Università degli Studi di Padova

Università degli Studi di Padova

UNIPD is one of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious HEI with around 70.000 students (of which 5.200 international students), 2.500 research and teaching staff, 2.300 technical and administrative staff. UNIPD offers 194 degree courses (of which 51 fully taught in English) and embraces 32 Departments, 1 University Hospital, 1 Veterinary Hospital, 1 Experimental Farm, 13 University Museums, and a School of Excellence. It is a multi-disciplinary university that aims to provide high quality education, to foster research, to nurture international relations and to promote strong links with the local territory. In terms of research excellence, UNIPD ranks among the top 3 Italian universities for total impact index, productivity index and presence index. Research at UNIPD attracts conspicuous public and private funding: 5.2% of the resources that the Italian State allocates to scientific projects of national importance are awarded to UNIPD, while EU funding for R&I projects has grown by 40% over the last 3 years. UNIPD also boasts 130 active patents and 48 spin-offs. UNIPD is member of the European Universities Alliance ARQUS and participates in international educational networks, such as Coimbra Group; Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME); Venice International University (VIU); Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED); European Association for International Education (EAIE); UNIADRION; European University Association, Scholars at Risk. The Projects & Mobility Office employs 28 staff units, engaged in management and consulting for international education, mobility and cooperation projects; strategic partnerships and agreements; double/joint degrees; international staff training; Summer and Winter Schools, etc. The Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals, and Environment (DAFNAE) was founded in 2012 by the fusion of the teaching, technical and administrative staff of the Departments of Environmental Agronomy and Crop Production, Agricultural Biotechnology and Animal Science. The "mission" of the Department is to promote the quality of human life, the competitiveness of the agri-food sector and the sustainable use of natural resources, biotic and abiotic, through the production and dissemination of knowledge on the management and improvement of plants, animals, microorganisms and soil for the production of quality food and biomass, ensuring the conservation of ecological systems, the protection of cultivated plants and preservation of the environment and biodiversity. Assuming that in the agro-food industry the close connections between the environment, crop and animal production, biomass and food require integrated and interdisciplinary approach, vision and methods, the Department DAFNAE develops excellent research and teaching activities in several fields of the agricultural sciences, including the science and technology of plants, animals and microbial organisms, crop and livestock management systems, environmental sustainability, food technology and agricultural biotechnology. The main novelty in the cultural project of the department is to study the environmental and agri-food sectors with an innovative and comprehensive approach, in order to consider and exploit the multidisciplinary interconnections that exist within individual scientific areas and among different steps of the production/transformation chains. In particular, we are organized in a logical and strategic system of units based on scientific disciplinary sectors and aggregations.

The Department DAFNAE manage two PhD courses (Crop science and Animal science) and represents the reference structure for the following courses: First-cycle degrees (Bachelor's level) Agricultural Science and Technology Food Science and Technology Animal Science and Technology Viticulture and oenology Science and Technology Science and Culture of Gastronomy Second-cycle degrees (Master’s level) Agricultural Science and Technology Animal Science and Technology Food Science and Technology Italian Food and Wine Sustainable Agriculture The Department participate to national and international research projects, technical meetings, Regional institutions (Agro ambiente e Agroalimentare), private feed industries, and breeding companies. The staff of the Department has produced 5795 article published in technical and scientific journals.

Cristina Pornaro has a Master degree in Environmental and Forestry Science (University of Padova) attained in 2007 and a Ph.D. at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and Environment (University of Padova, Italy) attained in 2012. From 2012 she worked with several research fellowship at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (Univerity of Padova). From 2022 she is a Temporary researcher (Type A) of Agronomy and Field Crop (AGR/02) at the Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural resources, Animals and Environment (University of Padova). She has been involved on various national and international projects aimed at studying meadows and pastures, and turfgrasses. Her research field includes the effects of agro-pastoral management and environmental factors on plant biodiversity and production of permanent pastures and meadows, as well as on the ecological functions of these communities. Furthermore, she deals with the sustainable management of turf, with particular reference to tolerance to water stress and the reduction of nitrogenous fertilization for their maintenance. She is co-author of 32 scientific publications in international journals. She is a reviewer for 18 peer-reviewed international journal. She collaborates with international institution: Agroscope (Zurich, Switzerland), Department of Extension Plant Sciences (New Mexico State University, USA), Department of Horticulture (University of Arkansas, USA), Division of Science (Pennsylvenia State University), and Plant Production Department (Polytechnic University of Valencia). Since 2022 she has been the lecturer in Botany of cultivated plants in the Agricultural Sciences and Technologies course and in the Principles of botany and plant production module in the Veterinary Medicine course at the University of Padua. She is a member of the Italian Society of Agronomy (SIA), the European Torfgrass Society (ETS) and the Society for the study and enhancement of Alpine zootechnical systems (SoZooAlp). Prof. Maurizio Borin, full professor at DAFNAE is involved in this Erasmus+ Project as expert and supervisor. To be also involved an external expert to manage the international relationship within the projects' partners.