The University of Bologna (Italian: Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna; abbreviated Unibo) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. It is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as universitas scholarium or guilds of students by the late 12th century. The university's emblem carries the motto Alma Mater Studiorum (Latin for 'Nourishing mother of studies') and the date A.D. 1088. With over 90,000 students, the University of Bologna is one of the largest universities in Europe.
The university saw the first woman to earn a university degree and teach at a university (Bettisia Gozzadini), and the first woman to earn both a doctorate in science and a salaried position as a university professor (Laura Bassi). The University of Bologna had a central role in the sciences during the medieval age and the Italian Renaissance, when it housed and educated Nicholas Copernicus in addition to numerous other Renaissance mathematicians. It has educated a wide range of notable alumni, amongst them a large number of Italian scientists, prime ministers, supreme court judges and priests.
Aside from its main campus in Bologna, the university has additional campuses in Cesena (including Cesenatico), Forlì, Ravenna (including Faenza) and Rimini, as well as teaching facilities in Ozzano and Imola and branches abroad in Buenos Aires, New York, Brussels and Shanghai. It houses the fully funded boarding college Collegio Superiore di Bologna, the Bologna School of Advanced Studies, the botanical gardens of Bologna, a large number of museums, libraries and archeological collections, as well as the Bologna University Press.
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History
The date of the University of Bologna's founding is uncertain. The university was granted a charter (Authentica habita) by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1158, but in the 19th century, a committee of historians led by Giosuè Carducci traced the founding of the university back to 1088, which would make it the oldest continuously operating university in the world. However, the development of the institution at Bologna into a university was a gradual process. Paul Grendler writes that "it is not likely that enough instruction and organization existed to merit the term university before the 1150s, and it might not have happened before the 1180s."
The university arose around mutual aid societies (known as universitates scholarium) of foreign students called "nations" (as they were grouped by nationality) for protection against city laws which imposed collective punishment on foreigners for the crimes and debts of their countrymen. These students then hired scholars from the city's pre-existing lay and ecclesiastical schools to teach them subjects such as liberal arts, notarial law, theology, and ars dictaminis (scrivenery). The lectures were given in informal schools called scholae. In time the various universitates scholarium decided to form a larger association, or Studium—thus, the university. The Studium grew to have a strong position of collective bargaining with the city, since by then it derived significant revenue through visiting foreign students, who would depart if they were not well treated. The foreign students in Bologna received greater rights, and collective punishment was ended. There was also collective bargaining with the scholars who served as professors at the university. By the initiation or threat of a student strike, the students could enforce their demands as to the content of courses and the pay professors would receive. University professors were hired, fired, and had their pay determined by an elected council of two representatives from every student "nation" which governed the institution, with the most important decisions requiring a majority vote from all the students to ratify. The professors could also be fined if they failed to finish classes on time, or complete course material by the end of the semester. A student committee, the "Denouncers of Professors", kept tabs on them and reported any misbehavior. Professors themselves were not powerless, however, forming collegia doctorum (professors' committees) in each faculty, and securing the rights to set examination fees and degree requirements. Eventually, the city ended this arrangement, paying professors from tax revenues and making it a chartered public university.
The university is historically notable for its teaching of canon and civil law; indeed, it was set up in large part with the aim of studying the Digest, a central text in Roman law, which had been rediscovered in Italy in 1070, and the university was central in the development of medieval Roman law. Until modern times, the only degree granted at that university was the doctorate.
Organization
Higher education processes are being harmonised across the European Community. Nowadays the university offers 101 different "Laurea" or "Laurea breve" first-level degrees (three years of courses), followed by 108 "Laurea specialistica" or "Laurea magistrale" second-level degrees (two years). However 11 other courses have maintained the previous rules of "Laurea specialistica a ciclo unico" or "Laurea magistrale a ciclo unico", with only one cycle of study of five years, except for medicine and dentistry, which require six years of courses. After the "Laurea" one may attain first-level Master (one-year diploma, similar to a postgraduate diploma). After second-level degrees are attained, one may proceed to second-level Master, specialisation schools (residency) or research doctorates (PhD).
The 11 Schools (which replace the existing 23 faculties) are:
School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine
School of Economics, Management and Statistics
School of Engineering and Architecture
School of Foreign Languages and Literature, Interpreting and Translation
School of Law
School of Arts, Humanities, and Cultural Heritage
School of Medicine and Surgery
School of Pharmacy, Biotechnologies and Sport Sciences
School of Political Sciences
School of Psychology and Education Sciences
School of Sciences
The university is structured in 33 departments (66 until 2012), organized by homogeneous research domains that integrate activities related to one or more faculty. A new department of Latin history was added in 2015.
Affiliates and other institutions
Il Mulino
In the early 1950s, some students of the University of Bologna were among the founders of the review "il Mulino". On 25 April 1951 the first issue of the review was published in Bologna. In a short time, "il Mulino" became one of the most interesting reference points in Italy for the political and cultural debate and established important editorial relationships in Italy and abroad. Editorial activities evolved along with the review. In 1954, the il Mulino publishing house (It. Società editrice il Mulino) was founded, which today represents one of the most relevant Italian publishers. In addition to this were initiated research projects (focusing mostly on the educational institutions and the political system in Italy), that eventually led, in 1964, to the establishment of the Istituto Carlo Cattaneo.
Collegio Superiore
The Collegio Superiore is an excellence institution inside the University of Bologna, aimed at promoting students' merit through dedicated learning programmes.
The institution was founded in 1998 as Collegio d'Eccellenza. Together with the Institute for Advanced Study it is part of the Institute for Higher Study.
The Collegio Superiore offers an additional educational path to students enrolled in a degree programme at the University of Bologna, providing specialized courses as part of an interdisciplinary framework.
All students of the Collegio Superiore are granted a full-ride scholarship and additional benefits such as the assistance of a personal tutor and free accommodation at the Residence for Higher Study. In order to remain members of the Collegio Superiore students are required to maintain high marks in both their degree programme and the additional courses.
Beatrice Fraboni, professor of Physics of Matter, has been head of Collegio Superiore since 2019.
Notable people
Alumni
Adone Zoli, former Prime Minister of Italy.
Cardinal Alberto Bolognetti
Pope Alexander VI
Álvaro de Figueroa, former Prime Minister of Spain.
Anna M. Borghi, Italian cognitive psychologist
Augusto Righi, pioneer in the study of electromagnetism
Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright
Carlo Rovelli, Italian theoretical physicist
Carlo Severini
Saint Charles Borromeo, archbishop of Milan
Corrado Gini, Italian statistician, demographer and sociologist who developed the Gini coefficient/ratio.
Dante Alighieri, Italian poet, writer and philosopher
Daria de Pretis, Italian jurist, Constitutional Judge of the Constitutional Court of Italy.
Diego Della Valle, chairman of the Italian leather goods company Tod's
Enzo Ferrari, Italian racing driver, engineer and entrepreneur
Erasmus of Rotterdam
Fabrizio Zilibotti, Italian economist and Professor of International and Development Economics at Yale University.
Fawziya Abikar Nur, Minister for Health and Social Care – Somalia.
Faculty and staff
Notable former faculty include:
11th century
Irnerius
12th century
Bulgarus
Gratian
Martinus Gosia
Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem
William of Tyre
13th century
Benvenutus Scotivoli
Bettisia Gozzadini
Guido Guinizelli
Henry of Susa (Hostiensis)
Paul, Dominican martyr
Sylvester Gozzolini
William of Saliceto
14th century
Manuel Chrysoloras
Giovanni de' Marignolli
Francesco Petrarca (also known as Petrarch)
Coluccio Salutati
15th century
Leon Battista Alberti
Nicolaus Copernicus
Lippo Bartolomeo Dardi
Yuriy Drohobych (also known as Georgius de Drohobycz)
Rankings and reputation
The 2027 QS World University Rankings ranked the University of Bologna 123rd in the world as well as 66th with specific reference to academic reputation. In another measurement by the same organization, it was positioned among the world's top 100 universities for graduate employability.
In the 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, it claimed the 130th place globally. In the 2023 THE Impact Rankings, which measure the universities' commitment to sustainable development in compliance with the UN 2030 Agenda, Bologna took 5th place in Europe and 23rd in the world.
Points of interest
Orto Botanico dell'Università di Bologna
L'Orto Agrario "Filippo Re" (in Italian) (Translate to English: Google, Bing, Yandex)