This was criticised by northern Europeans as taking a degree per saltum because they had leapt over the regulations requiring years of study at the university.
Laureati are customarily addressed as dottore (for a man) or dottoressa (for a woman), as are holders of at least a laurea (Legge n. 240/2010 art.
Nobel prize winners such as Enrico Fermi, Emilio Segrè, Giulio Natta, Carlo Rubbia and Giorgio Parisi held it as their highest degree.
This allowed for greater mobility of university students via exchange programmes to other countries such as the United States and Commonwealth nations.
In some fields (particularly Medicine, Law, Engineering and Architecture) the Laurea magistrale a ciclo unico is awarded.
The Dottorato di ricerca (equivalent to a Doctor of Philosophy) is a third cycle degree which can be undertaken only after achieving a Laurea magistrale.
It was introduced in the mid-1980s[7] and consists of three/four years of PhD-level courses and experimental work, including the final defense of an innovative thesis.
However, the title is not commonly used, and graduates are simply addressed as "doctor" or append "PhD" to their name following the English system of post-nominals.