Study regulations / Faculty of political-social sciences

General obligations

Students are committed to attending the courses at the Scuola Normale Superiore concomitantly with those of the University of  Florence in order to obtain a Master's Degree; they must therefore follow two parallel and complementary study programmes and comply with strict learning obligations: their yearly grade average must be at least 27/30, with no grade below 24/30, and all exams must be successfully completed at the Autumn session, by 31st October at the latest.

External obligations (University)

• 4th year: by 31st October 2025, students must have passed all the exams related to the courses included in their University study plans. They must achieve a grade of at least 24/30 in each individual exam and maintain a yearly grade average of at least 27/30, also taking into account the grades achieved at the Scuola Normale Superiore.
• 5th year: students are required to complete the number of credits determined by their University programme in order to obtain the Master's degree.

Internal obligations (Scuola Normale superiore)

Each year students must attend all their internal courses and pass all their exams by 31st October 2025. They must achieve a grade of at least 24/30 in each individual exam and maintain a yearly grade average of at least 27/30.

Undergraduate Course in Politics, Economics and Sustainability

Fourth year

4 courses of 20 hours each (for a total of 80 hours), subdivided as follows: two compulsory courses and two optional ones, to be chosen in accordance with their Master's Degree course (PIM: Politics, Institutions and Market; RISE:  International Relations and European Studies; SOGLO: Sociology and Global Challenges). At least one of the optional courses must be chosen from an area different from that of Subject Area 14.

2 compulsory courses:

• Political Behaviour (20 hours), Martin Portos
• Sociology of the economy and the environment (20 hours), Guglielmo Meardi and Luigi Pellizzoni

1 optional course of 20 hours chosen among those offered by the PhDs in “Political Science and Sociology” and in “Transnational Governance”.

1 optional course of 20 hours, chosen from an area different from that of Subject Area 14, within the courses offered by the SNS for the three Classes. 

Undergraduate course in Political and social sciences

Fifth year

4 courses of 20 hours each (for a total of 80 hours), subdivided as follows: two compulsory course and two optional ones, to be chosen in accordance with their Master's Degree course at Florence University (PIM: Politics, Institutions and Market; RISE:  International Relations and European Studies; SOGLO: Sociology and Global Challenges, DGIS: Design and Management of Social Interventions; SCPP: Public and Political Communication Strategies). At least one of the optional courses must be chosen from an area different from that of Subject Area 14.

2 compulsory courses:

• Modelli di democrazia (20 hours), Edoardo Bressanelli/David Natali
• Thesis Writing Workshop (20 hours), Marco Deseriis

1 optional course of 20 hours chosen among those offered by the PhDs in “Political Science and Sociology” and in “Transnational Governance”.

1 optional course of 20 hours, chosen from an area different from that of Subject Area 14, within the courses offered by the SNS for the three Classes and those offered within the undergraduate course in Political Sciences of the Sant'Anna School. 

Passage to the 5th year (for the students of the 4th year): an oral exam on a topic chosen by the student in agreement with a tutor (usually a lecturer or researcher of the Scuola) approved by the Faculty Council. If a student provides a justified reason, the Faculty Council can authorize the interview with a tutor external to the Scuola. The interview is held before a Commission chaired by a lecturer of the Scuola and composed of at least three members, chosen from lecturers and researchers, including those external to the Scuola. Tutors are invited to sit on the commission. The assessment does not involve any written test. The Commission decides whether the candidate qualifies for admission to the 5th year. The assessment process usually takes place in May.
Fifth year students are not required to sit the annual exams.

Foreign languages: students have to attend a course of English and choose a second language among French, German, Spanish and Chinese. It is necessary to sit a final exam and, by the end of the fifth year, to achieve the level C1 in English and the level B2 in the second language.
Students can attend language courses at Florence University, at the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo of Florence University, or at any other Institution of their choice and, in the end, they will have to sit a final exam that will be held in accordance with Article 17 of the Didactic Regulation (Regolamento didattico).
Those students who believe they already have an adequate knowledge of either or both languages, among those indicated by the Scuola, can be exempted from attending courses. Nonetheless, they have to prove their knowledge by sitting an exam in Pisa with the lecturer in order to prove the level of their language/s knowledge.

Study plan and lecturer of reference: each academic year, undergraduate students have to submit a study plan of both the SNS courses and those of the university, for the approval of the Faculty Council. The study plan must be drawn up in compliance with the Faculty’s study obligations and must be submitted to the Servizio didattica e allievi sede di Firenze.
The study plan must be agreed upon with the lecturer of reference for the study plan, who will verify the adequacy of the educational course proposed prior to the final approval of the Faculty Council.
 

Studying abroad: students intending to spend a study period abroad must include in their study plan the courses that they wish to attend at their chosen institution, to replace those of the Scuola and the University. In the case of Erasmus exchanges, the above activities are included in the Learning Agreement. Students must agree directly with the Erasmus coordinators of the University of Florence upon the university's acknowledgement criteria regarding the activities carried out abroad; the Scuola will acknowledge the activities valid for the fulfilment of its internal obligations, in accordance with the approved study plan.