Politecnico di Bari: engineering, architecture and aerospace in the heart of Puglia
With 15,000 students, 40 programmes and 4th place in the CENSIS polytechnic ranking (85.2/100), PoliBa is the leading technical university of south-east Italy. Strengths in aerospace, computer and civil engineering and architecture, with an 81% employment rate and 7% international students. Partnerships with Leonardo Aeronautics and the Grottaglie-Taranto aerospace cluster.
PoliBa: the technical reference university of the Adriatic South, between aerospace and Puglian architecture
The Politecnico di Bari is the leading technical-scientific university for Puglia and south-east Italy, with approximately 15,000 enrolled students and 40 degree programmes specialising in civil, electrical, computer, industrial and aerospace engineering, architecture and industrial design. Ranked 4th in the CENSIS 2025-2026 polytechnic ranking (85.2/100) with an employment rate of 81%, PoliBa is a rapidly growing technical university strongly connected to the Puglian industrial fabric.
Key strengths include aerospace engineering — in close collaboration with Leonardo Aeronautics and the Grottaglie-Taranto aerospace cluster, one of Italy's most important — and infrastructure engineering. The Faculty of Architecture has a growing reputation for design in the context of Puglia's historic heritage: trulli, masserie and Lecce Baroque.
7% of students are international, with active Erasmus+ agreements and growing openness towards Mediterranean basin countries. Bari is a rapidly developing city, with an emerging technological innovation ecosystem linked to aerospace, agri-tech and renewable energy.
Academic Areas
Politecnico di Bari by the numbers
From 1990 to Puglian aerospace: PoliBa and the technical development of southern Italy
The Politecnico di Bari was founded in 1990, as an evolution of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Bari, which had a long tradition of technical training dating to the 1950s. The creation of an autonomous technical university responded to growing demand for specialist engineers from the Puglian industrial fabric, undergoing major productive transformation at the time.
Puglia in the 1980s and 1990s was developing important industrial sectors: the aeronautical cluster of Taranto and Grottaglie, the footwear district, and the petrochemical industry of Brindisi. These productive needs required a technical university capable of training qualified engineers for the growing sectors.
During the 2000s, PoliBa invested in applied research, developing centres of excellence in aerospace, advanced materials and computer networks. Collaborations with Leonardo Aeronautics and the Puglian ICT district strengthened the university's profile as a privileged partner of the technological industry in southern Italy.
FAQ — Politecnico di Bari
Study engineering in Puglia: useful resources for your journey
The Politecnico di Bari is the natural choice among Italian universities for those wishing to study engineering and architecture in southern Italy with excellent employment prospects. Explore the guide to master's degrees in Italy and discover everything about living and studying in Italy.
