Hosting University

Università degli Studi di Milano

The Foundation:
Also known as ‘La Statale’, the Università degli Studi di Milano is, relatively speaking, one of Italy’s younger university institutions. It was founded in 1924 with the institution of the first four faculties: Law, Humanities, Medicine and Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences.
Bombardments in 1943 partially destroyed the buildings housing the Faculties of Humanities and Law in the city center, rendering them unfit for use. This meant that, in the immediate aftermath of the war, operations had to be moved to the Collegio delle Fanciulle until the university could move into its permanent home: Ca’ Granda, the old ‘Hospital for the Poor’ commissioned by the Sforza family in the fifteenth century, a building of enormous historical importance and still the symbol of, and a source of great pride for, the University.

Evolution through the decades:
In the 1960s, the University of Milan experienced a huge rise in the number of student enrolments due, on the one hand, to the extension of compulsory education and, on the
other, to the upturn in Italy’s economic situation. Student numbers grew from 7,461 in
1959 to almost 20,000 in 1969-70. In 1978-79 the number of students at the University reached 63,642, an increase of more than 40,000 students in ten years. For the University, the 1990s marked the start of a process centered around the two-fold increase in the number of Faculties with the highest number of enrolled students. Thanks to a special national law on huge universities, this process resulted in establishing the University of Insubria (Varese and Como) and the University of Milano-Bicocca. In 2006-2007, the number of students enrolled in the University surpassed 62,000, with a further 7000 students enrolled in postgraduate programs. A multidisciplinary, innovative educational offering and a continuous focus on the new professional skills demanded by a rapidly evolving labor market have characterized the University since its early days.

The Future Scientific Campus:
Over the years, the University has also strengthened its commitment to technology transfer and the practical application of scientific research results in the economic-production context. In recent years, this commitment has taken on the form of a project to create a science Campus within the new Milan Innovation District (MInD), the site of Expo 2015, now set to become the home of a prestigious center for science and technology. Approval of the project by the academic bodies in 2015-2016 paved the way for transferring the science faculties to the future Campus.