A bilateral agreement is a reciprocal agreement signed by two universities which choose to become partners to achieve common and specific aims related to: student mobility, joint research activities, organization of seminars or conferences, as well as other cooperative endeavors.

The University of Trento has signed agreements with universities from all over the world. Some of these agreements are signed between the institutions as a whole, while others involve only specific departments within each institution (see the Download Box for a list of University and Departmental agreements).

Depending on the agreement, beneficiaries are Bachelor, Master, and/or PhD students, professors, research scholars and administrative staff. Students coming to Trento under bilateral agreements have access to UniTrento services and facilities and are exempted from paying UniTrento tuition fees.

Most bilateral agreements allow students from partner universities to spend a period at the University of Trento for study or research purposes and vice versa. In addition, academic and/or administrative staff from partner universities can come to Trento for teaching or training purposes, with the same possibilities available at partner universities for outgoing UniTrento staff.

Student mobility to and from UniTrento is possible for a period ranging normally from 3 to 12 months. Participation in the mobility program generally begins with a selection process carried out by each student's home university, which is then responsible for nominating selected students to UniTrento.