our University
As the original foundation of our University roots back to 1562, last year we proudly celebrated our 450th anniversary. The Università di Sassari owes its foundation to Alessio Fontana, a clerk at Spain's Emperor Charles V's chancellery. In his will of 1558, Fontana donated his belongings to the municipality of Sassari for the establishment of a college in this town. On 9th February 1617, King Philip III of Spain acknowledged the status of first Royal University of Sardinia to Sassari's Jesuit college.
In 1765, the original core of the University started growing, encompassing new fields of study: Philosophy and the Arts; Theology; Law; and Medicine. Academic professors from piedmont were brought in to enhance the quality of teaching and to open the local institution to European culture and its Enlightened panorama. Throughout the XVI century the two Sardinian universities of Sassari and Cagliari welcomed the circulation of new ideas, thus contributing to the emergence of a modern ruling class in the island.
The University houses today Departments in the areas of: Architecture; Animal biology; Chemistry; Economics; Pharmacology, chemistry and toxicology; Land engineering; Neurosciences and mother-infant sciences; Veterinary; Agriculture; Biomedical Sciences; Botanics; Languages; Pharmacy; Physiology, biochemistry; Law; Literature Literature; History; Theory of cultural systems; Zoology.
Architecture at Alghero / DADU
Although located in Alghero, the Department of Architecture, Design and Planning (DADU) is integral part of the University of Sassari. The Alghero School of Architecture was founded in 2002 as the first faculty of architecture in Sardinia, and has since then ranked in the top three positions for Architecture in the national's independent CENSIS-Repubblica survey of Italian schools of Architecture. Among its highlights one can find a rich and international environment, high-quality teaching and research and a very good quality of life.
Architecture at Alghero, as we like to call ourselves, is an open community: 550 students, about 60 incoming Erasmus students and 70 outgoing Erasmus students, 40 professors plus 10 Italian visiting professors, 30 teaching tutors, more than thirty PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, 10 international visiting professors per year.
The Alghero school of Architecture encourages visiting and exchanging, and has signed a large number of international agreements: 20 international protocols (not including Erasmus agreements), over 60 Erasmus agreements, over 40 Erasmus Placement agreements and 150 apprenticeship agreements (of which 60 international).