University of Pisa become a member of the Universities Research Association. Among its notable graduates there are several national and foreign political leaders including two Italian presidents, five Popes, five Italian prime ministers and three Nobel Laureates as students, faculty or staff affiliates. Pisa has an intense athletic rivalry with the University of Pavia, which traditionally culminates in the Pisa-Pavia Regatta ("Regata Pisa-Pavia"), the oldest competition of this kind in Italy, and second in Europe only to the Oxford Cambridge boat race. In 2013, the University of Pisa finished with La Sapienza University of Rome in first place among the Italian universities, according
European University Centre East Europe", which connects the city to Paris in 1.5 hours and to Strasbourg in 1 hour. In addition, since the city and its area have 40,000 university students from over 260,000 people, Nancy is the 5th largest university town in France. The European University Centre was created after the Congress of Europe of 9 May 1948 to "provide the cause of European unity with a fresh batch of militant elites". René Roblot was secretary-general of the center. The European Centre was established in 1950 with a clear objective by leading academics and with the support of politicians. To receive