The University of Udine was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the earthquake in 1976. The University currently has the following degree programmes in: Agriculture, Economics, Engineering, Law, Modern Languages, Communication and Training, Humanities, Medicine and Surgery and Mathematics, Computer Science and Multimedia. The University is actively involved in student and staff exchange projects with universities within the EU and is currently engaged in close collaboration with several universities from Eastern Europe and other non-EU countries. The present number of students enrolled at the University is approx. 17000. The engineering department offers 7 Master degree courses (Civil, Environmental and Territorial, Energy and Environment, Electrical, Management, Mechanical Engineering and Architecture) and 3 PhD Programs (Civil Engineering, Architecture and Territory; Industrial and Information Engineering; Environmental and Energy Engineering Science).
The materials science group of the Engineering Department of University of Udine has a long-term experience on the study of corrosion mechanisms and the protection of metallic structures from corrosion. Among the main research interests are: the production and characterization of innovative coatings metallic and composite metal matrix coatings by electrodeposition, the production and characterization of hybrid sol-gel coatings, the characterization of thin film obtained by PVD, CVD, and ALD, the wear and corrosion resistance study of thermal spray coatings, wear resistance of coatings both at room and high temperatures, study of corrosion mechanisms in micro- and nano-scale using localized electrochemical techniques, design and production of innovative coatings for different applications in the biomedical, energy production and metallurgical fields.