The University of Bologna (Italian: Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (studiorum), it is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning. At its foundation, the word universitas was first coined. With over 90,000 students, it is the second largest university in Italy after La Sapienza in Rome. It was the first place of study to use the term universitas for the corporations of students and masters, which came to define the institution (especially its law school) located in Bologna. The university's emblem carries the motto, Alma Mater Studiorum ("Nourishing mother of studies"), the date A.D. 1088. It has campuses in Cesena, Forlì, Ravenna and Rimini and a branch center abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It also has a school of excellence named Collegio Superiore di Bologna. An associate publisher of the University of Bologna is the Bononia University Press. The university saw the first woman to earn a university degree and teach at a university, Bettisia Gozzadini, and the first woman to earn both a doctorate in science and a salaried position as a university professor, Laura Bassi. It is one of the most prestigious universities in Italy and is commonly ranked among the top universities in Italy and the world. It is especially renowned for its studies in law, medicine, and the natural sciences. University of Bologna had a central role in the sciences during the Italian renaissance, where it housed and educated Nicholas Copernicus as well as numerous other renaissance mathematicians. From Wikipedia
