"The University of Milano-Bicocca was founded with the goal of making research the strategic basis of all its institutional activities"
The history of the new university began in 1998, in the former Pirelli Bicocca. The area was designated by the City of Milan to the development of scientific and cultural activities.
The University of Milano-Bicocca has a multidisciplinary approach that trains professionals in various fields: economics, law, sciences, technology, medicine, sociology, statistics, psychology and pedagogy.
32000 students are currently enrolled at the University. Teaching is divided into 68 courses in seven subject areas and 37 specialization schools. Research is carried out in 14 departments and 46 University and inter-university research centers.
The University has recently inaugurated the U28 building dedicated to cutting-edge biomedical research and precision medicine. This new building is located in the Monza campus alongside other buildings which are already being used for teaching and research activities undertaken by the Department of Medicine and Surgery and by San Gerardo Hospital, a partner of the University.
U28 is a research space based on the open science model, where technology, knowledge and skills are constantly combined and shared.
Internationalization, coordinated with research strategies, is accomplished through agreements with 551 institutions from over 40 countries, 7 double degree agreements with EU and non-EU countries and 12 PhD co-supervision agreements.
In 2007, on the island of Magoodhoo in the Maldives, the MaHre center was opened. This center is dedicated to frontier research on coral reefs and the sustainability of the marine environment It hosts also an International Master.
The international courses
The international courses include the Master of Science in International Economics and in Marine Sciences, entirely taught in English.
The Master in Marine Sciences has been activated in collaboration with the Maldives National University.
The University is located in the area of Milan that was once the location of heavy industries such as Pirelli and Breda. A large urban redevelopment plan, which began around 1986, coordinated by the architect Vittorio Gregotti, has converted the area of which the University has become the ideal center.
The new University has acquired a representative role in the transformation of the area with regard to liveableness and creation of spaces for social and cultural interaction. It is no coincidence that the image of the neighborhood has come to be identified more and more with the University.
Cultural activity is very intense with dozens of conferences, debates, exhibitions, concerts (amongst other things the university has a choir and three orchestras in which enrollment is free), which are always open to the public and local residents.
There is a nursery, coordinated directly by the Department of Educational Sciences, which is also open to the children of students.
For students coming from outside Milan (almost 16 per cent of students come from other regions), there are two large residences with furnished apartments, study areas, kitchens and areas for recreation.
The campus consists of 26 modern buildings that span a total area of 290,000 square meters, distributed between the city center and the Monza Biomedical pole a few kilometers from Milan.
There are 200 wired and equipped classrooms 20,000 classroom seats of which 300 are for disabled people, and almost two thousand workstations. There is full WiFi coverage, dozens of equipped studio spaces libraries, residences, canteens and transportation services (free bus shuttle service and a fleet of bicycles for moving between buildings).
The campus is easily accessed by main lines of communication and transport.
