In 1997 Politecnico di Milano launched Piacenza Campus at the request of the territory, with the goal of making scientific research and technological innovation a tangible support to economic, social and urban transformations. The settlement of the university in Piacenza was supported through the Associazione Polipiacenza (website in Italian only), involving, beside Politecnico di Milano, several institutional bodies and local authorities.

At Piacenza students can take a full course of study in an international environment. There are undergraduate and master's degree, some of them given entirely in English, in the context of sustainable architecture and engineering (mechanics and energy sectors).

At Piacenza, Politecnico di Milano is placed in a building complex of the sixteenth century and in the Urban Center, recently restored. These two campuses cover a total area of nearly 7,000 m², in which students have at their disposal:

• computer rooms, open from 7.30 am to 00.00 pm with more than 100 workstations, network printers, colour plotters, CAD / CAM;
• laboratories to support teaching;
• a library, open also on Saturday and Sunday, with reading and study rooms;
• accommodation in buildings adjacent to the location and beds in public colleges.

At Piacenza two major research laboratories have seat, to support teaching and qualification of studies in engineering:

• LEAP - Laboratorio Energia e Ambiente (Energy and Environment Lab): carries out applied research, experimentation, development and transfer of energy technologies with high efficiency and low environmental impact;
• MUSP - Laboratorio Macchine Utensili e Sistemi di Produzione (Machine Tools and Production Systems Lab): dedicated to the study of machine tools and production systems, with the purpose of research, training and support to companies of the sector, to sustain competitiveness in the international context.

In addition, the Laboratory of Technical Physics and the Laboratory of Mechanics are operative for teaching activities.

Regarding teaching of architecture, in Piacenza are some decentralized laboratories of the Department of Architecture and Planning:

• Laboratorio Progetto di Architettura della Città: methodology of architectural and urban planning;
• Laboratorio Architettura degli Spazi Pubblici: architectural design of public space;
• LABSAT: analysis and design of spaces and times of the city;
• Laboratorio Cooperative Design Environment: innovative languages for communication of architecture;
• Laboratorio Fisica della Città: physics of the city.