Department Mission

Mission

The Department of Earth Sciences (DST) is committed to promoting interdisciplinary research activities, ensuring constant quality control over the entire scientific process, with the aim of guaranteeing the excellence of the results. Alongside the primary institutional missions – research, teaching and postgraduate training  – the Department considers the role of enhancing and communicating the wealth of knowledge strategic, thus contributing to cultural, social and economic development, with particular attention to the local and territorial context.

The mission of the DST is divided into three main axes:

1. Teaching: to offer a solid and up-to-date scientific training, based on the integration of theoretical, laboratory and field activities, in the Bachelor's and Master's degree courses. Students, considered primary institutional interlocutors, are at the center of the Department's training action, which adopts innovative teaching methodologies and quality-oriented paths. The educational mission also extends to postgraduate training  and PhDs.
2. Research: to develop and promote basic and applied scientific activities, with a strong interdisciplinary character, also in collaboration with national and international partners. The aim is to produce original and impactful knowledge, contributing to the understanding of natural systems, resource management and the mitigation of geological and environmental risks.
3. Enhancement of Knowledge: to communicate and share academic knowledge with the territory, through a constant dialogue with schools, professional associations, institutions, companies and citizens, promoting the dissemination of geological and environmental knowledge and strengthening the social role of the University.

The DST also has a consolidated tradition in advanced training: it has been, in alternate years, the administrative headquarters of PhD courses in Earth Sciences and is, since 2022, the sole seat of the international PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences.

An in-depth study of the mission is also available on the page dedicated to the "Department of Excellence 2023–2027" project.