ISU - International Student Union is an organisation committed to supporting international students in their academic career in Italy. In collaboration with several universities, ISU identified the need for a digital tool capable of effectively managing applications from foreign students wishing to participate in Erasmus programmes or enrol in Italian degree courses after studying abroad. This need led to the creation of UniCandidate, a platform designed to accompany students along the delicate process of degree recognition and access to the Italian university system.
The main objective of UniCandidate was to create a centralised, clear and accessible portal where foreign students could apply to Italian universities, entering the qualifications they have acquired, the credits they have obtained and the required documents. The platform had to simplify the application evaluation process, manage the conversion of degree scores and provide the offices in charge with a reliable tool to determine the eligibility of applicants. At the same time, it was crucial to offer transparency and traceability to the applicant, to guide him/her through the various bureaucratic steps and educational requirements.
The design of the platform is intended to meet different needs: on the one hand, international students, who are often unfamiliar with the Italian academic system; on the other hand, university evaluators, who need tools for comparative analysis and document control. The interface guides the applicant step by step, clearly indicating which documents to submit, which criteria to meet and how to monitor the progress of their application. For evaluators, a specific dashboard has been developed that allows them to easily compare academic backgrounds, report inconsistencies and validate applications with just a few clicks.
UniCandidate was developed as a web application using Ruby on Rails. The visual part was built with Bootstrap, for a modular and responsive structure. The authentication system is based on an SSO implementation in Go, which ensures secure management of access with university credentials. The data is managed through a PostgreSQL database, structured to support large volumes and simultaneous operations, such as sending massive notifications or managing multiple calls in parallel.
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