The University of Milan-Bicocca is a comprehensive public higher education institution based in the suburban area of Italy’s main industrial and financial centre, Milan.
Previously part of University of Milan, the institution was separated as an individual entity in 1998 after a rapid growth in students in northeast Italy during the 1990s.
This was an opportunity for the institution's open-minded teaching personnel to make a fresh start with a new institution, and experiment with an ethos of introducing innovative teaching strategies.
The name Bicocca comes from a famous villa, Bicocca degli Arcimboldi, that is located in the neighbourhood where the university resides.
Currently, the institution has 16 faculties, which educate young professionals in a wide array of subjects including law, sociology, psychology, philology and medicine. Degrees are offered at all levels of study from bachelor's and master's degrees to doctorates. The primary language of teaching is Italian, but there are also a few courses available in English.
The campus university prides itself on having modern facilities such as spacious lecture theatres and study space, three libraries, refectories, bank, medical and student centres that cover over 500,000 m2 of land.
The symbol of the university is the octahedron, which represents the combination of science, art and technology the university tries to achieve. The logo also includes the motto ‘Audentes fortuna iuvat’ which translates as ‘fortune favours the bold’.
