The first Università della Pizza® courses began in 2006. The purpose: to train pizza makers in quality  ingredients and cooking techniques to bring pizza into line with the quality of the finest Italian cuisine, in terms of product and service. 
The project was designed to meet the growing consumer demand to benchmark pizzerias against the highest catering standards and therefore to show pizza professionals an alternative approach focused on the product rather than on the pizza maker. In other words, a search for customer appreciation linked to the quality of the dish, rather than just success in competitions between professionals, of little interest to pizzeria regulars. In a market situation with too many pizza "world champions", and too few pizzas worthy of the name of "a good Italian dish".  Those who attend Università della Pizza® courses, strive to become champions for their customers, and part of a national team that never stops growing.

In 2013, after some years, and hundreds of "certificates" issued to as many pizza makers, the syllabus of the °Università della Pizza® was totally revised, to keep offering an unprecedented opportunity for those who wish to attract the most demanding consumers. A 2.0 version of a course with°3 levels of professional multidisciplinary studies.
The change was inspired by the tried and tested °PizzaUp® format, a technical symposium on Italian pizza that today is a key occasion to swap opinions for those who consider pizza an expression of° food excellence° in Italy and the rest of the world. The new Università della Pizza® courses are available at different levels;°Base, followed by °Advanced° and finally °Gourmet. And before tackling the full course, there is an optional°2-day preparatory course° also suitable for those who have never put "their hands in dough" and want to undertake a new line of work. 

The teaching method is innovative: participants take part in a full schedule of hands-on classes and theoretical lessons organised for small groups on yeast, dough, baking and the fine-tuning of recipes, while at the same time, other groups are busy studying fundamental notions for the overall quality of the pizzeria: e.g. the nutritional aspects of food, communication techniques for the dining room and the web, tips on managing staff and co-workers, organisational gambits to improve the pizza eating experience, "tricks" to select the most suitable ingredients  according to the season, and work with them in the kitchen. 
The teaching model used in the courses reproduces the successful PizzaUp® organisational model: 
participants divided into teams
hands-on courses supported by theoretical sessions
a team at a time works in the kitchen while the others attend theoretical-practical seminars on topics that add value to the pizza maker's work, such as the nutritional aspects of food, simple forms of communication in the dining room and on the web, essential techniques for managing staff and co-workers, organisational gambits to improve the pizza eating experience, "tricks" to select the most suitable ingredients according to the season and work with them in the kitchen, how to put together a wine and beer cellar for a pizzeria, the origin of wheat and their processing, and much, much more.
And in the end, the presentation and tasting of pizzas made in accordance with the standards of the Italian Contemporary Pizza Manifesto at an invitation-only evening in our Dynamic Pizzeria, opened to the public for the occasion.