The Physics Department of the University of Milan owes its name to Aldo Pontremoli, a commendable Italian physicist, founder of the Physics Faculty of the University of Milan and who during the famous and tragic polar expedition of the airship Italia. The Department is home to research activities in various sectors of fundamental and applied physics such as Astrophysics, Theoretical Physics, Nanotechnologies, Optics, Particle Physics, Physics of the Nucleus, Condensed Matter and Plasmas, Accelerator Physics, Physics of Complex Systems, Physics of the Environment, Cultural Heritage and Medical Physics. One of the two Milanese sections of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) is located in the Department. Many of the research activities are conducted in collaboration with other research institutions which include the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), the National Interuniversity Consortium for Physical Sciences of Matter (CNISM) and the National Research Council (CNR). An Interdisciplinary Center of Excellence (CIMAINA) is active in the field of nanotechnologies, in which numerous research groups of the University participate. The high level of research conducted in the Department and its international excellence are demonstrated by the number and extent of national and international funding, and by the activities of the Doctoral School which involves various important foreign scientific institutions. Numerous agreements and conventions are active with industries and public and private bodies for carrying out basic and applied research.

Casa Cardinale Ildefonso Schuster is a 16th-century building located in the heart of the city a few steps from the Duomo: here you can admire the splendid cloisters commissioned by the Trivulzios in the 16th century and restored by high-caliber architects such as Luca Beltrami, Cesare Nava and Antonio Cassi Ramelli. The building has its roots in history: before 1232 the order of S. Antonio Abate settled here to manage the hospice and hospital that offered treatment to those suffering from "sacred fire". The birth of the Cà Granda put an end to the activity of the Antoniani family who, after the opening of the Sforza hospital, returned to France. In the sixteenth century, thanks to the noble Trivulzio and Landriani families, the building was partly demolished and partly transformed, flanking the bell tower with a conical cusp from 1456 with the magnificent cloister with terracotta friezes inspired by Bramante. In 1576, S. Carlo redeemed the commendam from the Landriani for 13,000 scudi and entrusted the church and convent to the Theatinian clerics. The order of the Theatines was suppressed in 1798 by Napoleon: the convent first became a military warehouse and after a year, during the Austro-Russian occupation, a police office was set up with prisons to lock up those Milanese who, to be considered republicans, were caught in the streets of Milan with a slipknot launched by the Russians while on horseback. After the occupation, the prison remained, known as the Political Correctional Judgement. In 1860 he was ennobled in Regia Magistrates Court, a function he held until the 1830s. In 1935 the building was repurchased by the Ambrosian Church at the behest of Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster and since then it has housed the headquarters of numerous lay associations.

Ca' Granda was founded by the will of Francesco Sforza and his wife Bianca Maria Visconti who, as a sign of gratitude to God for their conquest of the Duchy, wished to build a "Spedale di Poveri" (hospital for the poor). Begun in 1456, construction continued for more than 300 years thanks to legacies and donations from Milanese citizens. The Festa del Perdono (Festival of Forgiveness), a sort of Jubilee during which indulgences were dispensed by special concession of the Holy See, was celebrated every two years on March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary, the hospital's patron saint. The project was entrusted to Antonio Averlino, known as Filarete, and was subsequently completed by architects Solari, Amadeo and Pessina. The floor plan proposed by Filarete was a rectangle comprising ten identical squares, among which the Church was to occupy a central position. The lateral portions, with a cruciform plan, were reserved for patients. The entire complex - for centuries considered, in Europe as in Italy, a fine example of advanced hospital architecture - was surrounded by the waters of the Naviglio (canal) that ran along present-day Via Francesco Sforza and widened in the present-day streets named Via Laghetto and Via Pantano. Anglo-American air raids in 1943 almost completely destroyed the building, and at the end of the Second World War it was handed over to the University of Milan. In 1958 it became the main seat of the University. Restoration and renovation works, begun in 1951, were entrusted to a team of technicians - among which numbered architects Ambrogio Annoni, Piero Portaluppi and Liliana Grassi - who created a successful blend of ancient and modern and made every effort to recover the original materials. Liliana Grassi, in particular, was largely responsible for restoration of the most ancient portion of the 15th century "Crociera" (the Crossing).

The planetarium is an instrument that projects images of the stars and their movements in the sky. From here, even the building that houses it takes the same name and that of Milan, which is the largest and oldest in Italy, is called the Ulrico Hoepli Civic Planetarium. It was precisely Mr. Ulrico Hoepli (1847-1935), founder of the homonymous publishing house, who decided to donate it to the city of Milan in 1929. The building was designed and built in neoclassical style by the architect Piero Portaluppi (1888-1967 ) and its doors were opened to the public on May 20, 1930. The choice of the place is not accidental: it is located inside the gardens of Porta Venezia to allow the Milanese to be able, for a moment, to abandon the stress of the metropolis and indulge a moment of recollection. At the time, the scientific direction of the Planetarium was entrusted to the astronomer Cesare Lombardi, with whom a mechanical technician and the keeper Aldo Venturi collaborated, in charge from 1933 to 1973. It was Venturi himself who, during the Second World War, to save the instrument planetarium from bombings or requisitions, disassembled it and hid it in the church of the asylum in Limbiate, just outside Milan. For this heroic gesture, he was awarded the honor of Knight of the Republic. After some work to better repair the damage caused by the bombings, the Planetarium reopened to the public on 19 April 1949. But, in that difficult period, the attention of the Milanese was understandably rather scarce. Thanks to the arrival of new economic resources, from 15 July 1954 to 17 November 1956 the Planetarium closed for renovation work. In particular, the canvas used as a projection screen was replaced with the current cladding of metal panels which, at the base of the dome, reproduce the outlines of the buildings on the skyline of Milan as they appeared in the 1930s (in fact, if you look closely, you will notice that there are no skyscrapers!). Since 1990, the planetary instrument has been joined by a multimedia projection system which projects images and animations on two opposite areas of the dome. Since 1 July 2016, the LOfficina Association has the concession to manage the Civico Planetarium in Milan. Its staff therefore takes care of the planning of appointments aimed at the public, the planning of new activities, the management of all school proposals and the management of some of the public appointments. Furthermore, the LOfficina staff also manages accessory services such as: back and front office, technical assistance for the maintenance of the planetary instrument (Zeiss IV).

The "Giuseppe Verdi" conservatory of Milan has more than 200 years of history, established by Royal Napoleonic Decree in 1807 by Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy. The inauguration, with the concomitant issue of the first study regulation, dates back to 3 September 1808. Since then the Conservatory has been housed in the historic venue in Via Conservatorio, next to the Church of Santa Maria della Passione. The Milanese Conservatory is one of the most important institutions for the study of music, affirmed nationally and internationally, with more than 1,500 enrolled students, 236 teachers, more than 100 study paths between level I and level II, I and II level masters, workshops and master classes. The Conservatory, in addition to being a center of artistic production, is also an active research centre. Symbolic place of research activities, the historic Library in which more than 500,000 bibliographic units are kept. Open to the public, it hosts scholars and students from all over the world every day, but not only: it hosts a review of Research Meetings, dedicated to the presentation of the most significant research projects applied to the world of music, and a review, Musica da Leggere, which includes meetings for the presentation of books, CDs and DVDs by the teachers of the Conservatory. Three permanent exhibitions are hosted by the Conservatory: the Verdi show. The hand, the error, the triumph, inaugurated on the occasion of Verdi's bicentenary; the exhibition of the Lotto Toscanini recently donated to the Conservatory - among the memorabilia kept the Maestro's famous tailcoat, a gift from Riccardo Muti, another excellent pupil of Verdi in Milan -, a collection of ancient and historical instruments distributed between the Foyer of the Sala Verdi and the Hall of Columns. Then there are two en plein air exhibitions in the Cloister of the Conservatory: an exhibition of contemporary sculpture, born thanks to the collaboration with the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation; an exhibition of historical shots that tell the story of the Conservatory from the years of reconstruction after World War II to today.

IBM Studios is the glass house of technological innovation: a place of international scope capable of deploying the highest level of digital knowledge and fostering collaboration with companies of all types and sizes, with local associations, institutions, universities, research centres, designers, developers and students. Born from the design of the architect Michele De Lucchi and built by Italiana Costruzioni, its construction took a year, a month and 10 days at a cost of around 22-23 million euros; the inauguration took place on 20 July 2015. IBM Studios Milan was born as a home of innovation, its vocation is to open the doors to businesses, AI researchers, institutions and anyone want to contribute and accelerate digital transformation and technological innovation, for create a more sustainable world. Welcoming guests in this "house" it means accompanying them on a journey which wants to be concrete for experiment, co-create and bring to life new and better future prospects. Such a venue takes shape in Piazza Gae Aulenti, in one of the most iconic and exclusive city structures. In the four thousand square meters the state of the art that digital can express today to accelerate Italy, available to all innovation players.