Training courses

This program represents the first experience of close collaboration in the field of higher education between the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute and the University of Pisa. The first edition dates back to the A.Y. 2015/1016 and has been running since, with the exception of the A.Y. 2019/2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The Master is aimed at operators in Support Relationships and all those who wish to deepen their knowledge of contemplative practices both from an experiential, theoretical and neuroscientific point of view. The acceptance of the offering recorded an uninterrupted growth in the first four years, reaching a maximum of 65 members and stabilizing around that figure.

The Master's Council is made up of the Director, Prof. Angelo Gemignani, Professors Bruno Neri and Ciro Conversano and the President and Director of the Lama Tzong Khapa Institute, Lucia Landi and Valerio Tallarico.

The Master's course lasts approximately one year, generally starting from the month of March and ending in January of the following year, involving approximately 320 hours of lessons and 150 hours of internship for a total of 60 ECTS. The lessons are mainly in person and usually take place at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute; approximately 30% of online lessons and a small portion in UniPi classrooms are also planned.

The teaching staff is made up of professors from UniPi and other universities, instructors, masters and teachers of the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute and resident Geshe.

Announcement for the upcoming edition

Per ogni ulteriore informazione è possibile rivolgersi al tutor del master Alessandro Cheli, scrivendo una e-mail a tutorunipi@iltk.it

Starting from the seventh edition (A.Y. 2021/22), every year a residential meeting takes place at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute. The event is dedicated to former students, with the teachers delivering master classes aimed to update them on new research and scientific discoveries in the fields of neuroscience, meditation and contemplative practices.

The course is aimed at all those who work in the sector of end-of-life care and palliative care, but also at those who wish to delve deeper, in various aspects, into a topic that often leads to adopting an attitude of removal rather than of engagement with what appears as the last taboo of Western society. The mystery of death is addressed in a multidisciplinary manner by experts in various disciplines (philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, traditional and non-traditional medicine, anthropology, thanatology, palliative care) and exponents of religious traditions (Catholicism, Buddhism).

The 80 hours of frontal lessons are accompanied by 32 hours of experiential practices (forest therapy, mindfulness, yoga) which will be delivered over the course of 9 week-ends, 3 of which in person at the Lama Tzong Khapa Institute and 6 online. The course ends with the presentation of a paper which, if approved, allows the participant to obtain 12 ECTS which can be used in any European University.

The first edition of the School dates back to the summer of 2020 and was held exclusively online due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Subsequent editions were held at the Lama Tsong Khapa Institute with the possibility of attending online as well. The peculiar characteristic of the School is its multidisciplinarity with teaching modules ranging from philosophy to bioengineering, from artificial intelligence to neuroscience, to biosemiotics, to the implications of quantum mechanics and its different interpretations, to contemplative practices.

In addition to the 48 hours of frontal lessons, there are 3 experiential modules of 5 hours each dedicated to concentrated meditation, mindfulness and yoga practices. Students who pass the final test are accredited with 6 ECTS that can be used in any European University.

46 students participated in the latest edition, 30 in person and 16 online, coming from 24 different countries and four continents. The anonymous questionnaire distributed to students recorded 85% Good or Very Good ratings.