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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.
Study in Italy in English: Informatics LM‑18 at University of Cagliari
The digital era needs software engineers who think beyond code snippets. Employers seek graduates who understand algorithms, data ethics, system security, and human‑centric design. Many international students look for English‑taught programs in Italy that deliver all that knowledge within a manageable budget. This LM‑18 master lets you study in Italy in English for a fraction of typical fees, because public Italian universities set tuition on a sliding income scale. Add scholarship routes such as the DSU grant and you may pay costs similar to those at some tuition‑free universities Italy while gaining full access to high‑performance clusters, AI research labs, and industry‑sponsored hackathons.
A curriculum designed for tomorrow’s problems
Informatics is more than programming. It blends theoretical foundations, formal verification, user‑experience, cybersecurity, data science, and cloud infrastructures. The LM‑18 degree builds skills in all these domains so you can handle complex projects from concept to deployment. Whether you aim to engineer scalable web services, optimise machine‑learning pipelines, or safeguard critical systems, the course provides the right toolset.
Learning outcomes include:
- Modelling and analysing algorithms for efficiency and correctness
- Architecting distributed and cloud‑native applications
- Applying machine learning and data‑mining techniques to big datasets
- Designing usable, accessible, and inclusive interfaces
- Enforcing privacy, security, and ethical standards in software projects
- Communicating technical findings to mixed‑discipline teams
The programme’s structure follows the Bologna Process, awarding a total of 120 ECTS over two academic years.
Year 1: solid theory, modern practice
Foundations of Algorithms and Data Structures — 9 ECTS
Explore algorithmic paradigms such as divide‑and‑conquer, dynamic programming, and greedy optimisation. Analyse complexity and prove correctness. Weekly labs compare Python implementations with C++ versions for performance insight.
Advanced Programming Paradigms — 9 ECTS
Study object‑oriented, functional, and concurrent models. Build a multi‑threaded toolkit in Java, refactor it into Kotlin coroutines, then prototype a Haskell version to test type safety.
Databases and Big‑Data Systems — 6 ECTS
Design relational schemas, construct SQL queries, and deploy NoSQL stores. Run Hadoop and Spark jobs on the university cluster. Measure throughput under varying replication factors.
Software Engineering and DevOps — 6 ECTS
Learn Agile methodologies, version‑control workflows, continuous integration, and container orchestration. The semester project moves from user stories to Docker Compose files and GitHub Actions.
Human‑Computer Interaction — 6 ECTS
Investigate cognitive load, accessibility guidelines, and usability metrics. Conduct user tests of a mobile prototype and iterate based on empirical feedback.
Project Laboratory 1 — 6 ECTS
Teams create a SaaS (Software as a Service) app that visualises open government data. Deliverables include unit tests, style guide, API documentation, and performance benchmarks.
Ethics, Law, and Policy in Computing — 6 ECTS
Discuss intellectual‑property issues, data‑protection laws, and algorithmic bias. Develop a compliance checklist for a hypothetical health‑tech platform.
Year 2: specialisation, research, and professional immersion
Machine Learning and Intelligent Systems — 6 ECTS
Cover supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement paradigms. Train models using scikit‑learn, TensorFlow, and PyTorch. Evaluate fairness and interpretability.
Distributed Ledger Technologies — 6 ECTS
Explore consensus algorithms, smart contracts, and real‑world applications beyond cryptocurrencies. Build a decentralised identity prototype on an Ethereum test‑net.
Network Security and Cyber‑Defence — 6 ECTS
Analyse attack surfaces, cryptographic protocols, and secure‑coding practices. Simulate penetration tests in a controlled cyber‑range.
Elective pool (choose two, 6 ECTS each)
- Natural‑Language Processing and Text Mining
- Cloud Computing and Edge Architectures
- Internet of Things and Embedded Systems
- Visual Analytics and Data Storytelling
Industry Internship or Startup Incubator Residency — 12 ECTS
Spend one semester at a partner firm or innovation hub, applying course knowledge to real projects—anything from fintech risk models to bioinformatics pipelines.
Master’s Thesis — 30 ECTS
Conduct original research under faculty supervision. Recent topics include graph neural networks for fraud detection, formal verification of drone‑control software, and inclusive design frameworks for e‑learning platforms.
Teaching methods: flipped lessons and maker culture
Courses follow a flipped model. Students watch concise video lectures and read curated papers before class. In‑person sessions focus on hands‑on coding, group debates, and peer reviews.
- Hackathons test rapid problem‑solving under time pressure.
- Code retreats encourage iterative refactoring and pair programming.
- Bug‑bounty challenges foster security awareness within ethical guidelines.
- Lightning‑talk sessions polish public‑speaking skill while sharing project insights.
Assessment is continuous: minor quizzes, code‑quality audits, project demos, and reflective essays replace high‑stress final exams.
Research and lab infrastructure
Faculty lead EU‑funded projects on explainable AI, privacy‑preserving analytics, augmented reality, and quantum‑safe encryption. Students often join as research assistants, gaining stipends and co‑authorship in IEEE or ACM proceedings.
Key facilities include:
- High‑Performance Computing Cluster with GPU nodes for deep‑learning workloads
- Cyber‑Range Lab for red‑team/blue‑team exercises
- UX Studio equipped with eye‑tracking and gesture‑capture gear
- IoT Sandbox hosting Raspberry Pi, ESP32 boards, and industrial sensors
- AR/VR Workshop featuring head‑mounted displays and motion‑tracking systems
Funding: how the DSU grant lightens your load
Tuition structure
Public Italian universities tie tuition to certified family income. Submit the ISEE document and your annual fee may drop below €800, even before aid.
DSU grant benefits
- Full tuition waiver if income falls within eligibility thresholds
- Living stipend up to €6,000 per academic year
- Meal vouchers accepted in campus canteens
- Accommodation support for dorms or private rentals
Additional scholarships for international students in Italy
- Excellence Award (€2,500–€5,000) for outstanding entry GPAs
- Women in Tech Grant (€2,000) promoting gender equality in computing
- Green‑IT Bursary (€1,500) funding sustainable software projects
- Erasmus+ Mobility stipend for a semester abroad in partner universities
Career outlook: code, consult, innovate
Graduates take roles across sectors:
- Backend and full‑stack developers for SaaS firms
- Data scientists in finance, healthcare, or agri‑tech
- Cyber‑security analysts in critical infrastructure and fintech
- Product managers bridging engineering and design teams
- Research engineers pursuing PhDs in AI, HCI, or computational biology
University surveys show 90 % employment within six months after graduation. Employers include global tech consultancies, open‑source companies, and AI start‑ups.
Admission essentials
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information engineering, or related field (180 ECTS or equivalent).
- Transcript with at least 24 ECTS in programming or algorithms and 12 ECTS in maths or statistics.
- English level B2—IELTS 6.0, TOEFL 80, or prior English‑language degree.
- Motivation letter (700 words) outlining coding projects, hackathon wins, or research goals.
- CV listing languages (Python, Java, JavaScript), frameworks, and any published repositories.
- Passport scan and a high‑resolution photo.
ApplyAZ checks compliance, uploads a single digital package, and tracks every portal update so you never miss a deadline.
Soft‑skill development
- Technical‑writing workshops teach how to distil complex findings into executive summaries.
- Negotiation clinics simulate feature‑scope discussions with stakeholders.
- Time‑management seminars cover sprint planning and work‑life balance.
- Ethics roundtables examine case studies on facial recognition, bias in datasets, and digital privacy.
Continuous improvement through student feedback
A joint committee revises syllabi each year. Recent changes:
- Added Rust to the Advanced Programming syllabus.
- Integrated Kubernetes labs into Cloud Computing.
- Expanded accessibility content in Human‑Computer Interaction.
What a study week feels like
- Monday morning: Algorithm design lecture, followed by an exercise on dynamic programming.
- Tuesday: Pair‑programming session refactoring Java code, then Agile stand‑up for Project Laboratory.
- Wednesday: Guest talk on cyber‑crime investigation, followed by a capture‑the‑flag mini‑match.
- Thursday: Cloud workshop deploying microservices with Docker and Kubernetes.
- Friday: Peer‑review circle on machine‑learning project notebooks.
Evenings vary: some students join Italian language clubs; others debug code in the IoT lab or relax in campus sports facilities.
Key reasons to pick Informatics LM‑18
- Comprehensive scope. From algorithms to ethics, AI to UX, you master a broad toolkit.
- English‑medium excellence. Engage global research without language hurdles.
- Public‑system affordability. Income‑based tuition plus DSU grant prevent financial strain.
- Resource‑rich labs. High‑performance clusters, VR gear, and cyber‑ranges at your fingertips.
- Career flexibility. Software roles, data science, cyber‑security, or research—choose your path.
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.
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