Presentation

© Università di Bologna

Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna is the oldest university in the western world and is the best public university in Italy (World University Ranking 2021 by Times Higher Education).

The Department of Economics is among the largest in Europe and it offers excellent research and teaching. Established in 1983 through the union of two pre-existing institutes, it has become a reference point for scientific debate in economics, and it currently hosts a lively community of international researchers and students.

Research

The research conducted by the DSE covers 16 different areas, with high-quality standards, and helps to understand and address fundamental issues such as poverty, inequality, development, work, climate and technological change, immigration, health, and many others.

• RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) in 2025 ranks our Department among the best Economics departments in the world, placing it at number 1 in Italy, 14th in Europe, and 41st globally.
• According to the Tilburg University Economics Ranking, our Department is the only one from an Italian public university ranked among the top 40 in Europe and among the top 120 worldwide in Economics.
• According to the QS World University Ranking in 2025, the University of Bologna is ranked 102 in the world in the field of Economics and Econometrics, making it the highest-ranked Italian public university in this discipline.

At the beginning of 2018, our Department was funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research under the "Departments of Excellence" program for 2018-2022 and 2023-2027.

Teaching

The educational offer includes 4 three-year degree courses (Economics, markets and institutions, Economics of tourism and cities; Economics and finance, Economics, politics and social sciences), 6 two-year master's degree courses (Applied economics and markets; Economics and econometrics; Economics and public policy; Health economics and management; Resource economics and sustainable development; Tourism economics and management), 2 professional masters (Economics of cooperation; International Management), and 2 doctorates (Economics; Public Governance, Management e Policy).

Department and society

Our Department actively spreads its research findings among the civil society, orients high school students and contributes to the debate on Italian and international economic policy.