The Department of Physics and Astronomy "G. Galilei" was founded in 2012, following the merger of the Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy represents a centre of excellence, endowed with all the necessary potential to face the most daring challenges in all research fields of Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, also thanks to the close collaboration with the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) – Padova Division, with Legnaro National Laboratories, with the Padova Unit of the National Interuniversity Consortium for the Physical Sciences of Matter (CNISM), with the CNR (National Research Council) - Department of Physical Sciences and Technologies of Matter and with the National Institute of Astrophysics - Astronomical Observatory of Padova (OAPD-INAF). Professors and researchers from all Scientific Disciplinary Sectors (SSD) of Physics Science (from FIS/01 to FIS/08) and academic recruitment fields A, B and C for 02 area work here, thanks to the union of two communities, which had already reached, independently from each other, levels of great importance in all the research fields they are involved in. Proof of this, is the evaluation carried out, before the merger of the two Departments, by the National Steering Committee for Research Evaluation which classified both structures at the highest levels of qualification in their respective disciplines.

Nationally and internationally, the new Department of Physics and Astronomy is undoubtedly one of the best equipped research centres in the sector, with state-of-the-art instruments and laboratories with a consolidated tradition, such as the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory, and with easy access to important research infrastructures such as the nearby Legnaro National Laboratories.

Experimental and theoretical research in all frontier sectors of Fundamental and Applied Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, promoting national and international collaborations, is the main task of the Department of Physics and Astronomy “G. Galilei ". Researchers from the Department are working, often with leadership functions, in many international laboratories such as: CERN in Geneva, SLAC in Stanford, DESY center in Hamburg, Fermilab in the USA and in the most important Astronomical Observatories all over the world.

Together with the National Institute of Astrophysics - Astronomical Observatory of Padova (OAPD-INAF), which has always collaborated in scientific, educational, informative and technological activities, the Department is the largest Italian astronomical center, and one of the most important internationally for reputation and tradition; the only one in Italy to be part of the European Association for Research in Astronomy (EARA), a network of six European institutes of excellence that conducts research in the field of observational and theoretical Astronomy.

Collaborations with national research bodies are of fundamental importance, in particular those with INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics), with the CNR Department of Physical Sciences and Technologies of Matter, with ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), with INAF (National Institute for Astrophysics) and with ASI (Italian Space Agency).

The relations between the University of Padova and INFN have been governed since 1968 by an agreement foreseeing that the INFN- Division of Padova is hosted within the Department and the research infrastructures are shared and jointly managed between the two bodies. A similar agreement exists between the University of Padova and the INFN for the Legnaro National Laboratories, which, despite being a national INFN structure, host also activities carried out by the University of Padova. The collaboration with INAF takes place thanks to a framework agreement between INAF and the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI). Similarly, relations between the University of Padova and CNR are governed by an agreement, stipulated in 1995 with INFM (National Institute for Condensed Matter) and then passed in 2003 to the CNR, which incorporated it. University research in the field of condensed matter physics is currently coordinated at national level by the CNISM (National Interuniversity Consortium for the Physical Sciences of Matter) to which the University of Padua is a founding member.

The Department runs the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory of the University of Padova, where the national largest optical telescopes are operating, together with the OAPD-INAF observatory structures. The largest mirror aluminizing chamber available in Italy, owned by the University of Padova and managed by the Department, is there. Since 2011, a new observation station has also been operational, a node of an international network dedicated to the study of upper atmosphere phenomena. All the organizational, development and maintenance activities of the Asiago headquarters are carried out in collaboration with OAPD-INAF. The experience of the Asiago technicians, matured and handed down thanks to the continuous use of unique instruments in Italy, has been proved to be crucial for the proper functioning of telescopes located abroad, such as the Galileo National Telescope (TNG) in the Canary Islands and the Very large telescope Survey Telescope (VST) in Chile.

The Department takes part in the RFX Consortium, a collaboration between CNR, ENEA, University of Padova, INFN and Acciaierie Venete S.p.A. The field of controlled thermonuclear fusion for energy production, under a EURATOM contract, is the RFX main research topic.

It is also important to remind the significant role played by the Department in the activities and management of the G. Colombo Centre for Space Studies and Activities (University Centre) and in particular in the PhD Course in Science, Technology and Space Measurements (STMS).

The achievement of relevant results in research activities in Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics often requires technologies, methodologies and infrastructures which, due to their high cost and complexity, can only be acquired in the context of large collaborations. Most of the time these can take place thanks to the close link with INAF and INFN research bodies which effectively optimize the use of resources and develop fruitful synergies.

The Department shares mechanical and electronic services with the INFN Section and has access to Legnaro National Laboratories and to the OAPD-INAF structures, in particular to the OAPD-INAF optics and electronics laboratories, where instruments for the major terrestrial and space telescopes are currently designed, built and tested.

Great attention is also paid by the Department to the promotion of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary applications of (theoretical and experimental) methodologies and techniques developed in different research fields and their consequent technological transfer. These activities are usually included in large-scale projects funded by the European Union, where the Department of Physics and Astronomy is often the proponent. In this context, projects proposed by our researchers have been financed by Cassa di Risparmio del Veneto Foundation, within the call “Programmi di Ricerca di Eccellenza”.

Not least is the commitment dedicated by the Department to the training of young people, in a wide range of effective courses that meet the parameters required at European and international level. A commitment to higher education, which has its roots in the vast research activity carried out mainly in an international context and which is realized in the Degree and Master's Degree courses in Physics and Astronomy and in the interdisciplinary courses in Materials Science and Optics and Optometry. In addition to the latter, there is an ERASMUS MUNDUS international Master's Degree course in Astronomy and two PhD schools in Physics and Astronomy, which also operate within the framework of numerous international co-tutorship agreements.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy carries out an intense teaching activity for the University of Padova, both in degree courses of the same disciplinary nature, and in many other degree courses, especially for Physics as subject.

In addition to the already mentioned reference degree courses, namely:

• Degree in Physics;
• Degree in Astronomy;
• Degree in Materials Science;
• Degree in Optics and Optometry;
• Master’s Degree in Physics;
• Master’s Degree in Astronomy;
• Master’s Degree in Materials Science;
• Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters Degree in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The Department carries out basic training activities with great dedication in the following degree courses:

• Degree in Chemistry
• Degree in Industrial Chemistry
• Degree in Environmental Sciences and Technologies
• Degree in Biology
• Degree in Molecular Biology
• Degree in Biotechnology
• Degree in Geology
• Degree in Mathematics
• Degree in Computer Science
• Degree in Geological Sciences
• Degree in Natural Sciences
• Master's degree in Mathematics
• Master's degree in Natural Sciences
• Degree in Aerospace Engineering
• Degree in Engineering for the Environment and the Territory
• Degree in Biomedical Engineering
• Degree in Civil Engineering
• Degree in Electronic Engineering
• Degree in Energy Engineering
• Degree in Management Engineering
• Degree in Computer Engineering
• Degree in Information Engineering
• Degree in Mechanical Engineering
• Degree in Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering
• Degree in Chemical and Materials Engineering
• Master's degree in Materials Engineering
• Master's degree in Building Engineering-Architecture
• Degree courses of the School of Medicine and Surgery
• Degree courses of the School of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
• Degree courses of the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Heritage

With reference to PhD courses, the Department supports:

• PhD course in Physics
• PhD course in Astronomy

And it partecipates in:

• PhD course in Science and Engineering of Materials and Nanostructures
• PhD course in Science, Technologies and Space Measurements
• FUSION-DC - International Doctoral College in Fusion Science and Engineering

A fundamental task of the Department is also to create a constant links between research and higher education activities, in order to continuously update and enrich, in collaboration with researchers from Public Research Institutions, the training offer of the PhD course in Astronomy, in Physics and in Science and Engineering of Materials and also of some Masters. In this context, the Department also supports the international mobility of students, participates in the European thematic network EUPEN (European Physics Education Network) and collaborates in various international initiatives, conferences and projects focused on Physics teaching.

For a decade, the Department has been conducting the most advanced project at a national level for the orientation and dissemination of scientific culture, called “Heaven as a Laboratory”. It is a project that involves the entire higher education system of the Veneto Region with a limited number of visitors of about 500 students per year. The MIUR has entrusted the Department with the task of disseminating this project nationwide starting from the 2011-12 school year and of controlling its organization and planning in the future, in close collaboration with the General Directorate for Higher Education.

Fundamental is the contribution given by the Department since 2004, to the national project "Plan for Scientific Degrees (PLS), established by MIUR, the National Conference of Deans of Science and Technology and Confindustria, in order to encourage enrolment in Degree courses in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Materials Science. This project foresees close collaboration at the regional level among Universities, Regional School Offices and Business Associations and, at the local level, among schools, teachers, research institutes and businesses.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a rich and important collection of scientific instruments of historical interest (over a thousand objects from the sixteenth century onwards) that reconstruct the prestigious scientific past of the University of Padova. Currently the Museum of the History of Physics is located at the didactic centre of the Department.

Important documents and instruments testifying the centuries-old tradition of Paduan astronomy are collected in the Museum Torre della Specola - Observatory of Padova - INAF.

The "Museum of Astronomy Instruments" of the University of Padua, located at the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory of the University of Padua, collects instruments of the last century, purchased after its foundation in 1942. This collection, attended by about twenty thousand visitors every year, supports, together with OAPD-INAF, the dissemination activities of the Department.