Dual Career Project

The University of Bologna, together with CUSB - Centro Universitario Sportivo Bologna, offers the "dual-career" pathway – "student-athlete" status to balance university studies and competitive sports careers. Elite athletes can apply for access to the "Dual Career Status Student-Athlete" program.

Who can apply

You can apply for student-athlete status if:

• you are enrolled in a degree programme at the University of Bologna
• you are a member of National Sports Federations (FSN) of CONI (Italian National Olympic Committee) or CIP (Italian Paralympic Committee)
• you meet at least one of the following requirements: 

1. you were summoned in preparation of the Summer or Winter Olympics/Paralympics in the 12 months before submitting your application;
2. you were summoned on at least one occasion to the national teams of an FSN of CONI/CIP in the 12 months before submitting your application;
3. for individual sports, if at the time of submission of the application you rank in the top 32 of the overall national ranking or youth ranking of an FSN of CONI/CIP;
4. for team sports, if at the time of submission of the application you are participating in the top championship organised by the relevant FSN; for team sports linked to FSNs that have activated a professional sector (FIGC and FIP), participation in the championship immediately below the top division is also valid;
5. you won a medal at National Universities Championships or European Universities Championships (EUSA) in the 12 months preceding your application.

To retain your Student-Athlete Status during the following academic years you must apply again.  

Benefits of the student-athlete status

If you obtain the student-athlete status:

• you can agree ad hoc exam dates with teachers, if exam dates clash with sport schedules (competitions, training sessions and relevant transfers), or even request to sit exams online via the platforms adopted by the University (Skype, Microsoft Teams, Zoom). To do so, you must contact the teacher at least 14 days before the exam date (cc’ing the tutor) and provide all the necessary information in order to allow them to find an alternative date, even if not within the exam session. The final decision concerning the request is, however, at the discretion of the teacher;
• you can receive support from an academic tutor who will help you choose curricula, internships and placements, also in view of your professional future following retirement from your sporting career; to keep up to date with study programmes, course units and exam dates, and to maintain contact with administration offices, you can count on the help of your degree programme tutor (student tutor or other);
• you can request a change to your study plan near the end of your university career, if you need to better reconcile your study and sporting commitments or if you want to make choices that are more consistent with your curriculum;
• at the end of your degree programme, you will obtain a Diploma Supplement certifying the specific nature of your dual career as a student-athlete;
• you can ask the Committee to proclaim a formula that recognises your dual-career Student-Athlete Status during the graduation ceremony. To this end, please write to studenteatleta@unibo.it when submitting your graduation application;
• if places are available, you can stay for free in a student residence managed by ER.GO, for a maximum of 10 consecutive days. Address your accommodation request to studenteatleta@unibo.it, stating the period of interest, at least 15 days before your arrival at the residence. ER.GO will check availability and will reply providing all the information for the stay. The stay is free of charge, but you will need to pay a deposit that will have to be defined;
• you have free access to the sports facilities of the University (swimming pools and weight rooms), subject to the times and rules supplied. To gain access to the facilities you must first apply to CUS Bologna by writing to cusb.studenteatleta@unibo.it;
• you can make use of a psychological support service by arranging counselling meetings with a sports psychologist if necessary. Please send your request to cusb.studenteatleta@unibo.it;
• you can make use of a guidance and support service for the administrative management of your university career by e-mailing the Student Services Division at studenteatleta@unibo.it;
• you can renew your Student-Athlete Status for a.y. 2024/25 (having already obtained it for a.y. 2023/24) even if you did not meet some of the requirements set out in the call for applications as a result of a serious injury that significantly limited your sporting activities in the 12 months preceding the renewal application. In this case, include a valid medical certificate issued by the Italian National Health Service, an authorised private medical centre or a private specialist accompanied by a document of conformity issued by the Italian National Health Service. 

Please note: you are not required to attend lectures exclusively online; for course units with no compulsory attendance, you may ask if lecture recordings are available; furthermore, you are not entitled to reductions in the teaching programme;

In view of these benefits, the University may ask you to:

• participate in national and international university competitions approved by CUSI, EUSA and FISU, in agreement with the CUSB-Unibo Sports Directorate. Participation is compulsory on pain of exclusion from the dual career pathway for the following academic year, except in the event of:
• concurrent official sporting commitments of one's own club;
• national commitments of the relevant Federation;
• health reasons documented by an appropriate medical certification issued by the Italian National Health Service, an authorised private medical centre or a private specialist accompanied by a document of conformity issued by the Italian National Health Service.
  To apply for competitions, please send your sports CV to cusb.cnu@unibo.it, also informing us of your sporting achievements so that we can share and make the most of them;
• lend your image for the University’s and the Alma Mater-CUSB team’s sports promotion activities, attending agreed and scheduled celebratory events.

How to apply

The call for applications for admission to the Dual Career program for the academic year 2024/2025 will be open from September 2, and applications can be submitted through the Studenti Online portal until October 31, 2024.