Agriculture
Established in 1896, Perugia’s Faculty of Agriculture is one of the oldest and most prestigious in Europe. During that year a decree was issued, establishing the name ("Agricultural High School”) and purpose ( "to educate young people on the active and industrious sacred life of country gentlemen"). The inauguration took place on November 25th, with a ceremony that focused on the report of the School's director, Senator Faina, and a speech given by the Minister of Agriculture, Guicciardini. With the Decree of 9 December 1900, on completion of their studies students were granted a doctoral title that was equivalent to that given in other similar schools in the Kingdom. In 1936, the issue of a Royal Decree transformed the School into the University of Perugia’s Faculty of Agriculture . The Faculty is in the Benedictine Abbey of San Pietro, where it has been since it was established.
Economics
The University of Perugia’s Faculty of Economics dates back to 1969, when it was known as the Faculty of Economics and Business, deriving from a degree course of the same name at the Faculty of Political Science, which had existed since 1939. The current Faculty of Economics is the direct heir of this tradition, and since its establishment its aim has been to provide basic preparation to enable its graduates to work at different levels of specialisation in financial and management positions in public and private businesses.
Pharmacy
The first historical references to the Faculty of Pharmacy are fragmentary, but there are documents that clearly show its existence in the early nineteenth century. In the academic year 1809/10, a "Provisional Project for the Chair in the Arts" was drawn up in order to distribute the chairs that did not belong to the Faculty of Law. On this occasion the chair of Pharmacy was created, and with the University of Perugia’s Regulation 1821/24 on studies it was transformed into a two-year "Master of Science in Pharmacy", which was part of the Faculty of Medicine. The Leonino Regulation of 1833 decreed that this course should be preceded by two years of Philosophy studies and a Bachelor of Philosophy. Later decrees defined the nature of the Pharmaceutical Chemistry course. Teaching was coordinated by a "School of Pharmacy" and the duration of the course was extended from two to three years. In 1877, the School of Pharmacy became a Faculty, with the possibility of awarding a "Diploma in Pharmacy".
Jurisprudence
In Perugia during the second half of the thirteenth century, even before the establishment of the “Studium Generale”, law courses were organised with the support of Perugia’s city authorities. With the Bull of Pope Clement V that was issued on 8 September 1308, the Studium was organised into Facultates, among which was that of Civil and Canon law. On 1 August 1318, Pope John XXII’s Bull, the Inter Ceterascuras, granted the privilege of a doctorate in Civil Law and Canon Law. This led to the establishment of the Faculty of Jurisprudence, named at a later date. The Studium of Perugia soon assumed a leading role in legal sciences thanks to two famous and prestigious jurists - Bartolo da Sassoferrato and Baldo degli Ubaldi - creating the right conditions for students from all over Italy and many European states to come to Perugia to study. Legal studies in Perugia were also distinguished by other renowned teachers, such as Jacopo da Belviso, Cino da Pistoia, Giovanni di Calcina and Perugians Francis Odduccio and Lamberto Gianni.
Engineering
The University of Perugia’s Faculty of Engineering was officially established with Presidential Decree no. 864 of 29 August 1986. The Faculty grew through successive extensions. Degree courses in Civil Engineering and Electronic Engineering were activated in the academic year 1987/88. These were followed by degree courses in Mechanical Engineering (AY. 1988 / 89), Materials Engineering, based in Terni (AY. 1989/90), Environmental and Territorial Engineering (AY. 1993/94), and university diploma courses in Telecommunications Engineering (AY. 1998/99), Materials for the maintenance of ancient and modern buildings (AY. 1998 / 99).
Literature and Philosophy
University studies in literature are an ancient tradition in Perugia. The fourteenth University had two Faculties: next to the prestigious Faculty of Law, in fact, there was the Faculty of Arts, which offered both literary and philosophical teachings and courses in medicine. Already in 1389 the University of Perugia had opened its doors to the flowering of humanist thought, which accentuated the specificity of teaching a higher level of literature. In fact, while remaining an institutional unit of the Faculty of Arts and Medicine, during the fifteenth century the humanaelitterae acquired prestige and autonomy, both in medicine and philosophy. In 1467, the Faculty already had an official chair of Greek, headed by Angelo Decembrio. At the Studium in the last quarter of the fifteenth century, the humanistic discipline was taught by Giovanni Sulpizio from Veroli, whose name is linked to the early press in Perugia. At the turn of the century, the University of Perugia had its moment of glory thanks to Francis Maturanzio, who held the chair of Oratory and Poetry continuously from 1498 until 1518. From the end of the seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth century, literary studies took a more erudite direction in Perugia, which to a certain degree paved the way, from a cultural point of view, for the great institutional meltdown that became part of the Faculty’s history due to the Napoleonic reform. With the Unification of Italy, the Faculty of Literature, in which only the archaeological-philological course or school survived, remained closed for a long period of time, even after 1925, when the University was ranked as a State and Royal University. It was almost one hundred years after the suppression, in 1860, before the Faculty was re-established, under the rectory of Giuseppe Ermini in 1957.
Medicine and Surgery
Few Faculties of Medicine can boast a history as old as that of the University of Perugia, formally established by Pope Clement V in the early 1300s as the Facultasmedicinae, philosophiae et artium. Perugia had already given medical science one of the most prominent teachers, physicians and scientists of the fourteenth century, Gentile da Foligno, whose works were among the first ever medical books and who was sought after by all of Europe’s universities. Over the following centuries, the Perugian medical school was influenced by the historical events in the city, which was ruled over by various Signorie before returning to papal sovereignty. Later, under the Napoleonic government, medical studies freed themselves from the other disciplines and the Faculty of Medicine was formed. After the unification of Italy and in particular at the beginning of the 1900s, the Faculty began to develop significantly, acquiring space, research laboratories and increasingly modern and functional equipment, which permitted them to meet the challenges of the new century with all of its major acquisitions in the biomedical field. From 1923 the Faculty’s clinical departments and scientific schools gradually began to relocate to Monteluce (former seat of the women’s Order of Saint Clare in 1200). In 1936, together with the University of Perugia’s other degree courses, the Faculty was upgraded to grade “A", with all financial expenses paid by the State. In the aftermath of World War II, the Faculty was further developed, both in terms of medical education and scientific research. From the mid-Seventies it began expanding in Umbria, with the establishment of its Terni branch and the beginning of the university’s decentralisation in the region (Foligno, Cittą di Castello). The following relocation of the Faculty, its clinical departments and laboratories to the more modern and functional "Single Campus" in Sant'Andrea delle Frate, was this ancient Faculty’s ultimate challenge for the new millennium.
Veterinary Medicine
The first veterinary courses at the University of Perugia date back to a Napoleonic regulation, under which, in 1808, a lectureship on the art of veterinary medicine was introduced in the Faculty of Medicine. This was followed by the introduction in 1824 of a 2nd class (basic veterinary medicine) two-year course for veterinarians, in line with the other Papal State Universities, on the orders of Pope Leo XII. In the first year, students studied the theoretical part of the art of veterinary medicine, learning the principles of anatomy and farriery, and in the second year they studied the practical aspect. The Veterinary School of Perugia was established with the Royal Decree of 27 July 1864, remaining part of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, with 4 years of studies divided into two, two-year periods. In 1924, the school became a university Faculty and professor Giambattista Caradonna held the office of President for the academic year 1924/25. With the Royal Decree of 29 October 1925, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine became the independent Royal Institute of Veterinary Medicine, governed by the Ministry of National Economy. The new Faculty building was inaugurated on 27 October 1929, the relocation of which was necessary due to the increased teaching and scientific research needs. In the academic year 2006-2007, the Veterinary Teaching Hospital was opened, and is managed by the Department of Pathology, Diagnostic and Clinical Veterinary.
Education Sciences
The Faculty was established in 1964, under the name Faculty of Education, and offered two four-year degree courses in Literary Materials and Pedagogy, as well as a three-year diploma in Educational Supervision. In 1991, the organisation of the Pedagogy degree course was modified, changing to a degree course in Education Sciences. The first significant turning point came in 1995, when the Faculty was given a larger scientific role in the learning sectors, sanctioned by the new title of Faculty of Learning Sciences. In 1996, the old degree and diploma courses were therefore abolished. Subsequently, the organisation of the degree course in Education Sciences was once again modified and a new degree course in Primary Learning Sciences was introduced. With the university reform of 1999, the Department initiated a new transformation process, which resulted in the recognition of a qualifying degree for the course in Primary Learning Sciences and the degree course in Educational Sciences becoming a three-year Bachelor of Science in Education.
Mathematical, Physical, Natural Sciences
The MM.FF.NN. Faculty of Science was founded in 1951 with the establishment of degree courses in Natural Sciences and Biological Sciences, followed by those in Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Geology and, more recently, in Biotechnology, Computer Science, Civil Protection and Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage. Following the recent organisational reform of the studies, the Faculty now coordinates the teaching activities of eleven three-year Bachelor’s degree (undergraduate), twelve specialised Master’s degrees (second level), first and second level Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Biology and Ecology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science, Earth Sciences.
Political Sciences
Perugia’s Faculty of Political Sciences, established in 1927 , was among the first in Italy, and boasts the presence of leading national and international academics in its long-standing tradition of studies and teaching. Today the Faculty’s teaching staff consists of 22 Professors, 20 Associate Professors and 19 Researchers. With the implementation of the university reform, regulated by Ministerial Decree no. 509 of 3.11.1999, the Faculty of Political Sciences has been enriched with new courses that meet today’s demands, in which the multidisciplinary character of the studies is in keeping with the times.
