Presentation

The Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (DAFNE) of the University of Tuscia collects an important part of the prestigious heritage of the Faculty of Agriculture of the same University and is the only university department in Lazio that carries out teaching and research activities in all fields of agricultural and forestry sciences.

It is a modern department, equipped with numerous qualified teaching and research laboratories. It has interdepartmental teaching laboratories and the facilities of the Integrated University Centre, which include the‘Nello Lupori’ Educational and Experimental Agricultural Company, the ‘Angelo Rambelli’ Botanical Garden, the Herbarium Museum, the Alpine Study Centre, the Large Equipment Centre, the University Library System, the Interdepartmental Centre for Research and Dissemination of Renewable Energies and the University Museum System.

The Department’s research has a well-established link with the local area, as evidenced by the presence of the Rieti branch office, research agreements with numerous companies involved in the production, processing and marketing of agri-food products, the forestry and energy sectors, and agreements with the Forestry, Environmental and Agri-food Units Command, National Parks and Regional Reserves.

At the same time, it has a high scientific value recognised both nationally and internationally. In addition to the numerous research projects awarded on a competitive basis, in 2017 the quality of research placed the Department on a list of 120 Departments of Excellence. This achievement, followed by the positive evaluation received in 2018 by the project entitled ‘Sustainability of Agricultural and ForEstal Systems in the Mediterranean Environment in a Context of Global Change (acronym SAFE_Med), allowed the Department to receive an extraordinary grant from the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) for the implementation of highly qualified research and teaching activities that significantly implemented the departmental teaching and research facilities.

The level of research excellence was confirmed in 2022, when DAFNE ranked first in Italy in the field of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences (Area 07) among the 180 Departments of Excellence selected by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR). This success has secured new funding for the ‘Digital, Intelligent, Green and Sustainable’ project (acronym: D.I.Ver.So), which will be developed over the five-year period 2023-2027.

In order to carry out its activities, the Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences promotes the mobility of lecturers and students at Universities and National and International Research Centres, with particular reference to PhD students enrolled in the ‘PhD courses in ‘Plant and Animal Production Sciences’ and in ‘Engineering for Energy and Environment’, many of whom carry out their activities in synergy with companies in order to establish an interaction between the university world and the world of production, increasing the propensity of companies to innovation and encouraging the development of strategic supply chains.

In 2022, the MUR confirmed research excellence to the DAFNE and the new edition of the Departments of Excellence Project is currently being prepared.

The main objectives of the research are the development of new enabling technologies in agriculture; resilience, with the adaptation of agro-industrial production to sustainability criteria and climate change; low environmental impact, with the reduction of waste; circularity, with the design and implementation of circular economy strategies; recovery, with the development of marginal areas; and traceability, with the promotion of safety and typicality of agro-food chains.

DAFNE’s research is part of many of the implementation themes of the European Union (Strategic Forecast Report 2022), the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), with particular reference to the initiatives of the National Agritech, Biodiversity and Rome Technopole Centres.