Università degli studi di Parma

UNIPR has 1,739 employees, of which 833 are faculty members, almost 100 of them working on ONFOODS topics. UNIPR ranks 4th in Italy, and 46th in the world according to the 2021 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects ARWU in Food Science & Technology. It proposes 92-degree programs (7 taught in English), 20 PhD programs and 39 master programs, coordinated by 9 departments. The departments of the areas of social sciences and humanities, medicine and surgery and veterinary science are located in the city centre, while the remaining departments (areas of food and agriculture, pharmacy, engineering and architecture, mathematical, physical and natural sciences) are located in the Science and Technology Campus, a 77ha area in the southern side of the city. In this campus, a Technology Transfer Office (TTO) plays a valuable role in protecting and commercialising intellectual property developed by UNIPR researchers. A leading Industrial Technopole is also located within the campus, a physical infrastructure funded under the ROP ERDF 2007-2013 that hosts cutting-edge research centres and laboratories for industrial research and technological transfer, such as SITEIA.PARMA which is the interdepartmental centre on Safety, Technologies and Agri-food Innovation. The technopole promotes the contact between companies and researchers, reducing the distance between innovation demand and supply. 

Actually, UNIPR is one of the best performing universities in Italy in the major EU funding schemes, with more than 100 grants in FP7, H2020, JPI, PRIMA programmes and more than 278 National and Regional projects. In particular, UNIPR researchers have been awarded 11 prestigious European Research Council (ERC) in the last two EU framework programs. UNIPR has obtained numerous international projects focused on food, for a total of about € 8 million in the last five years. 

UNIPR brings together a strong interdisciplinary team involving researchers from several different and complementary areas of food research. The very concept of the “Food Project'' of our university was at the base of UNIPR, our interdisciplinary and holistic approach. For this reason, we are including in this proposal academic researchers from a variety of sectors, ranging from agro-economists to chemists, from nutritionists to legal experts and including biologists, veterinary scientists, as well as food technologists and microbiologists. 

National and international collaborations are demonstrated by the involvement in National and European projects and thanks to the active collaborations of the University of Parma with a large number of national and international public and private institutions. UNIPR, during the last 5 years, has stipulated research or academic agreements with 76 national companies and international companies working in the area of food, and has direct exchange activities or research collaborations with all the most relevant international universities bearing a specific research interest in food science. Of particular interest are the active collaborations with EFSA, as an Art. 36 listed institutions, but also due to the physical proximity, that makes the interaction with the agency easier and to the participation of many colleagues to EFSA’s working group matters strictly related to this proposal. Finally, UNIPR is an associated member of the European Food Information Council (EUFIC).