University of Bologna (UNIBO) with 33 Departments, 11 Schools and around 85000 students covers all academic disciplines. It is strongly committed to research and innovation and it is one of the most active Italian universities in European and international R&I projects, with more than 400 EU funded projects (FP7&H2020). In Horizon 2020, UNIBO is so far involved in 162 funded projects (39 as coordinator) with more than 57ML. In the framework of the Societal Challenge II - BioEconomy and related - initiatives, UNIBO is coordinating 4 projects (OLEUM, PROVIDE, TROPICSAFE, CIRCLES) and committed as a partner in 32 bioeconomy projects (of which 4 under BBI JTI) with a total EU contribution of over 10 M euro. At EU level, the UNIBO is part of the Scientific Advisory boards of both the HDHL JPI and FACCE) JPI, member of the focus group Water & agriculture of the EIP AGRI, ETP Ocean and Biofuels and RTO member of the BIC Consortium supporting the JTI Biobased Industry. UNIBO is also partner of the EIT Knowledge & Innovation Communities (EIT DIGITAL, Climate KIC, EIT Raw Materials). UNIBO pays a special attention to the Blue Growth and the Mediterranean, participating to the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Med Area (PRIMA), being involved BLUEMED initiative and coordinating the Thematic Steering Group on Blue Growth of the EU STRATEGY FOR THE ADRIATIC-IONIAN REGION (EUSAIR) initiative. During 2017, UNIBO has committed to play an active role as partner in the project FIT4FOOD2030, aiming at implementing the EU Food2030 Strategy. At National level University of Bologna is part of board of directors of the CLAN National Technological Cluster on Agrifood, of the SPRING National Technological Cluster on Green Chemistry and of the BIG National Technological Cluster on Blue Growth. UNIBO will act in ArtiSaneFood through the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL). The Department is a leading institution with a strong commitment on research and knowledge transfer. The research activity encompasses different fields of study, among the most relevant Biological Chemistry, Economics, Engineering, Vegetable Production, Food Microbiology, Food safety, Animal production, Food Science and Technology. The Department boasts high rates of approved projects through competitive calls. The main source of funding is the European Research Framework Program. Within the FP7 the Department coordinated 7 projects and participated in 8 projects as Partner. For the time being, the Department received funding for 7 projects as a Partner and 2 projects as a Coordinator in the framework of the Horizon 2020, Societal Challenges. Moreover, the Department is involved in a CSA, BBI, three JPI-ERANET projects, and the CSA FIT4FOOD2030. The Department also benefits from funding through the European Research Council and the Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions. The ArtiSaneFood project’s objectives are in perfect harmony with the mission of the DISTAL laboratory of food safety supporting local and national food companies to manage the microbiological safety of their products.
