Ten Italian universities have been recognized among the top 200 'young' universities world wide - with one attaining ninth place overall. According to the rankings from Times Higher Education, which judged universities under 50 years old across 48 countries, the Scuola Sant'Anna in Pisa is the ninth best university in the world.

"I'm very happy with the news," the university's rector, Pierdomenico Perata, told The Local. "We were delighted to find out we had improved our position from ninth place last year." He credited the institution's good performance with "30 years of hard work", and said it was proof that staff have made the right decisions both in hiring staff and selecting fields of study.