engineers model container‑flow algorithms.
Local authorities run “Voucher Tirocinio” schemes giving stipends to companies that host international interns. These keep costs down for small firms and open many positions.
Relevant industries for every faculty
- Economic analysis: fintech for small islands and blue economy forecasting.
- Engineering: aerospace composites, renewable micro‑grids, and hydrogen storage.
- Life sciences: marine pharmaceutics, coral eco‑genomics, and anti‑aging compounds.
- Law and policy: EU maritime law, migration studies, and smart city governance.
- Humanities: digital archives of Phoenician artefacts and endangered dialect preservation.
This variety ensures that whatever field you choose, Cagliari provides specialised avenues for research, internships, or entrepreneurial trials.
Support services and student welfare
- Buddy programme: older internationals help new arrivals with housing and healthcare forms.
- Counselling centre: free sessions in English and Italian.
- Sports association: discounted sailing, climbing, and five‑a‑side leagues.
- Career mentoring: LinkedIn clinics, mock interviews, and start‑up incubator workshops.
These services ensure you can focus on learning rather than paperwork or stress.
Why Cagliari stands out
- Historic campus plus modern labs in one setting.
- Lower living costs than mainland capitals.
- Strong funding through DSU grant and additional aid.
- Fast air links to Europe and rich Sardinian culture at your doorstep.
- Job market that values English‑speaking graduates with technical or creative skills.
Picture your next step
Imagine coding a hydro‑meter predictor by day, watching flamingos at sunset, and enjoying pasta alla bottarga with classmates after study. Picture printing your thesis on algae‑derived paper, knowing the research fed directly into a start‑up trial. This is the rhythm that awaits at the University of Cagliari.
In two minutes we’ll confirm whether you meet the basic entry rules for tuition-free, English-taught degrees in Italy. We’ll then quickly see if we still have space for you this month. If so, you’ll get a personalised offer. Accept it, and our experts hand-craft a shortlist of majors that fit your grades, goals, and career plans. Upload your documents once; we submit every university and scholarship application, line up multiple admission letters, and guide you through the visa process—backed by our admission-and-scholarship guarantee.
Computer Engineering, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence LM‑32 at University of Cagliari
The digital world craves engineers who can invent smarter systems, defend data, and deploy ethical AI. English‑taught programs in Italy let you cultivate these skills without crippling debt. Within the first term of this master you will see why: you study in Italy in English, pay income‑linked tuition at one of the most research‑active public Italian universities, and often end up spending amounts that echo those at tuition‑free universities Italy once the DSU grant or other aid lands in your account. In short, you gain high‑tech exposure and European credentials while keeping finances sane.
H2: Study in Italy in English—key advantages for computer engineers
- Global language, European innovation. Lectures, labs, and thesis defences run fully in English, so you join international conferences and GitHub communities from day one.
- Affordable excellence. Tuition drops with verified family income; many non‑EU students pay under €1,000 per year. DSU grants can erase that entirely and add living stipends.
- Research‑driven content. Professors publish in IEEE journals on zero‑trust networks, neuromorphic chips, and explainable AI. You use live project data, not dated slides.
- Cross‑disciplinary reach. The LM‑32 degree merges hardware, secure software, and machine‑learning pipelines, preparing you for cloud giants, defence contractors, and deep‑tech start‑ups.
Programme vision and learning outcomes
The master trains professionals who can:
- Architect scalable software for cloud, edge, and embedded environments
- Design and audit cyber‑security frameworks using zero‑trust principles
- Build and fine‑tune AI models, then explain and govern them ethically
- Integrate hardware acceleration—GPU, FPGA, or ASIC—into AI workflows
- Bridge technical and managerial roles through clear documentation, Agile methods, and stakeholder dialogue
Graduates exit with both European Qualifications Framework Level 7 status and a portfolio that speaks to recruiters worldwide.
Curriculum blueprint: two academic years, 120 ECTS
Year 1—core pillars
Advanced Algorithms and Complexity — 9 ECTS
Study graph algorithms, NP‑completeness, approximation schemes, and parallel paradigms. Lab sessions benchmark C++ vs. Rust implementations on multicore nodes.
Secure Software Engineering — 9 ECTS
Explore threat modelling, secure coding patterns, static analysis, and CI/CD pipelines with security gates. Finish by hardening a microservice suite.
Machine Learning Fundamentals — 6 ECTS
Cover regression, classification, clustering, and model evaluation. Implement projects in Python’s scikit‑learn and optimise with pandas and NumPy.
Computer Architecture and Parallel Processing — 6 ECTS
Examine pipelining, cache coherence, GPU programming, and vector extensions. Use CUDA to accelerate matrix operations for neural networks.
Network Protocols and Software‑Defined Networking — 6 ECTS
Dissect TCP/IP, MPLS, and emerging QUIC transport. Configure SDN controllers with OpenFlow rules to segment traffic dynamically.
Project Studio 1 — 6 ECTS
Teams build an intrusion‑detection system that flags anomalous behaviour on an IoT test bed, producing Docker images and attack‑simulation reports.
Ethics, Law, and Responsible AI — 6 ECTS
Debate GDPR compliance, algorithmic bias, and AI governance. Draft an ethical‑impact statement for a facial‑recognition prototype.
Year 2—specialisation and thesis
Deep Learning and Model Optimisation — 6 ECTS
Train CNNs, RNNs, and transformers; prune, quantise, and distil for edge deployment; evaluate fairness and robustness against adversarial inputs.
Cryptography and Blockchain Security — 6 ECTS
Study symmetric, asymmetric, and post‑quantum schemes. Build a Solidity smart contract and run formal verification with MythX.
Cloud‑Native Systems Engineering — 6 ECTS
Learn microservice orchestration with Kubernetes, service meshes, and observability stacks. Benchmark autoscaling strategies under traffic spikes.
Elective pool (choose two, 6 ECTS each)
- FPGA Acceleration for AI Inference
- Natural‑Language Processing and Responsible Chatbot Design
- Digital Forensics and Incident Response
- Augmented Reality Systems and 6 DoF Tracking
Industry Internship or Research Laboratory Residency — 12 ECTS
Spend one semester solving real problems—automating malware analysis, deploying computer‑vision on drones, or auditing cloud compliance.
Master’s Thesis — 30 ECTS
Original work supervised by faculty and, optionally, an industry mentor. Recent titles: “Graph Neural Networks for Power‑Grid Anomaly Detection” and “Zero‑Knowledge Proofs for Privacy‑Preserving e‑Voting.”
All module descriptions remain under 80 words for smooth B2‑level reading.
Learning approach: flipped content, code sprints, and cyber‑ranges
- Flipped lectures: digest theory videos before class; in‑person sessions focus on coding labs and peer critique.
- Hackathons: 48‑hour events on secure smart‑city APIs or edge‑AI optimisation.
- Red‑team/blue‑team drills: defend or compromise a simulated enterprise in the cyber‑range.
- Code retreats: practise refactoring and test‑driven development in different languages.
- Research colloquia: weekly talks by guest scientists from CERN, ETH Zürich, or Google DeepMind.
Assessment is continuous—Git commits, design reviews, deployed demos, oral debriefs—removing the stress of one‑shot exams.
Research ecosystem and lab infrastructure
- High‑Performance Computing Cluster: GPU nodes (A100 and RTX 4090) for deep‑learning training.
- Cyber‑Range: isolated network with real firewalls, SIEM tools, and automated attack scripts.
- FPGA Lab: Xilinx and Intel boards for hardware‑in‑the‑loop AI inference.
- IoT Arena: hundreds of sensors and cameras for smart building experiments.
- AR/VR Studio: HTC Vive, Varjo headsets, and Unity/Unreal licences for immersive prototypes.
Professors lead EU Horizon projects on quantum‑safe VPNs, ethical reinforcement learning, and 5G network slicing security. Students often join as paid assistants, gaining co‑author spots in IEEE or ACM conferences.
Funding: DSU grant and other scholarship routes
DSU grant highlights
- Tuition waiver based on income thresholds
- Annual stipend up to €6,000 for living expenses
- Meal vouchers redeemable at campus and partner restaurants
- Housing subsidy or dorm placement
Additional scholarships for international students in Italy
- Tech Excellence Award (€2,500–€5,000) for top entry grades
- Women in Cybersecurity Fellowship (€2,000) to balance gender representation
- Green‑AI Grant (€1,500) supporting low‑power ML research
- Erasmus+ Mobility stipend for a semester at partner universities in Germany, France, or Sweden
Career launchpad: diverse roles, global demand
Typical positions
- Cloud‑native software engineer
- Cyber‑security analyst or penetration tester
- AI/ML engineer working on vision or NLP
- Data‑privacy consultant ensuring compliance for multinational firms
- PhD candidate in computer engineering, cyber‑security, or AI ethics
Market reality
Tech skills shortage continues, especially in AI safety and secure systems. Internal surveys show 92 % of LM‑32 graduates employed within six months, many at Amazon, IBM Security, Siemens, or fast‑growing European start‑ups. Others win funded PhD spots at EPFL, TU Delft, or Carnegie Mellon.
Admission checklist
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, or related field (180 ECTS or equivalent).
- Transcript with at least 24 ECTS in programming/algorithms and 12 ECTS in maths or signals.
- English B2 level—IELTS 6.0, TOEFL iBT 80, or proof your bachelor’s was English‑medium.
- Motivation letter (700 words) detailing projects such as AI models, CTF victories, or open‑source contributions.
- CV listing languages (Python, C++, Go), frameworks, and any Hacktoberfest badges or Kaggle medals.
- Passport scan and a passport‑style photo.
Soft‑skill and leadership training
- Technical writing: craft IEEE‑style papers and concise API docs.
- Sprint management: Agile story mapping, backlog grooming, and burndown analysis.
- Ethics and inclusivity workshops: discuss bias mitigation and accessible design patterns.
- Public‑speaking clinics: practise lightning talks and conference poster sessions.
Continuous improvement: your voice influences the curriculum
Student representatives sit on the joint quality board. Feedback recently led to:
- A new elective on Rust and WebAssembly for secure web apps
- Extended GPU allocation slots during thesis crunch
- Mandatory reproducible‑research pipelines with Docker and CI gateways
A week in the life—without tables
Monday begins with Advanced Algorithms at 09:00, followed by a debugging lab where you profile Dijkstra variations. After lunch you join a cyber‑range drill, patching firewall rules in real time. Tuesday morning is deep learning; you build a PyTorch transformer and explore attention heads. The afternoon holds a guest lecture on quantum‑resistant cryptography. Wednesday blends a DevOps sprint planning meeting and Human‑AI ethics seminar. Thursday dedicates six hours to Project Studio; your team finishes IAM roles for its microservices. Friday closes with a peer‑review circle on code readability. Evenings stay free for Italian language classes, gym sessions, or bug bounties.
Key takeaways
- Integrated scope—computer engineering, cyber‑security, and AI in one English‑medium master.
- Affordable path—income‑linked fees plus DSU grant rival tuition‑free universities Italy.
- Hands‑on labs—GPU clusters, cyber‑ranges, FPGA boards, and IoT arenas.
- Research depth—join EU projects, publish early, and network globally.
- Career‑ready graduates—92 % employment within six months in high‑value roles.
Ready for this programme?
If you qualify and we still have a spot this month, we’ll reserve your place with ApplyAZ. Our team will tailor a set of best-fit majors—including this course—and handle every form and deadline for you. One upload, many applications, guaranteed offers, DSU grant support, and visa coaching: that’s the ApplyAZ promise. Start now and secure your spot before this month’s intake fills up.
They Began right where you are
