The University of Bergamo was established in 1968 in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. Originally founded under the name "the Institute of Foreign Languages and Literature", the university was renamed in 1990 following the addition of several new departments.
Today this state-supported university has seven departments, located around the town after which it is named. There are three main campuses: the Campus of Economics and Law, which is located in central Bergamo; the Campus of Humanities, in the medieval upper city; and finally the Campus of Engineering, which is situated in the industrial area of Dalmine, about 8 kilometres southwest of Bergamo.
The University of Bergamo offers a number of courses in English, which has helped it develop an array of international partnerships. An agreement between Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, US, and the University of Bergamo allows students to spend a semester studying abroad in either Italy or the US. There are several other partnerships in place with universities all over the world, including in Australia to Turkey.
The Marco Polo Project, that aims to strengthen academic ties between Italy and China, is another scheme with which the university is involved. The University of Bergamo is also one of 25 Italian universities involved in the Science Without Borders project, a Brazilian government initiative designed to help Brazilian students participate with academic and research studies across the world.
One notable former student is the founder and editor-in-chief of academic journal Academicus, Arta Musaraj, who studied for her PhD in Bergamo.