The University of Sassari (Italian: Università degli Studi di Sassari, UniSS) is a university located in Sassari, Italy. It was founded in 1562 and is organized in 11 Faculties. The University of Sassari gains the first place in the ranking for the best “medium- sized” italian university, in 2009, by the Censis Research Institute. The University of Sassari was founded by Alessio Fontana, member of Imperial Chancellery of Emperor Charles V and a distinguished gentleman of the town of Sassari in 1558. The official opening dates back to the month of May 1562. It was first run by the Jesuits. Today, the University, which is of medium size, with a total number of over 18.000 students and about 700 teachers, comprises eleven faculties and over 40 departments, study centres and institutes. There are several specialist schools, research institutions, schools for special research and postgraduate schools.