The University of Bologna gives 1088 as the year conventionally taken as the founding of the Studium of Bologna. It has five campuses (Bologna, Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna and Rimini) and 31 departments. Its Rector, Giovanni Molari, is a professor of agricultural machinery and mechanisation.
The Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL) brings together the university’s agri-food teaching and research. It has main sites in Bologna and Cesena and also works in Ozzano, Cadriano, Imola and Tebano. The department says it is the university’s largest, with around 500 staff, more than fifteen million euros a year in research income and a part in 96 EU-funded projects, 11 of which it coordinates. Italy’s Ministry of University and Research recognised it as a Department of Excellence for 2023 to 2027. It hosts four spin-offs and contributes to the University Experimental Farm, which has about 500 hectares under cultivation. Across the university, Bologna reports 56 active spin-offs and start-ups and 900 patents and plant varieties.