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Voluntary civilian service

Choose to become a civilian service volunteer at the University of Bologna.

General information 

What is civilian service?

Universal civilian Service is the voluntary choice to dedicate a few months of your life to unarmed and non-military national service to education, to promote peace among peoples and to promote the founding values of the Italian Republic, through actions for communities and the territory. 

Why do civilian service?

To take advantage of an important and often unique opportunity for personal development, add a qualifying experience to your CV and dedicate your time to solidarity and the good of others.

How long does it last?

Civilian service can last between 8 and 12 months, depending on the project. Details of the duration and the required time commitment can be found in the description of the individual projects.

What does it offer?

  • Training - minimum 80 hours
  • Course credits
  • Civilian service certificate of participation
  • Recognition and value of the competencies acquired
  • The experience is considered when you participate in open competitions using the same method and the same weighting as a service performed for the Public Administration and can be considered as a preferential qualification
  • Recognition of the service for the purposes of social security benefits (redeemable)
  • Volunteers are paid approximately € 440.00 per month. If the service is performed abroad, there is an additional daily allowance of 13 to 15 euros
  • If the service is performed abroad: food, accommodation, a round trip and one return (round trip) during the service is provided
  • Leave varies in proportion to the period of service (20 days for 12 months)
  • Possibility of a period of tutoring (up to three months) for some projects based in Italy to facilitate entry into the world of work
  • Preferential access to some universal civilian service projects for disadvantaged young people

Who is eligible to become a volunteer worker?

To take part in the civilian service you must:

  • be between 18 and 29 years old 
  • be a European citizen or a non-EU citizen with a valid permit to stay in Italy
  • not have been convicted in Italy or abroad, even if it is a non-final judgment, to imprisonment of more than one year for a crime committed with criminal intent or to a penalty even of a lesser amount for a crime against the person or relating to the possession, use, carrying, transport, illicit import or export of weapons or explosive materials or for crimes relating to belonging to or aiding and abetting subversive, terrorist or organized crime groups.

You can only take part in civilian service once.

How to become a volunteer worker

  • To become a volunteer worker, please see the call for applications that are published every year by the Youth Affairs and Universal Civilian Service department.
  • The call for application presents several projects, some of which are proposed by the University of Bologna. The first thing to do is to choose the one that best suits your interests and expectations.
  • You can only apply online and you must do so using SPID (Public System for Digital Identity) credentials.
  • You will then be invited to attend a selection interview by the institution to which you submitted the application.
  • If selected, you will become a volunteer civilian service worker and will sign a contract with the Youth Affairs and Universal Civilian Service department of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Call for applications 2023 – Deadline 20 February 2023 at 14:00

The projects proposed by the University of Bologna

In 2023, the University gives you the opportunity to choose between projects to be carried out at different campuses. There is 1 project in Bologna, 1 project in Rimini and 1 project in Ravenna.

Below you will find an overview of the new projects offered by the Multicampus University.

The commitment required

The voluntary civilian service lasts 12 months: 1,145 hours per year and a minimum 25 mandatory hours per week, including 20 days of paid leave.

How to participate

Anyone who is between the age of 18 and 28 and a EU citizen, or a non-EU citizen with a valid permit to reside in Italy, has not already joined the civilian service as a volunteer and meets the other requirements listed in the call for applications (in Italian) [.pdf 2429 KB] can apply. For the applications deadline read the extension decree [.pdf 243 KB].

You can choose one of the projects offered by the University and submit your application using the DOL (Application On Line) platform, accessible from PCs, tablets and smartphones. 

To access the application submission services on the DOL platform, you must login to the system using a SPID or other specific credentials. 

  1. Italian citizens resident in Italy or abroad can access the platform only with a SPID, the Public Digital Identity System. Information on the SPID, the services it offers and how to request it can be found on the Agency for Digital Italy website. For the Civilian Service On-Line application, you will need SPID credentials with security level 2.
  2. European Union citizens and non-EU citizens with a valid permit to reside in Italy who cannot acquire a SPID may access the DOL platform services with specific credentials provided by the Department; access to this procedure can be found on the platform home page.

A guide on how to fill in and submit applications on the DOL platform can be found on the Universal Civilian Service website.

Applications can only be submitted following the online procedure described above by 14:00 on 20 February 2023.

Applications submitted after this deadline will not be accepted by the system.

We recommend reading the call for applications carefully as it describes the requirements, procedures and documents required and how to submit applications.

Candidates can submit only one application for one project at one location and, after the deadline, will have to attend a selection interview. The service is expected to start in April or May 2022.

Where to obtain further information

For further information, please refer to the Arci Servizio Civile office.

Requests for further information must be sent to the Arci Servizio Civile branch relevant to the chosen project.