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Turin
- Collegio Carlo Alberto 39 kilometres away
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- Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale Amedeo Avogadro 82.9 kilometres away in Vercelli
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University of Gastronomic Sciences
Institution Info
The University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded in 2004 by the international non-profit Slow Food in cooperation with the Italian regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, is a ministerially recognized, private non-profit institution.
Its goal is to create an international research and education center for those working on renewing farming methods, protecting biodiversity, and building an organic relationship between gastronomy and agricultural science.
The result is a new professional figure - the gastronome - skilled in production, distribution, promotion, and communication of high-quality foods. Gastronomes are the next generation of educators and innovators, editors and multimedia broadcasters, marketers of fine products, and managers of consortia, businesses, and tourism companies.
UNISG students, hailing from around the world, gain dynamic experiences in artisanal and industrial food production, thanks to complementary education in both science and humanities, sensory training, and hands-on learning during study trips (field seminars) across five continents.
Facts and Figures
| No. of students: | 400* |
| No. of international students: | 200* |
| No. of Academic staff: | 50 |
| Funding type: | Private (non-profit) |
Master's Programmes
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Master Programme in Food Culture and Communications
Services & Facilities
King Carlo Alberto established the Savoy royal estate in 1835, on the site of the Roman town of Pollentia. In the late 1990s, the Slow Food International Association devised a project to restore the vast estate, known as the Agenzia.
Its idea to make the Agenzia di Pollenzo a point of reference for international food and wine culture and quality food policy stirred interest and won the support of business persons and institutions. Agenzia di Pollenzo s.p.a. was thus set up to oversee the redevelopment of the estate, outbuildings, tower and the parkland, complete with its Roman ruins.
Since 2004, the main body of the Agenzia has housed the University of Gastronomic Sciences, the Wine Bank, Ristorante Guido and a hotel, Albergo dell’Agenzia. Today the state is one of the various Savoy Residences listed by UNESCO as a Word Heritage Site.
Housing
Lodging is available for all students enrolled in the first year of the Undergraduate program in Gastronomic Sciences and enrolled in the Masters programs. Student apartments are located in Bra and shared by 3 to 5 students.
Students each have a private bedroom with shared kitchen and bathroom in apartments furnished with all the necessities for living and study. Internet, television, washing machine and kitchen equipment are provided.
Regular bus service connects Bra with Pollenzo, 5 kilometers away.
The annual cost of Student accommodation is €5,000.
Meal Service
A midday meal service is available to students during days when the university is in session. Dishes are balanced and complete, based on high-quality ingredients, and options are available for students with non-meat preferences, allergies, or intolerances.
The service is ordinarily provided between 12:45 and 2:15 pm weekdays and the cost is €1,300 per year.
Library
The UNISG library in Pollenzo opened in 2004 to support studies and, through its extensive collection of books and journals, serve as a resource for ongoing gastronomic research. A smaller collection is available at a shared library in Colorno.
The library is part of the National Library Services (SBN) of Italy, and catalogued according to the SBN standard, indexed by subject according to the Soggettario di Firenze and classified by the Dewey Decimal System (21st ed.).
The entire catalog may be consulted online via LibrinLinea, a collective of the SBN libraries of Piedmont.
Sensory Analysis Lab
Under the guidance of professors, students use the sensory analysis lab to learn the principal techniques of sensory evaluation in order to compare and judge the qualities of various food products, as well as the changes that take place during processing and preservation. The lab is also available to outside companies seeking to study the sensory properties of their own products, and provides an important quality-control opportunity, including a final written report of the results.
An adjacent lab kitchen is available for producing the samples tested in the 25 lab booths. Each booth is equipped with computers for recording test subjects’ responses, which are processed using software from the leading sensory analysis labs around the world.
Sensory analysis tests are used to study food-product or food-preparation qualities, through a variety of qualitative and quantitative sensory methods. Such tools are used to identify significant differences between similar products, as well as the intensity of both the differences and the sensory attributes. Results are often used in developing new products and marketing strategies.
The Pollenzo sensory analysis lab may be used for the following tests:
* definition of a typical product or industrial food’s sensory profile
* evaluation of the influence of ingredients, process variables, and packaging on the sensory properties of the finished product
* verification of whether products conform to a company standard or to the specifics of the production methods
* comparison of innovative and traditional products
* comparison of company products and those already in the marketplace
* identification of the sensory shelf life of products, that is, the time frame in which perceptible changes in sensory properties are not affected
Job & Career
The Career Center focuses on transitioning graduates from the school life into the working world. This includes the use of the Job & Career service, available at
The Job & Career Service:
* professional orientation
* work-search assistance
* cover-letter and CV writing support
* internships in companies and organizations related to UNISG
* internship support to improve skills development and training
* employee-search assistance to companies
* meetings, workshops, and seminars to facilitate direct contact between students and companies
The Career Center also collects and makes student and alumni CVs available online to prospective employers, as well as a searchable internship and job listing.
Outreach
Open Houses are held in Pollenzo on April 2, and May 14, 2011, during which prospective students can visit and learn more about UNISG programs as well as talk with professors, staff, students, and alumni. Campus facilities are open to the public, and information is provided about application and scholarship procedures, study-trip destinations and subjects, and various aspects of UNISG life.
A complete schedule of open houses is published in November, and each is announced via the website and newsletter, as well as through the media and other publicity. It is recommended that you make a reservation by contacting the relevant campus:
Pollenzo | Phone: +39 0172 458505/507 | Email: comunicazione@unisg.it
UNISG also participates in leading university fairs and outreach events in Italy and abroad, as well as meetings and presentations in schools throughout Italy. Private visits may also be arranged in advance, by contacting the numbers above.
Student Life
Outside the Classroom – in Pollenzo Campus
The School Garden
In order to better understand UNISG’s new definition of food quality, in which value is based on the social, environmental, and economic impact of production, processing, and distribution, students may take a course in Ecological Horticulture and Sustainable Agriculture, collaborating in an on-campus garden project. The garden is an ideal laboratory for applying the theory studied in class, and for developing a greater awareness of the many meanings of "quality".
The hands-on experience of cultivating fruits and vegetables helps students grasp the complexity of agri-food systems, from the social to agronomic to environmental implications. Working the earth induces respect; practicing organic and biodynamic techniques builds value for biodiversity and sustainability.
This elective course includes both theoretic and applied lessons on food-plant cultivation, in the classroom and in the field. Current issues of modern agriculture and scientific research are also addressed, with the goal of building a comprehensive and holistic understanding that can be applied throughout the UNISG experience as well as in work life after school. With the skills to engage in dialogue with professionals in the sector, graduates may contribute to a better food-production system, including a more natural overall approach.
Writing Labs
In collaboration with the Holden School in Torino, UNISG provides undergraduates with this opportunity to develop their writing skills. The program comprises a compulsory attendance phase plus an elective phase chosen by the student. The lab includes training in writing and editing, with the specific goal of teaching food-journalism skills as well as those necessary for the preparation of required stage reports.
A variety of writing styles and modes are explored, taught in both English and Italian by teaching staff who also manage and evaluate the lab’s exercises. This is a practical course for all students, particularly for those who wish to pursue further communications training or work.
A Wide Angle on the World of Food
To establish a visual record of the myriad forms of food production and consumption around the world, as well as the cultural discourse that characterizes international gastronomy, UNISG has launched the creation of a multimedia archive.
In support of this filmic encyclopedia—a project to both document existing content as well as stimulate new student creativity—a special collaboration with the Berlin International Film Festival has been developed, under the guidance of celebrated director of photography, Michael Balhaus. Balhaus has worked with such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and brings with him the involvement of the Berlinale Talent Campus, a world meeting of thousands of young international filmmakers.
This documentation project goes hand-in-hand with UNISG’s new cinematography workshop, a select group of students chosen on the basis of their audiovisual interests and abilities. The team’s work has already been presented at various film festivals and forms a continuum with UNISG’s newly launched courses in camera work, directing, and postproduction.
Events
UNISG periodically hosts a variety of conferences, seminars, and workshops featuring international speakers and participants from the world of academia and the food sector.
Accreditation
The University and its curricula are fully accredited by the Italian Ministry of Higher Education.
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