The University of Pisa, formally established in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in the world and it has been extraordinarily successful in updating its structures and human resources in order to meet the new challenges of international research and education at the highest level. It has an excellent international reputation in all areas, not only in natural sciences but also for example in humanities, social sciences, medicine, engineering, agricultural and other applied sciences. It leads important international research and education networks, and incorporates their findings into its programmes. The University of Pisa is committed to promoting quality in all areas of research and teaching, and to making all its programmes available to an increasing number of international students and researchers. Nowadays it is organised in 20 departments. It has about 54.000 students, 1517 faculty members, and 1477 technical and administrative staff members. It offers 127 bachelor and master programmes, and 20 PhD programmes, along with 56 third cycle specialisation programmes, and about 55 post graduate programmes, including an MBA. The city of Pisa, where our University has always had its roots, offers students and researchers an ideal environment for living, studying and working: Pisa has a pleasant climate, excellent food and world famous cultural and leisure attractions. Both sea and the mountains are close by, as are the cities, museum, monuments and the beautiful countryside for which Tuscany is rightly celebrated. With its large and intellectually stimulating scholarly community, Pisa is an attractive environment for researchers in all fields.