In 1928, Rossi began his career at the University of Florence, as assistant to Antonio Garbasso, who had founded the University's Physics Institute in 1920. It was located in Arcetri, on a hill overlooking the city. When Rossi arrived, Garbasso was Podestà of Florence, appointed by Benito Mussolini 's fascist government of Italy. However, he brought to the Institute a group of brilliant physicists which included Enrico Fermi and Franco Rasetti before they moved to Rome, as well as Gilberto Bernardini, Enrico Persico, and Giulio Racah. In 1929, Rossi's first graduate student, Giuseppe Occhialini, was awarded the doctoral degree.