Department Mission

Mission

The “Giuseppe Parenti” Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications (DISIA) at the University of Florence is a leading centre for all disciplines concerned with the development of statistical and computational methods. Its activities focus on the acquisition, processing and analysis of complex and heterogeneous data, with the aim of turning information into knowledge. The Department takes an integrated approach to research, teaching, education and innovation transfer, capitalising on the broad and cross-disciplinary expertise that distinguishes it.

This capacity has received national recognition through the Department’s designation by the Italian Ministry as a Department of Excellence for the two five-year periods 2018–2022 and 2023–2027, based on the quality of its research and teaching activities. With the first round of funding, DISIA focused its efforts on Data Science. For the 2023–2027 period, its goal is to further strengthen its commitment to research and education, with the ambition of becoming an international centre of excellence for causal analysis and the statistical analysis of complex data, as well as for the education of a new generation of Data Scientists.

While maintaining the diversity of their disciplinary expertise, DISIA researchers share a common cultural and scientific approach that combines a strong focus on data and information with a keen interest in practical and experimental applications. The Department encompasses the following academic disciplines: INFO-01/A (Informatica), MEDS-24/A (Statistica medica), ECON-05/A (Econometria), ECON-10/A (Scienze merceologiche), STAT-01/A (Statistica), STAT-02/A (Statistica economica), STAT-03/A (Demografia), and STAT-03/B (Statistica sociale), corresponding to CUN Areas 01 (Mathematics and Computer Science), 06 (Medical Sciences), and 13 (Economics and Statistics).

DISIA contributes its teaching and educational expertise across all ten Schools of the University, helping to prepare professionals capable of meeting the growing demand for skills in information processing and analysis. The Department also promotes the transfer of scientific knowledge beyond academia, enhancing innovation and the social impact of research. Of particular importance are its national and international scientific collaborations, which have always been a distinctive feature of the Department’s activities.