Why this project is needed today

University education cannot be limited to transmitting skills that are useful for entering the workforce. It must also develop judgement, public responsibility, vision, an aptitude for research, and an understanding of complexity.

Today, many degree programmes, while academically solid within their disciplines, struggle to provide sufficient opportunities to move across fields of knowledge, engage with real-world problems, and foster young people who are capable not only of excelling, but also of shaping the future.

neXus addresses this need: it nurtures talented students, complements the existing educational offering, and builds an interdisciplinary community connecting the university, merit-based colleges, and advanced higher education.

Why Pavia

neXus could only be created in a place like Pavia.

Pavia is a university city unlike any other in Italy: an ecosystem with a high concentration of cultural and scientific resources, where the university, colleges, research, and advanced education coexist and strengthen one another.

It has a long-established tradition of educating the country's future leaders through its system of Merit Colleges, a network that for centuries has promoted academic excellence, community life, and personal growth.

This is further enriched by the presence of the IUSS School for Advanced Studies, an institution capable of attracting talent from across Italy and abroad and of developing integrated pathways spanning education, research, and doctoral studies.

neXus builds on this tradition while introducing something new: an open, interdisciplinary, and cross-cutting pathway designed to connect students from different backgrounds, disciplines, and educational experiences.

What makes neXus distinctive

The distinctive value of neXus lies not only in its selection process or the quality of its content, but in its cultural and educational model.

neXus was conceived as a space for connection:

• between scientific, humanities, economic, and technological disciplines;
• between theory and real-world problems;
• between the university, colleges, institutions, and the local community;
• between specialist education and decision-making ability.

The goal is not simply to create students who are “better prepared,” but people who can understand complex systems, work in interdisciplinary settings, and lead innovation processes.

The neXus promise

neXus offers a streamlined yet high-value three-year pathway: 30 hours per year of classroom activities, guided study, seminars, peer discussion, and project work.

It is not a duplicate of existing degree courses. It is a complementary learning environment that helps students connect different disciplines, understand complex phenomena, and address real cases with method, creativity, and responsibility.

The aim is to equip future graduates with tools that allow them to be both specialists and decision-makers: well-prepared people who know how to investigate and, perhaps, find solutions; who can collaborate, ask the right questions, and act in highly complex contexts.

Who neXus is for

Motivated and talented students with intellectual curiosity and a desire to broaden their education beyond the boundaries of their own discipline.

Families seeking an innovative, authoritative, demanding educational environment for their children, one that supports personal as well as academic growth.

Faculty members, colleges, institutions, and supporters who recognise the strategic value of investing in a new generation of young people capable of interpreting the social, technological, and economic challenges of the future.

What makes neXus attractive

Genuine interdisciplinarity – Students from different academic backgrounds learn to communicate, collaborate, and build a shared understanding of problems.

Active learning – Project-based learning, workshops, case discussions, flipped classrooms, and group work make students active participants in their own learning.

Highly relevant themes – The curricula are built around contemporary megatrends and the major transitions affecting society, cities, technology, and production systems.

A community of talent – neXus is not merely a collection of courses: it is a network of relationships, dialogue, growth, and belonging.

Flexibility and sustainability – The required commitment is compatible with a degree programme, making the project accessible to high-achieving students even outside the standard pathways of Schools for Advanced Studies.

Reputational value – Certification of completed activities demonstrates an additional pathway defined by quality, selectivity, and responsibility.

A simple and clear structure

The proposed educational model is clear and progressive. The first year introduces tools, languages, and methods for navigating different disciplines. The second year develops curriculum-specific content through major and minor courses and seminars. The third year culminates in a project, in which student groups address real-world problems and produce a structured project proposal.

This structure makes neXus a project capable of developing a high-impact educational model. Each stage helps build independence, rigour, and the ability to collaborate.

The neXus curriculum pathways

To translate its educational vision into practice, neXus offers a number of curricula built around the main contemporary megatrends, with the aim of giving students the tools to understand and address the complexity of the present.

The first curriculum will focus on the complex evolution of cities, addressing topics such as demographics, ageing, inequality, infrastructure, safety, services, and urban transformation, with the aim of understanding how the spaces in which we live and the forms of social coexistence are changing.

A second pathway will explore the relationship between technological transitions and society, analysing the impact of technological innovation on political, economic, and cultural systems: from artificial intelligence to energy, from data governance to globalisation, and including issues of language, control, and technological responsibility.

Alongside these, neXus also offers a more methodological and project-oriented curriculum dedicated to progress and entrepreneurship, for students interested in innovation processes, venture creation, and change management. The pathway will integrate perspectives on science, strategy, organisation, markets, leadership, and social responsibility, with particular emphasis on the ability to transform ideas and knowledge into projects with real-world impact.

Although they differ in content, all pathways share the same approach: integrating different fields of knowledge, addressing real-world problems, and educating students who can interpret change with method, vision, and responsibility.

Why it is worth taking part

To acquire tools that standard curricula rarely provide consistently: critical thinking, interdisciplinary dialogue, contextual understanding, and work on real-world problems.

To join a selective and motivated community where engagement with peers, tutors, and faculty supports personal growth and cultural development.

To stand out through an additional, qualifying pathway aligned with the expectations of professional and institutional environments that value independence, vision, and project skills.

To experience the University of Pavia as an ecosystem of opportunities, connecting the university, IUSS, colleges, and external partners.

Why it is worth supporting

For Pavia's academic ecosystem, neXus can become a distinctive mark of educational quality and innovation, strengthening Pavia's appeal to high-potential students.

For faculty members, it offers a space for educational experimentation and engagement with highly motivated students.

For supporters and external stakeholders, it is a project with significant public value: it develops human capital, fosters responsible leadership, and connects education, the local community, and the future.

An invitation to participate

For neXus to take shape with strength, broad convergence is needed: a shared vision, institutional commitment, faculty participation, the trust of families, student interest, and partner support.

Taking part in neXus means contributing to a new, authoritative, and necessary educational initiative. It means choosing not merely to transmit knowledge, but to educate people who can understand the present and build the future.

The project deserves support because it places what matters most at its centre: talent, method, responsibility, and the concrete opportunity to develop a university community capable of shaping the future.

The three key messages