About the Department
Vision
The preservation of the environment, the continuous and sustainable improvement of agriculture, forest management, and the production and processing of agricultural products into quality food and beverages are essential for food security, the availability of bio-resources, the fight against climate change, and social and economic progress. All this can only be ensured by continuous research, innovation, and education.
Mission
To provide the functions envisaged by Article 11 of the University of Turin Statute (research and innovation, university training, public engagement) in the field of primary production and food processing, and the interactions of these activities with citizens, the territory, and the environment. The Department studies agricultural, forestry and food systems in their biological, ecological and production aspects. It addresses technological and economic-managerial aspects, environmental footprints, and biotechnological approaches related to their evolution and improvement. The Department adopts a multidisciplinary approach by choice –not only as imposed by the complexity of production and transformation processes, but also as a strategy to add value to the scientific and technological role of individual disciplines.
Activity and organisation
The Department operates across the entire spectrum of areas related to its mission, with lecturers and researchers covering all relevant scientific fields. Our activities include the genetic improvement and physiology of cultivated plants and farmed animals; the relationships between soil, water, atmosphere and plants; the cultivation, breeding and processing techniques of primary goods in relation to the environment and territories, including techniques aimed at energy production; the sustainable management and planning of forest resources, crop protection; the characterisation of food and agri-food chains, food processing technologies; the productive organisation of agricultural and food enterprises and infrastructures; the design and management of goods and systems instrumental to agricultural activities; the conservation and enhancement of the agricultural landscape and green areas; economic and evaluative analyses in the agri-food field; applications of engineering to processes, machines and plants in agriculture, forestry, and food industries. Resource efficiency, environmental sustainability and circularity are ever-present, cross-cutting elements.
The Department is located on the campus of the University of Turin in Grugliasco within the City of Science and the Environment, an area that offers ample space for research, teaching, and communication activities. The campus has study rooms, libraries, catering services and green areas for student use. The Cuneo and Alba (CN) seats are also locations for teaching activities, as are a number of experimental centres in the provinces of Turin and Cuneo.
Our staff includes 120 professors, 60 Research Technicians, and about 100 young people active in research, including PhD students, research fellows and fixed-term researchers. The Department's Study Courses welcome around 400 freshmen each year, including numerous international students.
The organisational structure of the Department includes the Directorate, the Council, and four main Committees (Teaching, Research and Innovation, Human Resources, Public Engagement and Communication, Quality Assurance), as well as other thematic committees. The organisation chart of the Department is briefly illustrated on the dedicated web page.
The Department offers advanced education with five Bachelor's degree courses and seven Master's degree courses. Training includes teaching on the most up-to-date topics, and ample space for practical work and internships in the Department's facilities and in affiliated companies. Teaching is managed through participation in the School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (SAMEV), which oversees classroom management, the timetable of lectures, and job placement. Part of the activities of some Bachelor's and Master's degree courses are held at locations outside the University of Turin (Alba, Asti, Cuneo). The number of Master's degree courses offered in English is increasing, also as part of joint degrees with foreign universities.
Research makes the most of advanced equipment located in the individual laboratories of the Units into which the Department is divided, and in more complex, shared laboratory and field infrastructures. The Department has five Experimental Centres located in significant agricultural areas of Piedmont. The Department actively collaborates with the Butterfly Area, a New Tech development area that hosts companies and research institutions.
In the period 2017-22, DISAFA participated in 172 research projects of which 86 were European, with total extramural funding of over €25 million. The Department won the 2018-22 Project of Excellence, and participates in numerous PNRR projects, particularly AGRITECH. In the international rankings (NTU-Taiwan, US News Ranking, ARWU Shanghai Ranking) the Department (or the related scientific field of the University of Turin) ranks among the top 5 in Italy and the top 100 worldwide.