The Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences - DeFENS was created in May 2012 by merging three University of Milan Departments. DeFENS aims to preserve environment, improving sustainable production systems and providing high quality products in order to preserve human health and life quality.

Research activity at DeFENS, therefore, is trying to develop innovative quality foods, produced using sustainable technologies throughout the entire supply chain. 

By merging staff and research activities previously carried out within each single Department, DeFENS is developing new synergies between individual experiences and research topics, and looks nowadays like a connection point between public research structures and sector's companies.