Collegio Alessandro Volta
Universita’ degli Studi di Pavia
Application procedures for prospective undergraduate,
MSc and PhD students. Guide for foreign applicants.
These notes aim to assist all students but in particular
foreign students who intend to enrol into undergraduate, MSc or
PhD Courses in Pavia and become members of Collegio A Volta.
EdISU has streamlined the application procedure for foreign
students and these simplified rules, together with these notes,
should make the process of application for foreign students a fairly
straightforward one.
possible reduction in University fees. These may amount to
substantial financial savings over the years in which you will study
in Pavia and thus every student is encouraged to apply. Naturally,
financial benefits are means-tested and require that evidence of
eligibility and entitlement is submitted.
Preparing the application
The first stop is Palazzo Vistarino
Background Reading
In the summer of 2013. EdISU translates the
application procedure into English. This text is available on the
EdISU home page at the link Guidelines for applications for
placements in EDiSU Colleges and Halls of Residence at the
University of Pavia (2013/2014). Although this text has not been
updated for the current round of applications (2014/15) it
contains useful information and is worth studying.
Undergraduate, MSc and PhD students apply for
placements at Collegio Volta via EdISU, an educational body that
includes the University of Pavia and local educational authorities
and is in charge of promoting Higher Education. The offices of
EdISU are located in Palazzo Vistarino (see image below), a
beautiful building located in the centre of Pavia certainly worth a
visit by the time you will live in Pavia. The whole application
process, however, can be carried out online and by mail and does
not require a visit to the offices of EdISU.
You may apply for a placement at Volta
and other financial benefits in one go
The application that you will submit to EdISU for a
placement at Collegio Volta allows you to request additional
financial benefits, subject to eiligibility. A single set of online
forms may enable you to request: (i) a bursary, (ii) the College
placement, where you are able to specify Volta as your first College
preference, (iii) a student card offering discounts at student’s
restaurants, cafeterias and local bookshops and finally and, (iv) a
Your Tax Code
You need a personal tax code in order to undertake most
procedures as a student in Pavia (or other Italian Universities for
that matter). Your tax code (codice fiscale) is used as a de facto ID
number. If you have have already enrolled in your Course at the
University, the chances are that you have already been issued with
your personal tax code. If you have not, you need to obtain one
from the Italian Embassy/Consulate nearest to the place where
you live. A number of Italian Consulates will allow you to apply
online for your personal tax code (this link, for example, takes you
to the application form that will enable the Italian Consulate in
London to issue your personal tax code). Please study the website
of the Italian Consulate nearest to your and act accordingly.
Documents
In a number of countries Italian Consulates can arrange
an appointment with you and this could save you long waiting
time(s). In the first instance therefore, please check with your
Consulate whether you can schedule your appointment/interview
in order to convert your financial in a format that EdISU can
process. The exact documents that you need to take to the
Consulate will vary from country to country but need to provide
the following information:
• Proof of composition of the household
• Proof of income of each member of the household for the last
tax year whether from employment, rent, shares,
• Proof of rent/ownership of the house in which you reside.
• In case the house is owned by members of the household,
proof of the size of the property (in square metres)
• Proof of ownership of other properties by members of the
household and size of property(ies) (in square metres).
When you contact the Consulate for an appointment
please explain that you need the Consulate to certify the financial
status of yourself and your family members for the sake of an
application for financial benefits at an Italian University. You can
then list the documents that you intend to bring with you and ask
the Consulate staff to confirm that these are adequate or otherwise
(this could save you multiple journeys to the Consulate).
The staff at the Consulate needs to study the
documents, confirm that they provide the required information,
translate them or a suitable extract in Italian and convert the
relevant financial figures into euros. Expect to have to pay a fee
for the service and for a number of legal stamps that may have to
be added to the final documents (the staff of the Consulate may be
able to tell you how much the whole process will cost you when
you contact them for an appointment).
Step by step guide to the application
you the ISEE/ISEEU certificate by email or recorded mail and
this will enable you to complete the application form online. In
the current version of the EdISU homepage (due to change
shortly but the notes must refer to the web page currently
available) follow the link Modalità per la richiesta dei benefici
all'EDiSU which will take you to a new page. Scroll down this
page and choose the link http://edisupv.dirittoallostudio.it/
DOLPV, which will take you to a page enabling a new application.
Complete the application following the instructions
online and, when asked to enter marks for the final examination of
your pre-University Course, enter 70. This is an interim set of
marks for your pre-University Course(s) in order to enable the
system to process your application. Your real marks will be
entered by EdISU when you will have these and submit them in
mid August. Finally, send the printed, signed application to Ufficio
Studenti, EdISU, 11 via Calatafimi, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
When you get to Volta
Standard application (italian students)
Italian students complete the application to EdISU in
three steps. They first complete the Dichiarazione Sostitutiva
Unica (DSU), a self-certification that may be completed on printed
form but also on line at http://s3-isee.unipv.it/DSU/. Next he
DSU is printed, signed and taken to one of a number of dedicated
Centri di Assistenza Fiscale (CAF), present in all major Italian
cities. The CAF office will issue students with a so-called ISEE/
ISEEU certificate that will enable students to finally complete the
EdISU application (see below). The EDiSU application form must
be completed online. The work can be saved any number of times
but beware that when the form is printed, no further
modifications are allowed. The printed and signed application
taken to the EdISU office or sent by registered mail, in which case
the documents must be accompanied by a photocopy of a valid
ID, typically the student’s passport.
Streamlines application (foreign students)
As a foreign student you are offered a streamlined
application process. Once you are in possession of the financial
papers from the Italian Consulate, submit these by special delivery
to the office of the College Master at Collegio Volta (Address: E
Gherardi, Collegio A Volta, 17 via A Ferrata, 27100 Pavia, Italy).
Collegio Volta will take care of submitting your papers
to the Ufficio Benefici Economici of EdISU that is authorised to
issue an ISEE/ISEEU certificate. Next Collegio Volta will send
When you get to Collegio Volta as a foreign student, you
will find that everything straightforward. The College has the
highest (and a growing) number of foreign students of any College
in Pavia. Once you arrive, the College office will pass your name
and email address to the Volta Society for International Students
(http://www.collegiovolta.org/articles/volta-society-forinternational-students-vsis.html) and one of its members will visit
you and offer advice on all practical matters of College life. The
College also organises a full Fresher’s Week early in October that
makes freshmen feel a member of the Volta community from start.
Ermanno Gherardi, June 2014