The University of Pavia, in Italy, was officially founded in 1361 although an edict issued by the Frankish king of Italy Lothar I mentioned the existence of a higher education institution at Pavia as early as AD 825. Officially established as a studium generale by the Holy Roman emperor Charles IV, the institution was enlarged and renovated by the duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Visconti Throughout its history, the university has benefited from the presence of important scientists namely the mathematician Girolamo Cardano, the physicist Alessandro Volta, the poet Ugo Foscolo and the physician Camillo Golgi. Presently the University of Pavia offers a wide variety of disciplinary and inter-disciplinary programs. Research is carried out in departments, institutes, clinics, centres and laboratories, in association with public and private institutions.
The Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Pavia was established on the 1st Psychology founded in 1962. In 2013 it became the Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, comprising a bachelor and a master course in Psychology, a doctoral course in Psychology and several post-graduate courses. The Department’s research activity includes developmental, clinical, experimental and work psychology and neuroscience carried out in several laboratories within the Department in collaboration with various national and international Institutions.