Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

The Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italian: Libera Università di Bolzano, German: Freie Universität Bozen, Ladin: Università Liedia de Bulsan) is a university primarily located in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy. It was founded on 31 October 1997 and is organized into five faculties with courses taught in German, Italian, and English.

Campus
The university has three campuses: in Bolzano, Brixen and Bruneck. The buildings in Bolzano were designed by the architects Matthias Bischoff and Roberto Azzola of Zürich and those in Brixen by Regina Kohlmeyer and Jens Oberst from Stuttgart. The latter won the 9th architecture prize of the city of Oderzo in 2005.

Rectors
Previous rectors of the university were Luxembourg economist Alfred Steinherr (1998 - 2003), Swiss linguist Rita Franceschini (2004 - 2008), and German sociologist Walter Lorenz (2008 - 2016). Italian engineer Paolo Lugli has been the rector since 2017.

Faculty of Economics and Management
The Faculty of Economics and Management is based in Bolzano and Bruneck. It offers four bachelor's, five master's, and three PhD degree programs:
 * Bachelor in Economics and Management
 * Bachelor in Economics, Politics and Ethics
 * Bachelor in Informatics and Management of Digital Business
 * Bachelor in Tourism, Sport and Event Management
 * Master in Accounting and Finance
 * Master in Data Analytics for Economics and Management
 * Master in Entrepreneurship and Innovation
 * Master in Public Policies and Administration
 * Master in Tourism Management
 * PhD in Economics and Finance
 * PhD in Management

The research clusters of the faculty are:
 * Tourism, Marketing and Regional Development
 * Law, Economics and Institutions
 * Financial Markets and Regulations
 * Entrepreneurship and Innovation
 * Quantitative Methods and Economic Modelling

Faculty of Education
The Faculty of Education is in Brixen and the following courses are active:
 * Bachelor in Social Work
 * Bachelor for Social Education
 * Bachelor in Communication Sciences and Culture
 * Master in Primary Education (5 years)
 * Master in Innovation and Research for Social Work and Social Education (IRIS)
 * Master in Musicology
 * PhD in General Pedagogy, Social Pedagogy and General Education

Main research areas at the faculty are:


 * Educational and development projects and processes for different age groups and contexts
 * Social dynamics, social cohesion, citizenship and solidarity systems
 * Languages and communication for a multicultural and multilingual society

Faculty of Engineering
The Faculty of Engineering is based in Bolzano and has the following courses:
 * Bachelor in Computer Science
 * Bachelor in Informatics and Management of Digital Business
 * Bachelor in Electronics and Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering
 * Bachelor in Industrial and Mechanical Engineering
 * Bachelor in Wood Technology
 * Master in Software Engineering
 * Master in Computing for Data Science
 * Data Analytics for Economics and Management
 * Master in Energy Engineering
 * Master in Industrial Mechanical Engineering
 * PhD in Computer Science
 * PhD in Advanced-Systems Engineering
 * PhD in Sustainable Energy and Technologies

Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences
The Faculty of Agricultural, Environmental and Food Sciences has the following active courses:
 * Bachelor in Agricultural, Food and Mountain Environmental Sciences
 * Bachelor in Enogastronomy in Mountain Areas
 * Master in Environmental Management of Mountain Areas
 * Master in Food Sciences for Innovation and Authenticity
 * Master in Horticultural Science
 * Master in Viticulture, Enology and Wine Marketing
 * PhD in Mountain Environment and Agriculture
 * PhD in Food Engineering and Biotechnology

Faculty of Design and Art
The Faculty of Design and Art offers the following courses:
 * Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Design
 * Bachelor in Design and Art - Major in Art
 * Master in Eco-Social Design
 * 1st Level Master in Design for Children

The main research areas of the faculty are:
 * Visual culture and its impact on society
 * Phenomena, processes and results of three-dimensional projects
 * Theories, forms and languages of design, art and visual culture

The faculty also operates a fab lab named Bitz, which is also open to users not affiliated with unibz.

European Master Programmes
The Faculty of Computer Science at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano is very active in this way and is amongst the research centers recognized by the European Union as a leader in this program. There are two European Master Programmes in the area of computer science running in this university, under Erasmus Mundus Programme:
 * European Master Program in Computational Logic
 * European Master on Software Engineering

Studium Generale
Since 2011, there has been a multidisciplinary Studium Generale course, which offers a wide range of lectures in fields of general interest.

Research
A total of 917 projects of basic and applied research have been conducted within the university since 1998.

The university has scientific and technological laboratories at each of its sites, at the NOI Techpark, a local technological and innovation hub, and at the Versuchszentrum Laimburg, an agronomy research institute.

Rankings
The 2021 edition of THE World University Rankings placed the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano in the group between rank 401-500 worldwide.

Library
According to library ranking system issued by German library networks (BIX project) in 2009, this university has the second best library amongst German-speaking states (Germany, Switzerland, Austria and South Tyrol in Italy).

Students activities

 * The members of the student advisory board are elected every two years, however, between two elections a petition for the representative could be announced. Student representative are members of the University Council, the Academic Senate, the Faculty Council, the Course Council, the Equal Opportunities Committee and the Didactic Joint Committee.
 * The South Tyrolean Student association is the most important South Tyrolean association for students. Beside the head office in Bolzano there are seven branch offices in Austria and Italy. The sh.asus was founded in 1955 as a non-profit association. It represents South Tyrolean students studying abroad and students in South Tyrol.
 * The M.U.A., Movimento Universitario Altoatesino, is an association which has been recognized by the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano and has been founded in the 1993. Its principal purposes are "to defend and ease the right to study of the students and the working students of the university" and "to organize conferences, debatings, conventions, cultural, social and university seminar". The association operates in Bolzano and promotes the project WEBZ, "the first web-tv of South-Tyrol made by youngs for youngs."
 * Kikero is a cultural association, which has been founded in 2000 and organizes activities such as the debating club and the movie nights. Furthermore, Kikero is also responsible for the university magazine "Kflyer".
 * SCUB, Sports Club University Bozen-Bolzano, is the students' association that mainly deals with sports activities and that organizes every year the SNOWDAYS, Europe's biggest wintersport event for students from all over Italy and the EU. SCUB comprises also the UniParty team, which is in charge of organizing university parties for unibz students.
 * A further student association is the Bozen – Bolzano local committee AIESEC, which organizes international exchange programmes to permit university students to get in touch with the working world.
 * PRO – Students for Business also encourages students to connect with the working environment through the enhancement of economic and business activities.
 * The university also has a choir called UnibzVoices, conducted by Prof. Johann Van der Sandt, who teaches "Music and Communication" at the Brixen College of Education.
 * The most recent student association is the Alumni Club that comprises graduates of the Free University of Bozen–Bolzano.