Both these c ourses lead to the award of a Diploma Universitario. Their main purpose is to provide students with a type of university education and training which, after only 2 or 3 years may enable them to enter certain professions in the public or private sector. The specific role of Scuole di Specializzazione consists in the granting of post-Laurea degrees to Laurea degree holders to specialise further in a chosen discipline. Most Scuole di Specializzazione operate in the medical sector, thus offering to young graduates in Medicine and Surgery the opportunity of specialising in such branches as paediatrics, orthopaedics, psychiatry, etc. The pre-requisite is the Diploma di Laurea or an equivalent foreign degree.
Admission is granted on the basis of merit and is restricted to the number of seats available.
In many respects, the Italian Research Doctorate is similar to other Doctorates throughout the world. The training is full-time and fully subsidised with the allocation of study grants. Existing Research doctorate programmes cover such disciplinary areas as agriculture, architecture, economics, pharmacy, law, engineering, humanities, modern languages, education, biomedicine, medicine and veterinary science, natural sciences, physics, mathematics, political science. They are essentially meant to satisfy local requirements. No pre-enrolment exists in the case of Corsi di Perfezionamento and Master's courses.