University profile

It is the artistic and cultural heritage of Florence that makes it unique in the world. The University of Florence, with its illustrious origins and history, keeps this tradition alive today.

• A Young University with ancient roots
• Studying in Florence
• Research and knowledge transfer
• The international dimension
• In the library
• Nature in a Museum
• It’s not enough to say Florence
• Addresses and sites

A Young University with ancient roots

The origins of the University of Florence go back to the Studium Generale which was set up by the Florentine Republic in 1321. Civil and Canon Law, Literature and Medicine were taught. In 1364 the Studium became an imperial university. When the Medici came to power in Tuscany it was exiled to Pisa. Since the sixteenth century, research and teaching have proceeded in the numerous Academies that came to flourish in the interim. In 1859 a unified structure re-emerged in the shape of the Istituto Superiore di Studi Pratici e di Perfezionamento, the university status of which was then recognised by the Italian State. In 1923 the Istituto was officially granted the title of university. It is now one of the largest organisations for research and higher training in Italy, with 2,300 lecturers and internal research staff, as well as 1,400 postgraduate researchers, 750 research assistants, almost a hundred temporary research assistants, 1,700 technicians and administrative staff and 60,000 students.

Studying in Florence

Twelve faculties, more than 150 degree courses (1^st and 2^nd cycle degrees), an overall population of approximately sixty thousand students, a quarter of them from outside the region: the University of Florence is a large institution with a very wide-ranging educational offer extending over all disciplinary areas. For some time, the University has been committed to the quality certification of its faculties and courses.

Faculties

• Agriculture
• Architecture
• Economics
• Pharmacy
• Law
• Engineering
• Literature and Philosophy
• Medicine and Surgery
• Psychology
• Education
• Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences
• Political science

Beyond the courses, the University also offers students important collateral opportunities, including sports, languages and computer studies, the university choir and orchestra, in-faculty cultural and educational initiatives funded by university grants, psychological support and the chance of paid part-time collaboration in various types of activities. With almost nine thousand new graduates every year, the outgoing figures are practically on a par with the average number of new students registering each year. In addition, the number of Florentine graduates who have already found work one year after completing the 1^st cycle three-year degree is above the national average.

Research and knowledge transfer

The University of Florence is one of the largest and most productive public research systems in Italy. This result is related to the number of permanent and temporary researchers working in a wide range of disciplinary and scientific fields, and the numerous junior scientists in training. It is also due to an intensive participation in research programmes of national and international relevance, the significant scientific results achieved, and the financial flow from outside supporting activities of research and knowledge transfer. This combination of factors qualifies the Florentine institution as a modern research university, and accounts for its excellent ranking in national and international classifications.

The researchers of the University of Florence belong to 70 different departments and have at their disposal approximately 60 research structures comprising interdepartmental and inter-university centres as well as 10 centres for research, knowledge transfer and higher education. In recent years the University of Florence has increasingly consolidated its activities in the sphere of knowledge transfer: from the filing of patents (approximately 50 in 2007) to the setting up of joint workshops with enterprise (15), through to participation in 5 spin-off companies. Transfer activities are co-ordinated by a special office (ILO – Industrial Liason Office), that facilitates collaboration with other universities in Italy and abroad. The participation of the University in the innovation processes of the national and regional production systems is promoted by a special body, the Fondazione per la Ricerca e l’Innovazione, set up by the University in liaison with the local authorities.

The international dimension

The University of Florence has always placed special emphasis on fostering relations of collaboration with foreign universities and on the process of internationalisation. This has become a priority and strategic aspect in the life of the university, affecting all areas, from research and teaching to the organisation of studies and the mobility of teachers, researchers and students. There are over two hundred and fifty collaboration agreements with other universities in 68 countries. Since 1999 the European Union has acknowledged the status of the University as a European Union Centre of Excellence (a title awarded to valorise the specialisation of the University in studies connected with European integration). For some time study courses have been available leading to joint qualifications with other universities, research doctorates in particular.

In the sphere of international research, a large number of projects is funded by the European Union, especially in the ambit of Framework Programmes for research and technological development, which represent the main instrument of Community policy in the research sector. The University of Florence has participated in these since the early 90s with very satisfactory results. In particular, there has been a significant funding increase in the transition from the Fourth Framework Programme 1994-1998 (over 9 million Euro) to the Fifth, which recorded a total financing of over 15 million Euro. In the Sixth Programme, the funding reached a level of around 21 million Euro.

The international dimension of the University of Florence is also illustrated by the many foreign students enrolled, over 2,500 comprising more than a hundred young Chinese students. Over the course of the academic year a further one thousand European students spend time studying in Florence in the ambit of the Erasmus programme. The student population of Florence also includes the numerous young people who come to the city every year.

In the library

There are approximately three and a half million books and 18,000 periodicals available in five large libraries covering the main disciplinary areas, with around 40 annexed reading rooms. The university library system also offers online catalogues and many other resources in digital format (journals, articles, books). Students are offered courses for guidance in the use of the library and on bibliographical research, as well as rooms with computer work stations that are also open in the evening. The digital publishing service is provided by Firenze University Press.

Nature in a Museum

Belonging to the University of Florence is the most important natural history museum in Italy, which is also one of the oldest and most renowned at an international level. This is the Museum of Natural History, founded in 1775 by the Grand Duke Peter Leopold, while the nucleus represented by the Botanical Garden is even older, dating back to 1545. Consisting of six sections scattered over the old centre of Florence, the Museum houses 8 million exemplars including exhibits of outstanding scientific and naturalistic importance: sixteenth-century herbals and precious eighteenth-century waxworks, fossil skeletons of elephants and collections of multicoloured butterflies, large tourmaline crystals and Aztec finds, impressive wooden sculptures and the largest inflorescence in the world. This is a context that expresses a wonderful combination of nature, history, science and art.

It’s not enough to say Florence

In Florence the university does not have just one address. Starting from the old city centre where all its activities were centred up to a few decades ago, the university now has its home in various different parts of the city, and even beyond the urban area in the new sciences centre in Sesto fiorentino, and the sites in Scandicci, Empoli and Calenzano. The decentralisation of teaching activities has now extended even as far as the provinces of Prato and Pistoia.

Addresses and sites

• Università degli Studi di Firenze
• Ufficio Relazioni Internazionali
• Facoltà Agraria
• Facoltà di Architettura
• Facoltà di Economia
• Facoltà di Farmacia
• Facoltà di Giurisprudenza
• Facoltà di Ingegneria
• Facoltà di Lettere e filosofia
• Facoltà di Medicina e chirurgia
• Facoltà di Psicologia
• Facoltà di Scienze della formazione
• Facoltà di Scienze matematiche, fisiche e naturali
• Facoltà di Scienze Politiche
• Museo di Storia Naturale

Libraries

• Biblioteca Biomedica
• Biblioteca di Scienze
• Biblioteca di Scienze Sociali
• Biblioteca di Scienze Tecnologiche
• Biblioteca Umanistica
• Biblioteca del Polo universitario di Prato

• Sistema bibliotecario di Ateneo

Centres and services

• Centro di cultura per stranieri
• Centro linguistico di Ateneo
• Centro di servizi informatici dell’ateneo fiorentino
• Centro universitario sportivo
• Orchestra dell’Università di Firenze
• Coro Universitario di Firenze