IIT represents a place of science hallmarked by a wonderful alchemy of unique elements: people, skills, multiculturalism, multi-disciplinarity, infrastructure and much more. The pages of this website provide an insight into this institution's values, mission, research activities and history, as well as all the information needed to learn more about us and get in touch with us.
At IIT we have chosen to define ourselves using four words: courage, integrity, responsibility and inclusion. We abide by these values: we celebrate and welcome diversity and respect, and act with integrity to the benefit of society. We are boldly pursuing new opportunities. We are courageous because we like to take up new challenges, and we dare, metaphorically speaking, to go where no human being has ever gone before.
IIT's research activities bring it into contact with the world's finest scientific institutions, with which the Institute collaborates day by day, and, through the work of its staff, a community of around 2,000 people from over 70 countries worldwide, it seeks to address the great challenges of our society. IIT's staff work on more than 80 research lines, which transversally cover 4 subject areas, with the aim of offering innovative solutions to these challenges.
As you will discover from these pages, IIT is notable for its strong multi-disciplinarity and its orientation towards technology transfer. Nevertheless, IIT maintains an area dedicated to free, curiosity-driven research. It is this type of research that enables revolutionary and sometimes unexpected discoveries to be made, or simply to develop expertise that can offer new solutions to as yet unsolved problems.
IIT has already created over 30 start-ups, which have brought the technologies developed in the Institute's laboratories to the market. This innovative process has initiated a virtuous circle that constantly fuels our activities. At the 18 IIT centres distributed across the country, we work at the frontiers of knowledge, in part by means of the consortia supported by the European Community and our close cooperation with the manufacturing sector.
At IIT, we work tirelessly to transform our ideas and the science produced in our laboratories into tangible systems, in order to improve everyone's quality of life and preserve our Planet and its precious resources. This is the goal that guides us and I hope that it emerges clearly from the pages of this website, which seeks to portray the image of a unique, complex and innovative structure that never stops looking to the future, to the benefit of all.
Today's global challenges are complex, and only by bringing together different areas of expertise, approaches, mindsets, skills and motivations will we be able to meet them. I hope that in these pages you will find the answers to your questions or discover new questions to ask yourselves; this is what we do every day, and it is in this spirit that we pursue the mission entrusted to us.
Happy browsing!
Giorgio Metta
IIT Scientific Director