mUNISS

The history of the University of Sassari, spanning almost five hundred years, is marked by significant dates but also by many small stories of objects and people less known to the general public, composing an identity puzzle rich in interesting details.

The mUNISS – University Science Museum – gathers these stories and promotes the dissemination of science, sharing the protection and knowledge of the historical-scientific cultural assets of our university and territory. These pieces of the past not only represent a historical connection to great discoveries and inventions but also encourage participation in current scientific challenges that involve us all.

While laws on the dissemination of scientific culture (Law 113/1991 and 6/2000) spread awareness in Italian universities of the importance of historical-scientific cultural assets, of which universities preserve important and numerous testimonies, in Sassari, Rector Alessandro Maida launched an initiative for the creation of the Museum of Science and Technology.

On April 21, 2015 (d.r. n. 1152), the Science Museum assumed the name mUNISS.

mUNISS does not aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the collections (which continue to remain in the original departments for research and teaching purposes). However, while awaiting the construction of the new location identified in the premises of the second phase of the Naturalistic Campus, it aims to offer a reasoned selection of collections and focus on some emblematic moments in the history of scientific research conducted at our university.

The collections began to form in the early decades of the nineteenth century through the layering of successive acquisitions and the storage of equipment no longer in use, or from the outset, with the intention of creating didactic series or even a "Museum" (such as the mineralogical and zoological museums set up in the nineteenth century).

In other cases, it was the interest and sensitivity of some directors that created the first nuclei, organized the collections, or "saved" materials at risk of dispersal. These mostly consist of scientific equipment, small instrumentation, furnishings, plant or animal organisms, totaling an estimated 150,000 units.

The extensive heritage of historical-scientific cultural assets within the University serves as tangible evidence of the institution's history and scientific progress from its foundation to the present day.

The original idea was to reconstruct a part of the history of the University of Sassari and its scientific and technological progress, perceivable through the objects preserved in laboratories, institutes, and departments.

The identification of the university's cultural assets has led to the acquisition of general data useful for understanding and preserving the series of materials and individual elements that testify to research, teaching, and experimentation.

These cultural assets mainly consist of scientific equipment, small instrumentation, furnishings, plant or animal organisms, totaling an estimated 150,000 units.