The Department of Earth Sciences "A. Desio", among the first to be established in Italy, was founded on November 1st, 1982. The Departement incorporated the pre-existing Institutes of: Geology and Palaeontology; Mineralogy, Petrography and Ore Deposits; Geophysics.
The Department inherits the cultural traditions of these institutes, which date back to the origins of geology in Italy, and its role since the second post-war period in the development of Oil and Tech research, as well as in remote area exploration.
Today, the Department hosts researches in the fields of paleontology, sedimentary and structural geology, geomorphology, engineering geology, mineralogy, petrography, geochemistry and ore deposits, solid Earth geophysics, fluid Earth geophysics and applied geophysics.