This policy explains which cookies and similar technologies are used on the website of SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies (www.sissa.it) and on the websites of its Physics, Mathematics and Neuroscience Areas and of ILAS – Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Advanced Studies, which all run on the same platform. It complements the privacy notice.
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files that a website stores in your browser when you visit it, and reads again on your next visits. Similar technologies, such as your browser's local storage, work in the same way. In this policy, “cookies” covers all of them.
Types of cookies
- Technical cookies are needed for the website to work, or to provide a service you have asked for. They do not require your consent.
- Analytics cookies measure how the website is used. When they only produce aggregate statistics and meet the conditions set by the Italian Data Protection Authority, they are treated like technical cookies and do not require consent.
- Profiling cookies build a profile of your interests, for example to show you advertising. They can be used only with your consent.
- First-party cookies are set by this website; third-party cookies are set by other organisations whose services are included in our pages.
This website does not use profiling cookies of its own. Some external services, such as YouTube and Facebook, may use their cookies for their own purposes, including profiling: this is why they are loaded only after you have given your consent.
Cookies used on this website
Technical cookies
These cookies are always active: without them the website, or the service you have asked for, would not work. Legal basis: Article 122(1) of the Italian Personal Data Protection Code (Legislative Decree 196/2003), which does not require consent for them.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
sissa-scuola-cookie-agreed | SISSA | Remembers that you have answered the cookie banner. | 100 days |
sissa-scuola-cookie-agreed-categories | SISSA | Remembers which categories of cookies you have accepted. | 100 days |
sissa-scuola-cookie-agreed-version | SISSA | Remembers which version of this policy you answered, so that we can ask you again when it changes. | 100 days |
SSESS followed by a code | SISSA | Keeps staff signed in while they edit the website. It is set only after logging in. | 23 days |
_GRECAPTCHA, and _grecaptcha in local storage | Google (reCAPTCHA) | Protects the contact form from spam and automated abuse. It is used only on the pages that contain the contact form. | 6 months (the cookie); until deleted (local storage) |
The consent cookies are shared by the five websites listed above, so your choice applies to all of them. Information on how Google processes reCAPTCHA data: Google Privacy Policy.
Web analytics: Matomo
To count visits and understand which pages are used, so that we can improve the website, we use Matomo, an open-source analytics tool installed on SISSA's own servers (stats.sissa.it). IP addresses are anonymised before they are stored; the data are used only to produce aggregate statistics, are not combined with other information and are not passed on to third parties.
Under the Guidelines on cookies and other tracking tools issued by the Italian Data Protection Authority on 10 June 2021, analytics cookies used in this way are treated like technical cookies and do not require consent. If your browser sends a “Do Not Track” request, Matomo does not record your visit.
| Cookie | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
_pk_id.* | A random identifier that distinguishes one visitor from another in the statistics. | 13 months |
_pk_ses.* | Groups the pages viewed during the same visit. | 30 minutes |
_pk_ref.* | Records the website you came from. | 6 months |
Videos, maps and external content
Some pages include content hosted by other services: videos, maps and posts. These services can set their own cookies and receive information about your device, such as your IP address, as soon as their content is loaded. For this reason we load it only if you accept the “Videos, maps and external content” category in the cookie banner. Until then, a notice is shown in its place, with a button to accept and show it and a link to open it on the provider's website. The map on the Contact page is simply not shown: the “Take me there” button opens it on Google Maps.
Legal basis: your consent (Article 122(1) of Legislative Decree 196/2003 and Article 6(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679), which you can withdraw at any time. Each service processes the data as an independent controller, under its own privacy policy.
| Service | Where it appears | Cookies | Privacy information |
|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube Google Ireland Ltd. | Videos in news and events | YSC (end of session); VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE, VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA, __Secure-YNID, __Secure-ROLLOUT_TOKEN (6 months). The player also contacts Google's advertising services (doubleclick.net). | How Google uses cookies |
| Google Maps Google Ireland Ltd. | The map on the Contact page | Set by Google according to its own policy, for example if you are signed in to a Google account. | Google Privacy Policy |
| Facebook Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. | Posts embedded in some news items | Set by Meta according to its own policy. | Meta Cookies Policy |
The cookie names above are those observed in November 2026: the providers can change them without notice. If we add other external services, we will update this policy.
Links, share buttons and images from other websites
The “Share on” buttons and the links to SISSA's social media accounts are ordinary links: no information is sent to those platforms unless you click them, and from then on their own policies apply.
Two images are loaded from other websites. Loading them sends your IP address to those websites, which set no cookies:
- the “Listen on Apple Podcasts” badge, from Apple, in a news item about a podcast;
- a project logo on the Flagship Research Projects page, from Network Digital 360.
The fonts used by this website are served from SISSA's own servers.
Managing your choices
The cookie banner
On your first visit, a banner asks you to choose:
- Accept all cookies loads all external content;
- Reject all keeps only technical cookies and Matomo;
- Save preferences saves the categories you have selected.
Until you choose, only technical cookies and Matomo are used. Your choice is remembered for 100 days on all five websites. We will ask you again after that, or earlier if this policy changes significantly.
Changing your mind
You can change or withdraw your consent at any time with the Cookie preferences button at the bottom of every page. Withdrawing consent does not affect what was done before.
Browser settings
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser. If you block technical cookies, some parts of the website may not work. Instructions for the most common browsers:
Transfers outside the European Union
Google and Meta may process data in the United States. Both companies take part in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, which the European Commission recognised as providing an adequate level of protection in its decision of 10 July 2023.
Your rights
You have the right to access your personal data and to have it corrected or erased, to restrict or object to its processing, and to withdraw your consent at any time. How to exercise these rights is explained in the privacy notice. You can also lodge a complaint with the Italian Data Protection Authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali.
Contacts
Data controller: SISSA – Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy. Phone +39 040 3787 111, email info@sissa.it, certified email (PEC) protocollo@pec.sissa.it.
Data Protection Officer: dpo@sissa.it or rpd@sissa.it.
Updates to this policy
We may update this policy when the website or the law changes. The current version is always published on this page.
Last updated: November 2026.