The University of Pisa is a public institution with twenty departments, and high level research centres in the agriculture, astrophysics, computer science, engineering, medicine and veterinary medicine sectors. Furthermore the University has close relations with the Pisan Institutes of the National Board of Research, with many cultural institutions of national and international importance, and with industries, especially those based in information technology, which went through a phase of rapid expansion in Pisa during the nineteen sixties and seventies. The University of Pisa was officially established in 1343, although a number of scholars claim its origin dates back to the 11th century.