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The process of the birth of Geology as a historical science par excellence, which began in the second half of the 16th century and culminated more than two centuries later, passes through Florence, thanks to the grand-ducal collections of the city symbol of the Renaissance, and the observations of those ingenious and fertile minds who were, among others, personalities of the caliber of Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Stenone.

The Department of Earth Sciences (DST) of the University of Florence is the natural heir of the Institute of Higher and Practical Studies of Specialization where Igino Cocchi held the Chair of Mineralogy, Geology and Paleontology from 1860 to 1873. Cocchi was the main proponent of the need to realign Italy with Europe a modern geological knowledge of its territory and its main resources, an objective to be achieved through the geological survey of the peninsula and the islands.

The DST is still today a national excellence for scientific research and international relations in the field of Geosciences. It is currently composed of 56 permanent academic staff, 26 technical-administrative staff (of which 2 are fixed-term) and over 100 non-permanent research staff (PhD students, scholarship holders, research fellows, contractors, attending students). The DST’s activities are carried out in close connection with other University structures (University Museum System, Geomineralogical Library) and with the CNR (Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources).

The DST has bachelor’s degree in Geological Sciences and Geological Hazards and Environmental sustainability, and the master's degree in Geological Sciences and Technologies. The DST professors are also engaged in many other teaching courses, most of which are related to the School of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences (Degree Courses in Natural Sciences, Natural and Human Sciences, Diagnostics and Materials for Conservation and Restoration, Sciences and Materials for Conservation and Restoration, Data Science,  Physical and astrophysical sciences). Many DST professors also have courses within Degree Courses related to the School of Engineering (Environmental Engineering, Civil and Building Engineering for Sustainability, Geoengineering, Engineering for the Protection of the Environment and the Territory), the School of Architecture (Landscape Architecture, City, Territory and Landscape Planning) and the School of Humanities and Education (Degree Course in Logic, Philosophy of Sciences and Research Methods).

The researchers of the DST are engaged in numerous research and technological development projects in different areas of the world, with a long tradition of research in the Mediterranean Basin, East Africa and Latin America. The main research activities concern a wide spectrum of disciplines that include the prediction and prevention of geological risks (volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, floods), the exploitation and protection of natural resources (hydrocarbons, mineral deposits, water resources), the study of paleoclimate and paleoecology, the paleontological study of Quaternary faunas, the interpretation of the genesis of the Apennines and other peri-Mediterranean mountain ranges,  the conservation and recovery of cultural and geoenvironmental heritage, systematic and historical mineralogy, crystallochemistry and gemmology, magma studies and analysis of volcanic processes.