USI presents to the State Council the affiliation requests for FTL and IRSOL

Two applications for affiliation were submitted by USI to the State Council of Canton Ticino following the University Council meeting held on Friday, 27 September 2019. The requests concern the Faculty of Theology of Lugano (FTL) and the Istituto Ricerche Solari (IRSOL).

The close proximity to USI of the Faculty of Theology of Lugano - strengthened over the years thanks to shared courses, research and academic procedures - has led to the decision to submit to the State Council an application for affiliation, which would translate the willingness of the two entities to get institutionally closer and encourage future synergies. The proposed affiliation contract will involve the full academic integration of FTL into USI.

The second application for affiliation concerns the Istituto Ricerche Solari (IRSOL) currently associated with USI. IRSOL is active in research activities in solar physics with sophisticated tools for observing and analysing the behaviour of the atmosphere of the Sun. Over the years it has been involved in European projects making a name for itself in the field. Fostering better interaction between the research centre and other institutes such as the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre and USI Institute of Computational Sciences (ICS) would enable Ticino to emerge as a pole in computational solar research. The institutional inclusion of IRSOL would also represent a good example of synergy between scientific fields that, intersecting, can lead to new developments and projects at international level.

The two requests for affiliation have been presented to the State Council of the Canton Ticino and, when approved, shall be submitted to the Parliament for a final decision.