Fondazione Rui

Fondazione Rui (Residenze Universitarie Internazionali) is an Italian non-profit foundation established in 1959 and recognized as an Ente Morale by Decree of the President of the Republic n. 932/1959. It manages 13 university residences — both male and female — across six Italian cities: Milan, Rome, Genoa, Trieste, Bologna and Palermo. Its mission, pursued through its university colleges, is to help university students express their full potential so they can become excellent graduates and people of quality, and to accredit them in the world of work. The foundation was created alongside the construction and inauguration of its first student residence, the RUI university college (Residenza Universitaria Internazionale), designed in 1955 to foster socio-cultural integration between Italian and international students, support the right to study in Italian universities, and promote the university education of young people from developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In its early decades it distributed thousands of scholarships and study places, and it pioneered activities in international mobility, university orientation in Italy and Europe, research on the living and study conditions of university students, training events for students and teachers, and links between academia and business (today known as placement). Its residences are part of the CCUM (Conferenza dei Collegi Universitari di Merito), recognized and accredited by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), and through CCUM the foundation represents Italy in EUCA (European University College Association). The foundation also maintains a network of about 5,000 alumni and collaborates with universities, companies and institutions. Its website offers admissions information, scholarships and fee reductions (including RUI 4 YOU, Seniorship discounts, GRANTalento merit discounts, and agreements with INPS, ENPAM, IANUA and universities), a formative project, and details on its governance and history.

Fondazione Rui was established in 1959, at the same time as the construction and inauguration of its first student residence, the RUI university college (Residenza Universitaria Internazionale). The college had been designed in 1955 with the aim of facilitating socio-cultural integration between Italian and international students, contributing to the realization of the right to study in Italian universities, and fostering the university education of young people from developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The foundation was recognized as an Ente Morale by Decree of the President of the Republic n. 932/1959. In the early 1960s, a good percentage of university students in Italy came from developing countries. Thanks to donations from major Italian companies, Fondazione Rui was able to begin building university residences and to award scholarships to students who had come to Italy from developing countries and lived in its facilities. Beyond scholarships for students from less developed areas of Italy and from developing countries, the foundation's innovative contributions included international mobility, university orientation in Italy and Europe, research on the living and study conditions of university students, training events for students and teachers, and links between the university world and the business world (what is now known as placement). In its first ten years of activity, in addition to guaranteeing more than four thousand scholarships and study places to Italian and international students for studies and research in Italy and abroad, Fondazione Rui committed itself to developing scholarship projects for students from Third World countries. The "Progetto 10" (1970–1979) aimed to finance the study path of ten students in the economic, medical and technological fields. Towards the mid-1970s, with funding made available by the Italian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foundation awarded scholarships to students residing in its colleges or coming from other European countries, with the aim of fostering mobility to and from abroad. The experience with its resident students encouraged Fondazione Rui to launch international mobility projects open also to those who did not attend its colleges. Thus the "3P" project (1979–1993) and the "PRIUS" project (1983–1991) were born. Under "3P", annual scholarships were provided for participation in specialization and qualification courses for young teachers and researchers from Latin America, aged no more than 26 and holding a qualification obtained in their home country or in Italy. With "PRIUS" (PRojects Italy–United States), a project established by the joint will of US President Ronald Reagan, the American Embassy in Italy and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Public Education, Fondazione Rui was tasked with managing an initial experiment in integrated studies between Italian and US universities — that is, the usability of periods spent abroad within the curriculum of the home university. The project operated at full capacity for five academic years (from 1986/87 to 1990/91). In 1985, designated by the UN as International Youth Year, Fondazione Rui organized a themed competition for secondary school students (lower and upper) and produced the volume "Radici d'Europa. Itinerari culturali europei per i giovani", which had a second edition in 1995 on the occasion of a meeting of young people with Pope Saint John Paul II in Loreto. In 1989, the Council of Europe tasked Fondazione Rui with producing a guide in English and French to university student reception services in certain European countries, titled "Vademecum to university reception". Over more than fifty years of history, the foundation's residences have hosted many prestigious guests from politics, entertainment, journalism, sport, business and culture, including Aldo Moro, Claudio Magris, Karol Wojtyla, Giulio Andreotti, Francesco Cossiga, Indro Montanelli, Marcello Pera, Ferruccio De Bortoli, Carlo De Benedetti, Romano Prodi, Luciano Fontana, Viktor Frankl, Alberto Falck, Ettore Bernabei, Enrico Mentana, Dino Zoff, Edoardo Bennato and Antonio Tajani. Today the foundation manages 13 residences in six cities and its colleges are part of the CCUM, recognized and accredited by MIUR, which represents Italy in EUCA.

• 1995

  A second edition of "Radici d'Europa" is published on the occasion of a meeting of young people with Pope Saint John Paul II in Loreto.

• 1989

  The Council of Europe tasks Fondazione Rui with producing an English and French guide to university student reception services in European countries.

• 1985

  For the UN International Youth Year, the foundation organizes a themed competition for secondary school students and produces the volume "Radici d'Europa".

• 1983

  The "PRIUS" (PRojects Italy–United States) project (1983–1991) is established, with Fondazione Rui managing integrated studies between Italian and US universities.

• 1979

  The "3P" international mobility project (1979–1993) begins, offering annual scholarships to young Latin American teachers and researchers.

• 1970

  "Progetto 10" (1970–1979) is launched to finance the studies of ten students in economic, medical and technological fields.

• 1959

  Fondazione Rui is established and recognized as an Ente Morale by Decree of the President of the Republic n. 932/1959, alongside the inauguration of its first residence.

• 1955

  The first residence, the RUI university college (Residenza Universitaria Internazionale), is designed.

Non-profit foundation providing merit-oriented university residences and formative programmes, with a focus on international student mobility and links between university and the world of work.

• RUI university college (Rome)

• Porta Nevia (Rome)

• Celimontano (Rome)

• Torrescalla (Milan)

• Castelbarco (Milan)

• MilanoAccademia (Milan)

• Viscontea (Milan)

• Torriana (Milan)

• Torleone (Bologna)

• Rivalto (Trieste)

• Delle Peschiere (Genoa)

• Capodifaro (Genoa)

• RUME (Palermo)

1. 1Fondazione Rui Residenze Universitarie Internazionali — official websitefondazionerui.it
2. 2Fondazione Rui — Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Fondazione Rui — Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org