University of Bologna

University of Bologna
Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna
Seal
Latin: Universitas Bononiensis[1]
MottoPetrus ubique pater legum Bononia mater[2] (Latin)
Motto in English
St. Peter is everywhere the father of the law, Bologna is its mother
TypePublic research university
Establishedc. 1088; 936 years ago (1088)
Academic affiliations
Coimbra Group
European Universities Association
Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities
International Association of Universities
Scholars at Risk
Europaeum
Una Europa
Mediterranean Universities Union
Utrecht Network
RectorGiovanni Molari
Academic staff
2,917[3]
Administrative staff
2,965[3]
Students90,291[3]
Undergraduates47,253
Postgraduates36,266
4,239
Location
Bologna, others: Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna, and Rimini
,
Italy

44°29′38″N 11°20′34″E / 44.49389°N 11.34278°E / 44.49389; 11.34278
CampusUniversity town
103 hectares (256 acres)
NewspaperUNIBO Magazine
Colours  Red
Sports teamsCUS Bologna
Websitewww.unibo.it/en/homepage

The University of Bologna (Italian: Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, abbreviated Unibo) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students (universitas scholarium) by the late 12th century,[4] it is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning.[5][6] The university's emblem carries the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum ("Nourishing mother of studies"), and the date A.D. 1088.[7] 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 has had a central role in the sciences during the medieval age and the Italian renaissance, where it housed and educated Nicholas Copernicus as well as numerous other renaissance mathematicians.[8] It has educated a wide range of notable alumni, amongst them a large number of Italian scientists, prime ministers, supreme court judges, and priests.[9]

The University of Bologna has campuses in Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna and Rimini as well as branch centres abroad in Buenos Aires, New York, Brussels, and Shanghai.[10] It houses the fully funded boarding college Collegio Superiore di Bologna, the Bologna School of Advanced Studies,[11] the botanical gardens of Bologna, a large number of museums, libraries and archeological collections,[12] as well as the Bologna University Press.

  1. ^ Records of The Tercentenary Festival of Dublin University. Dublin, Ireland: Hodges, Figgis & Co. 1894. ISBN 9781355361602.
  2. ^ Charters of foundation and early documents of the universities of the Coimbra Group, Hermans, Jos. M. M., ISBN 90-5867-474-6.
  3. ^ a b c "The University today: numbers and innovation"
  4. ^ Jacques Verger (16 October 2003). "Patterns". In Hilde de Ridder-Symoens; Walter Rüegg (eds.). A History of the University in Europe. Vol. 1, Universities in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press. p. 48. ISBN 9780521541138. There is no indication, however, that up until around 1180, the Bolognese law schools were anything other than private schools opened and run by each master after his own fashion, gathering together the students that had entered into an agreement with him and paid him fees (collectae) in return for his teaching. The crucial change would seem to have taken place around the years 1180–90. ... The masters, who were themselves mainly Bolognese in origin, agreed from 1189 to swear an oath to the commune not to seek to transfer the studium elsewhere. The students, on the other hand, began to group themselves in nations, according to their places of origin (we hear of the Lombard nation as early as 1191), and these were soon federated into 'universities' with elected rectors at their head.
  5. ^ Hunt Janin: "The university in medieval life, 1179–1499", McFarland, 2008, ISBN 0-7864-3462-7, p. 55f.
  6. ^ de Ridder-Symoens, Hilde: A History of the University in Europe: Volume 1, Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-521-36105-2, pp. 47–55
  7. ^ "Schools". University of Bologna. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Nicolaus Copernicus | Biography, Facts, Nationality, Discoveries, Accomplishments, & Theory | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-11-23.
  9. ^ Luigi (2012-06-27). "La storia dell'Università di Bologna | Universando.com" (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  10. ^ "Bruxelles, New York, Shanghai - Università di Bologna". www.unibo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
  11. ^ "Campuses and Structures". University of Bologna. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Musei Universitari - Università di Bologna". www.unibo.it (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-10-29.