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About us DIBAF

The Department of Innovation in Biology, Agri-food and Forest systems (DIBAF), established by Rector’s Decree no. 350/11 of 22.04.201, was born from the union of scientific expertise available in the former Faculty of Agriculture and MM.FF.NN Sciences. The DIBAF is a research and multidisciplinary education laboratory for the scientific and technological innovation of the following processes: exploitation, conservation and management of biological systems and forestry resources, food processing and security, human health and chemical processes for the environment, with special attention to environmental sustainability.

DIBAF combines and integrates various disciplines and complementary approaches, from basic knowledge of chemistry and biology to those typical of agri-food, animal, industrial and environmental biotechnologies which support sustainable management of biological, agri-food and forest systems.
For these reasons DIBAF works as a laboratory of knowledge and innovation capable of developing coherent and comprehensive ways to cope with global challenges.

DIBAF offers and manages bachelor and master degree courses, as well as PhDs where the transfer of knowledge and innovations developed during the research activities play a central role.

The Department is divided into four scientific areas, which are complementary and mutually reinforcing:

Biological and Chemical systems for the environment

Professors and researchers working in the field of biology and chemistry investigate and analyse the development of organisms in nature, including humans, their interaction with the environment, and the effects of climate change, pollution and anthropic activities. In this context, the central elements are the monitoring of the environment and its eventual redevelopment.

In particular, the knowledge of fundamental chemistry supports the study of biological processes at a molecular, cellular and organism level, and the knowledge thus obtained opens the way to various forms of implementation and technological transfer in the research project.

Environment and Management of Agricultural and Forestry Resources

The environment and agroforestry division is composed of professors and researchers with expertise in the following: the relationship between plants and microorganisms, the soil-atmosphere system, the selection of forest plants to answer the most recent environmental challenges, the management of forestry resources and urban green spaces and the planning of their exploitation (including the production of biomass for energy purposes), plant protection from hostile diseases and insects, the monitoring of the exchanges between greenhouse gases and energy between ecosystems and the atmosphere, and finally remote sensing, geomatics and hydraulic, forestry and environmental modelling.

Agri-food Science and Technology

The agri-food science and technology division is composed of professors and researchers who work in the agri-food sector, specifically by studying the process of production, conditioning, conservation, preservation and transformation for both the single ingredients and the final products. Their research also includes a side connected to the safety, sustainability, quality and traceability of food products, as well as waste management.  Furthermore, there is a strand of research in economics focused on food and wine markets .

Landscape and Cultural Heritage

The Landscape and Cultural Heritage division brings together researchers and professors who come from rather different areas of expertise, but whose competences are complementary. The research domains span from the field to the wood and the city, studying forestry, agricultural and cultural landscapes in their various expressions and points of contact, including what concerns monumental, archaeological and historical features. By using both traditional and innovative methods and tools, research in the division develops around landscape planning (against soil erosion and degradation), the preservation of biodiversity and the ecosystem, the project of an agroforestry landscape, dendrochronology, monumental preservation, and the conservation and restoration of art pieces, in light of their transmission to future generations.