University of Florence

The University of Florence, founded in 1321, is a centuries-old institution with deep historical roots. It is a comprehensive research university with a strong international vocation and a large number of Departments of Excellence. It’s a top destination in Europe for Erasmus and has a particularly high number of enrolled international students (around 4,000 international students in 2023). Unifi has over 500 cooperation agreements with universities and research centres in 100 different countries and a unique cooperation with the study abroad programme of Stanford, NYU, Syracuse, and many more US universities - with a total of 43 US programmes in Florence. The university offers 15 master's, one bachelor’s, and approximately 30 PhD programmes that are entirely taught in English. In addition to offering more than 35 double degrees, the university has also launched two joint master’s and two multiple master’s programmes.

Some highlights:

• 3 UNESCO Chairs: All of them linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, the first (2006) dealing with human development and peace from the point of view of education;  the second (2016) with the prevention and reduction of hydrogeological risks, also in relation to the protection of UNESCO World Heritage sites; the third (2022) with the conservation and enhancement of our rural heritage.
• A world leading University Museum System: With its ten million specimens and more than four centuries of history, the Museum of Natural History is the most important naturalistic museum in Italy. The complex of Villa La Quiete displays, amongst others, works by Ghirlandaio and Botticelli, and the house of Galileo in Arcetri (Villa Galileo) tells of his scientific studies, relations with students and passion for the vineyards.
• The European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS): A European reference point for research with light waves, based on a fundamental multi-disciplinary approach.
• The Research Centre Denothe: A research facility dedicated to medical research in the field of chronic and disabling diseases, which have a major impact on the patients’ quality of life and put a considerable burden on the healthcare system. 
• The European Infrastructure “Instruct”: This infrastructure is hosted at the University Center for Magnetic Resonance (CERM) to set up the most powerful and unique apparatus in the world for advanced molecular studies in the field of life science and vaccines.
• The Florence Center for Data Science: A joint effort of four departments of the University of Florence, representing a rare, if not unique, balancing of statistical, mathematical, computer sciences, computer engineering and application-specific expertise.
• Involvement in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): More than 50 researchers from 12 departments involved in a Research Unit on climate change with an active role in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments contributing also to the Nobel Peace Prize 2007, awarded jointly to IPCC and Al Gore.