Celebrating 800 Years of History with Projects, Plans, and Events

Since its foundation in 1222, when a group of students in search of greater autonomy and independence left Bologna for Padua, freedom, in all its modern forms, has been the heart of the University of Padua’s cultural identity. Eight centuries ago a European identity had already begun to form under the University’s banner of multiculturalism and protection of freedom, making Padua perfect candidate for cultural and scientific exchange.

The University’s motto – Universa Universis Patavina Libertas – represents not only an abstract invocation of freedom, continually held in practise for eight centuries, but also concrete and multifaceted freedoms: freedom of ideas and movement; freedom of thought, expression, and debate; religious and political freedom; academic freedom of study. Freedom also includes the protection of negative consequences from oppression, from outside interference, from all forms of discrimination (be it gender, class, geographical origin), exclusionary borders and, as a consequence, the claim to the right of resistence to any constraints. Above all, freedom to live freely, using research and the exploration of knowledge in a positive manner protected by the values of diversity in all its forms, and the collective richness of inclusive differences.