Presentation

Bologna is the capital and largest city in Emilia-Romagna and has a rich history dating back to 10,000 BC. Today, Bologna is an important cultural centre, being declared European capital of culture in 2000. The city is also renowned for its culinary tradition and surrounded by an emerging wine sector. [For more information, please visit: www.bolognawelcome.com/en ]

The Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna is the oldest University in the Western world and a cornerstone of European culture [www.unibo.it/en/homepage]. It was the first place of study to use the term universitas, founded by students for students that came to define the institution, located in Bologna, Italy. As of 2013, the University’s crest carries this unique identiy in its motto Alma mater studiorum and the date A.D. 1088.

The University has about 85,500 students in its 23 schools, spanning across research centres in Imola, Ravenna, Forlì, Cesena and Rimini as well as a branch in Buenos Aires. The university further incorporates a school of excellence named, Collegio Superiore di Bologna, and an associate publisher named Bononia University Press S.p.A (BUP). [To watch the visual presentation of the University: youtu.be/KEPqwXgvcCw]

The DISTAL, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, has emerged from a fusion of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Engineering, Department of Food Sciences and Department of Agro-Food Protection and Valorisation in 2012 and is based in Bologna and Cesena. The interdisciplinary competence makes DISTAL a hub in the Italian Agro-Food sector and an important project partner in scientific and industrial research at a European level. [Department website: www.distal.unibo.it ]