Scuola Normale Superiore
Founded in 1810, when the Napoleonic army occupied Tuscany, in the origin it was a branch of the École Normale Supérieure of Paris. The "normalisti", as are called its students, are admitted to the school through a competitive selection; they have to achieve grades no lower than 24/30 in every exam and an annual average grade no lower than 27/30. As we have already said, its seat at the northern edge of Pisa historic centre. It was Vasari who projected Palazzo della Carrovana, also known as Palazzo dei Cavalieri, from the name of square in which it stands, around mid-16th century. The façade of the building is decorated with sculptures and graffiti.

Scuola Superiore Sant`Anna
It is younger than the Scuola Normale, since it was founded in 1987 by merging the Conservatorio di Sant`Anna and Scuola Superiore di Studi Universitari e Perfezionamento. Like the "normalisti", the students of the Scuola Sant`Anna are admitted through a competitive selection and have to achieve have grades in every exam and a high annual average grade. Its headquarters is situated in Piazza Martiri della Libertà, in a 15th-century building which was once a Benedictine convent.