The Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is a private law foundation jointly established by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and the Ministry of Economy and Finance, with the aim of promoting excellence in both basic and applied research and to facilitate the development of the national economy.  IIT’s total staff is comprised of more than 900 individuals. The scientific area is represented by about 550 researchers, of which nearly 25% are foreigners coming from more than 35 countries worldwide and around 15% are 'returning Italian brains.' Approximately 25% of the staff is composed of young graduate students. IIT has produced approximately 65 patents and more than 2000 publications. The departments that collaborate in the headquarters based in Genoa (Italy) include departments of Robotics ('Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences' and 'Advanced Robotics'), the 'iCub' and the 'Pattern Analysis & Computer Vision' facilities, departments oriented to Life Sciences ('Neuroscience and Brain Technologies' and 'Drug Discovery and Development') and Nanobiotechnologies facilities ('Nanochemistry', 'Nanophysics' and 'Nanostructures'). Since 2009 the scientific activity has been further supported by 10 research centres located throughout Italy (Turin, Milan, Trento, Parma, Rome, Pisa, Naples, Lecce) to develop seven scientific platforms: 'Robotics', 'Neuroscience', 'Drug Discovery Development and Diagnostics', 'Energy', 'Environment Health and Safety', 'Smart Materials' and 'Computation'.