INAF is Italy's national astronomy institute. Participating in the "Black Hole Universe" training network is INAF Brera, located in the Milano area of Italy.

The Milano area is a very active environment in the study of  galactic and extragalactic compact objects. In addition to the research experience, there is a strong tradition of training of  students from local universities and PostDocs. The Brera/Merate node hosts active hardware groups with strong connection with industry and is the home of the Italian collaboration for the Swift mission. Moreover, it is involved in a number of current and future observatories, both ground-based and from space. The institute is also part of a local network of institutions with similar scientific interests in BH astrophysics: INAF-IASF in Milano (involved in XMM-Newton, INTEGRAL, and AGILE) and the Universities of Milano I, Milano Bicocca, Insubria/Como, and Pavia.