Giovanni Comelli, Full Professor of Experimental Physics of Matter and Applications at University of Trieste, is the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., the non-profit company of national interest that manages one of the world’s most advanced research infrastructures based on the use of synchrotron light and free-electron lasers for the characterization and development of new materials, biomaterials, pharmaceuticals, and chemical and biochemical processes.

A deep expert on Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Prof. Comelli is the author of more than 250 scientific publications and is actively involved in numerous national and European research programs and scientific infrastructures. He served on Elettra’s Board of Directors from 2005 to 2014, also holding the position of Vice Chairman from 2006 to 2014, and was again appointed board member from 2023 to 2026. Throughout his career, he has also held numerous positions of scientific and organizational responsibility at both national and international levels, including Director of the Department of Physics at the University of Trieste and member of scientific evaluation and advisory bodies promoted by Italian and European institutions.

From classroom design to boats on the water: UniTS took part in the opening of the Venice Boat Show 2026 with a delegation from the Department of Engineering and Architecture, composed of its director Giorgio Sulligoi, Vittorio Bucci, recently appointed coordinator of the degree programme in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, and Serena Bertagna, together with PhD candidates and students from the Master’s degree programme in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

The University’s presence highlighted the connection between engineering education, yacht and naval design, and dialogue with the maritime industry. This is a field in which UniTS has deep historical roots and which continues to develop today through teaching, applied research and projects involving students directly.

One of the key moments of the day was the presentation of the new boat by the Audace Sailing Team, recently unveiled and ready to compete in the SuMoth Challenge 2026. The project demonstrates the value of the experience developed within the team, which offers students a true hands-on training laboratory: a pathway in which theoretical knowledge, design and experimentation come together across all stages of work, from hull design and structural verification to construction and participation in university competitions.

The day also included the award ceremony of the MUVE Yacht Projects 2026 – Academy Lab, an initiative promoted as part of the Venice Boat Show and dedicated to the relationship between universities, young designers, companies and maritime culture. Students from the UniTS degree programme in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering also took part in the project, developing design proposals for contemporary yacht and boat design.

During the award ceremony, Professor Vittorio Bucci spoke about the transformations affecting the nautical sector and the skills required of future naval engineers. Ships and yachts are complex systems that integrate physics, materials, shipowners’ requirements, comfort and advanced technologies. For this reason, university education starts from solid engineering foundations and guides students towards increasingly integrated design, also through dialogue with the productive sector.

As Professor Sulligoi pointed out: “Perhaps not everyone knows that our Faculty of Engineering was founded precisely with the degree programme in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Today, as then, and increasingly so, it is an engineering field that opens up to and embraces territories and stakeholders, and is honoured to present itself, and to see its students awarded, also in Venice, today described by authoritative speakers as ‘the oldest city of the future’.”

Participation in the Boat Show was also an opportunity for direct training for students and PhD candidates, who were able to explore topics related to technological innovation, yacht and naval design, and the development of the maritime sector through direct contact with industrial, design and institutional stakeholders in the field.

The second edition of the “Administrative Moot Court: A Training Ground for Justice” has come to an end. The initiative offers UniTS Law students a fully immersive experience in applied administrative law. The aim of the project — which, starting from the next academic year, will become an independent program separate from the Administrative Law chair — is to provide students with the key skills needed for drafting procedural documents, preparing future professionals for the challenges of real courtrooms.

“The project has grown stronger thanks also to the interinstitutional collaboration between UniTS and the leading figures of the administrative judiciary. I would especially like to thank the President of the Regional Administrative Court of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Counsel Avv. Carlo Modica de Mohac di Grisì, Judge Dr. Manuela Sinigoi, and the Secretary General of the Court, Dr. Paola Barzanti,” emphasized Edoardo N. Fragale, lecturer in Administrative Law and creator of the laboratory.

This year once again, the initiative recorded significant participation: 60 students attended the seminar led by Manuela Sinigoi, focused on the functioning of the Court and the analysis of specific cases. Participants then had the opportunity to observe firsthand the discussion of real appeals during the public hearing held last May 6 at the headquarters of the Regional Administrative Court. The laboratory concluded in the University’s Bachelet classroom, where 27 participants competed in an actual moot competition (a simulated trial), taking on the roles of judges and legal counsels for the different parties.

This high-level educational experience aims to bridge the gap between university textbooks and the workings of the judicial system.

Accessible tourism does not begin when people reach their destination, but much earlier: when someone looks for information, checks whether a facility truly meets their needs and tries to understand whether they will be able to enjoy an experience independently and safely.

This is one of the main messages that emerged from the final event of DATIS – Digital Pioneers of Accessible Tourism, a project funded by the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 Programme, held on Tuesday 19 May 2026 at the Grand Hotel Entourage in Gorizia. The event, entitled Accessible tourism starts with accessible information, provided an opportunity to present the results to tourism and social-sector operators, institutions, organisations representing people with disabilities, researchers and accessibility experts from Italy and Slovenia.

In this process, the University of Trieste played a central role through its Department of Political and Social Sciences, contributing to the development of the project’s scientific basis and to the analysis of the real needs of the people involved. The research coordinated by UniTS collected more than 400 questionnaires from people with disabilities, interviewed online and in person, and explored the topic further through interviews and focus groups with around 50 people with visual, cognitive and mental disabilities, as well as operators, caregivers and family members.

The work was led for UniTS by Moreno Zago, Professor of Responsible Tourism Practices, with the support of the Quolity team, composed of Luca Bianchi, Marta Candussi and Francesca Samogizio. The University’s contribution made it possible to translate data, experiences and testimonies into useful guidance for tourism operators, institutions and local communities, with the aim of designing more accessible services, more reliable information and genuinely inclusive pathways.

Through a cross-border sample survey, in-depth interviews with people with disabilities, and analyses of accommodation facilities and tourism websites, DATIS connected physical, digital and communication accessibility, highlighting how decisive the quality of information is in making travel a truly possible and inclusive experience.

One figure shows the relevance of the issue particularly clearly: for more than 90 per cent of people with motor, sensory, cognitive or age-related disabilities, travelling is considered quite or very important. Travel is not only a leisure activity, but an experience that contributes to physical and mental well-being, strengthens autonomy and self-confidence, and helps counter social isolation.

At the same time, barriers continue to limit the right to travel for all. These are not only physical obstacles, but also incomplete, poorly readable or unreliable information, which can generate “false accessibility”: facilities or services presented as accessible, but not actually suited to people’s needs. Although respondents generally reported being treated respectfully, only 17 per cent of the people involved considered staff adequately prepared to respond to the needs and expectations of people with disabilities.

Digital tools are now one of the main gateways to travel: almost 60 per cent of the people involved use online tools to organise their tourism experiences. However, one third of the sample avoided choosing a destination precisely because of the lack of accessible information online. Complex navigation, poorly readable texts, lack of inclusive support tools and inaccessible content can become barriers as concrete as an architectural obstacle.

The analysis carried out as part of DATIS on 100 tourism websites in the cross-border area confirmed this critical issue: many portals are visually modern and technically structured, but still not fully usable by everyone. The average level of digital accessibility detected was 37 per cent for Slovenian tourism operators and 40 per cent for Italian operators.

The project’s results also include the DATIS web database, designed to make information on the digital accessibility of tourism operators in the cross-border area more visible and verifiable, together with guidelines and a strategy for more accessible tourism communication. These are useful tools both for people planning their journey and for operators seeking to improve the quality and clarity of the information they provide.

Specific attention was also given to pilot activities carried out at the Museums of Monte San Michele in Sagrado and the Museum of Industrial Heritage in Ajdovščina, involving people with visual, cognitive and mental disabilities. The pilot activities showed how immersive technologies, digital accessibility and multisensory content can transform cultural heritage into a more inclusive experience, provided that the solutions are simple, accessible and accompanied by adequate human support.

The direct involvement of people with disabilities is one of the central elements to emerge from the project. Accessible solutions cannot be designed solely on the basis of formal standards or technical checks, but must be built through listening to users, co-design and the concrete evaluation of experiences.

The 2027 National University Championships (CNU) will take place in Friuli Venezia Giulia thanks to the joint project submitted by the University Sports Centers (CUS) of Trieste and Udine. The event was awarded by the Federal Council of FederCUSI – the Italian University Sports Federation – following an evaluation process in which the bid from the CUS organizations of our region competed against that of CUS Turin. The project promoted by the CUS of Trieste and Udine was developed in collaboration with the regional CONI committee and the Universities of Trieste and Udine, and received strong support from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.

The first steps toward 2027

The Championships will take place between late spring and early summer next year. The main hub of the event will be the Bella Italia Efa Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro (Udine), one of the most important sports accommodation facilities in northeastern Italy. It was selected by the two CUS organizations due to its proven experience in hosting events involving thousands of participants, including student-athletes, technical staff, and accompanying personnel. The various sports disciplines included in the program will take place in facilities located in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Trieste, Udine, and other locations across the region, selected according to the specific needs of each sport. In this regard, the contribution of local authorities, associations, and representatives of the regional sports movement will be essential in supporting the event.

The Championships will feature an especially wide range of optional sports in addition to the mandatory disciplines. The goal is to enhance the unique characteristics of the territory and the region’s sporting vocation by introducing, for the first time within the framework of the CNU, competitions dedicated to Paralympic disciplines as well. The organizers aim to create inclusive National University Championships open to all Italian university students.

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“The awarding of the 2027 National University Championships to Friuli Venezia Giulia,” stated the President of the Region, Massimiliano Fedriga, “is a highly significant achievement and a source of pride for the entire region. Hosting an event of this scale, centered at the Bella Italia Efa Village in Lignano Sabbiadoro, confirms the quality of our facilities and the territory’s ability to work together as a system. I would like to thank the University Sports Centers of the Universities of Trieste and Udine and CONI Friuli Venezia Giulia for the work carried out with commitment, passion, expertise, and vision. The Championships will represent a major opportunity to promote the entire Friuli Venezia Giulia region and the values of sport, inclusion, and youth participation.”

“This is a historic result for our territory and for the regional university sports movement,” explained Michele Pipan, President of CUS Trieste. “The 2027 National University Championships will be a great celebration of sport, but also an opportunity to showcase the quality of our universities, our Region, and a sports system capable of working together as a team.”

“Trieste and Udine are joining forces for an event of national importance,” emphasized Gian Luca Bianchi, President of CUS Udine, “thanks to a broad institutional and technical network that made it possible to build a solid proposal from an organizational, sporting, and logistical perspective. The collaboration between the CUS organizations, universities, and institutions is the key to a project that aims to leave a lasting legacy for university sports and for the entire regional territory.”

“The National University Championships represent far more than a sporting competition: they are unique and unrepeatable opportunities to connect students, universities, territories, and institutions through sharing, inclusion, and collective growth,” stated Donata Vianelli, Rector of the University of Trieste. “The University of Trieste believed from the very beginning in the value of a joint bid developed together with Udine, because dialogue and collaboration between different realities are an integral part of our identity. This event will be an extraordinary opportunity to promote Friuli Venezia Giulia both within and beyond the academic world.”

“Together we win. The awarding of next year’s National University Championships to the university sports centers of Trieste and Udine — and therefore to the Friuli Venezia Giulia territory — proves it,” stressed Angelo Montanari, Rector of the University of Udine. “Sport and university study must become an increasingly close combination for our students, because together they improve performance in both areas and promote a healthier and more conscious lifestyle. Thanks to the high standards demonstrated by students from the region’s universities in both academics and sports, Friuli Venezia Giulia can aspire to become a national benchmark, starting with the 2027 Championships.”

“Friuli Venezia Giulia proves once again that it is truly a home of sport,” stated Andrea Marcon, President of CONI FVG. “Hosting an event of this scale by combining the organizational capabilities of our two most important universities is clear recognition of the quality of our territory and a demonstration of the attention and care that regional sports dedicate to major sporting events. Congratulations to the CUS organizations of Trieste and Udine for securing this event. Once again, Friuli Venezia Giulia — characterized by wonderful local differences capable of coming together as a team — expresses an extraordinary, winning, and explosive strength.”

The University of Trieste hosted the institutional visit of a Québec delegation as part of cooperation initiatives between Italy and Canada in the fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and quantum technologies. The delegation included Laurence Fouquette-L’Anglais, Québec Delegate in Rome, Vanessa Antoniali, Senior Attachée for Public and Institutional Affairs, and Alexane Thibodeau, Ph.D., Scientist in Residence.

The visit, which began at the headquarters of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and was also attended by Pro-Rector Mauro Tretiach, forms part of the ongoing effort to strengthen bilateral relations between Italy and Canada, launched with the 2024 agreement between the two countries to promote strategic cooperation in high-technology sectors. This commitment was reaffirmed by the Joint Statement signed on the margins of the Canadian-led G7 in 2025.

After visiting the UniTS laboratories hosted at Area Science Park’s Basovizza campus, ArQuS and QCI, the delegation visited the new SIQURO Laboratory on the Piazzale Europa Campus.

SIQURO is a joint laboratory of the Universities of Trieste and Udine, established as part of the Quantum FVG project funded by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The laboratory develops technologies for secure quantum communications through a fibre-optic infrastructure connecting the two universities, enabling the exchange of cryptographic keys through QKD — Quantum Key Distribution — technology.

Research activities are structured around two complementary areas. In Trieste, the work focuses on the physical and experimental aspects of quantum transmission and on stabilising the fibre-optic connection. In Udine, the focus is on integrating quantum keys into secure communication systems and cybersecurity applications.

The visit of the Canadian delegation represented an important opportunity for international dialogue on cybersecurity and quantum technologies, confirming UniTS’ strategic role in emerging fields of innovation.

Climate change can significantly affect wine quality, but its effects are not the same across all varieties. This is the focus of the study Climate and the quality of wine: Whites vs. reds, published in Open Access in the Journal of Cleaner Production and conducted by a UniTS research group.

The study is authored by Giovanni Millo, Paolo Bogoni, Barbara Campisi, Matteo Carzedda, Gianluigi Gallenti, Valentino Riva and Gaetano Carmeci. The work is part of the project “Climate change and sustainability of viticulture in the Collio Goriziano area”, launched within the Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics “Bruno de Finetti” (DEAMS) and funded by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Gorizia.

The study focuses on Collio, a wine-growing area in Friuli Venezia Giulia where both white and red wines are produced, offering a suitable context for a comparative analysis of the effects of weather conditions on wine quality. The aim of the research is to understand how climate variables, such as temperatures and seasonal patterns, may influence the final quality of the product.

Wine quality depends on many factors. Some are relatively stable or controllable, such as soil, winemaking techniques and the characteristics of the territory. Others, however, are beyond the producers’ control, such as climate, weather variability and extreme events.

The results show that white wines respond to weather conditions differently from red wines. In particular, the study highlights a delicate balance between spring and summer temperatures, with effects that may vary significantly even between individual varieties. Climate change, therefore, does not produce uniform consequences, but requires specific analyses by territory, grape variety and type of wine.

The study provides useful insights not only from a scientific perspective, but also for producers and policymakers. Understanding which varieties are more or less sensitive to climate conditions can help define adaptation strategies, including targeted choices in vineyard management and in the selection of the varieties best suited to new climate scenarios.

The research project also had an educational impact: the funding made it possible to support a two-year research fellowship, which later developed into a doctoral path within the University’s PhD Programme in Circular Economy.

In pursuit of another remarkable achievement. After the unexpected silver medal won in the 2025 edition, the CUS Trieste men’s basketball team returns to the Spring National University Championships (CNU) determined to make its mark and go as far as possible.

The Trieste team, which qualified automatically for the 2026 edition thanks to last year’s second-place finish, will begin its CNU campaign on Tuesday, 26 May at 9:00 a.m. against CUS Basilicata. The Championships are organised by CUS Piemonte Orientale (CUSPO), with the basketball tournament taking place in Novara from 26 to 30 May.

In Group A, alongside CUS Trieste, which this year will field the team that finished third in the Divisione Regionale 2 championship, and CUS Basilicata, there will also be CUS Verona and CUS Firenze.

CUS Trieste will be coached by Alessandro Meden, assisted by Matteo Drioli. The 11 players selected are: Alessandro Ermacora, Umberto Franceschetto, Nicolò Giurgevich, Sebastiano Glerean, Giacomo Icardi, Luca Ladoni, Giacomo Martin, Vittorio Quariglio, Biniam Santucci, Alessandro Tonasso and Luca Trentin.

“This year,” said coach Alessandro Meden, “we are taking part with the same group that represented CUS Trieste throughout the season, without adding any external players. I don’t know whether we will be able to match last year’s great result, but I am sure that these players, who are constantly improving, will make life difficult for every opponent. This is a very close-knit group, made up of friends and teammates. For many of them, it will be their first CNU and, regardless of the final result, I am certain they will make the most of this valuable experience, both from a competitive and personal growth perspective.”

“After last year’s excellent result and an intense winter preparation,” underlined CUS Trieste President Michele Pipan, “we approach the Championships with the desire to give our best and continue to grow. In Novara, the team that has worn the CUS Trieste colours throughout the season will take to the court, having earned the opportunity to enjoy a high-level sporting and human experience. I wish the players and coach Meden, who has always stood out for his professionalism and commitment to the team, the very best for this adventure.”

The men’s basketball tournament will feature the group stage from Tuesday 26 to Thursday 28 May. The semi-finals will take place on Friday 29 May, while the finals will be played on Saturday 30 May.

The other groups are listed below:
Group B: CUS Milano, CUS Bari, CUS Caserta, CUS Camerino
Group C: CUS Lecce, CUS Sassari, CUS Napoli, CUS Palermo
Group D: CUS Genova, CUS Macerata, CUS Cagliari, CUS Piemonte Orientale

The University of Trieste, thanks to the cultural preservation and outreach work of the University Museum System (SmaTS), is opening the Ducaton Gallery, a new permanent space on the first floor of the right wing of the Gorizia campus, at Via Alviano 18. The gallery is dedicated to the pictorial cycle The Lady from the Sea by Annamaria Ducaton (1936–2026).

The cycle consists of 28 canvases donated by the Trieste painter to the University in 2024, on the occasion of the centenary of its foundation.

Created between 1984 and 1985, the cycle is inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s 1889 drama of the same name. The work represents an emotional and artistic journey in which Ducaton enters into dialogue with her mother, the actress Giannina Herman Macknig, and with Ellida, the protagonist of Ibsen’s play.

The new permanent gallery was created as a tribute and a gesture of gratitude to the recently deceased artist, and enhances the connection between art, personal memory, theatre and UniTS’ cultural heritage.

The gallery will soon be open to external visitors by reservation.

Annamaria Ducaton (1936–2026)
Annamaria Ducaton grew up immersed in the artistic atmosphere of her family. As a child, she began studying piano, but after five years she gave it up to devote herself to painting. An “imaginary” artist, she held around eighty solo exhibitions in Trieste, Duino, Lignano, Udine, Gorizia, Maniago, Brunico, Dobbiaco, Steinhaus, San Bonifacio di Verona, Trento, Rome, Turin, Milan, Izola, Ljubljana, Dobrovo, Salzburg, Graz, Helsinki, Basel, Terezín in the Czech Republic, Venezuela and California. She also took part in more than one hundred group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Her work developed through a range of themes that allowed her to explore her chosen subjects in depth and in detail, generating a significant cultural contribution that went beyond the personal sphere. Music and literature always accompanied her pictorial work.

The pictorial cycle The Lady from the Sea (1984–1985)
This series of mixed-media works by Annamaria Ducaton draws inspiration from Ibsen’s drama The Lady from the Sea, poetically intertwining personal images and universal symbols. Ducaton uses photographs of herself and of her mother, placing them within an abstract visual context characterised by fluid forms and evocative colours. Each work thus becomes a visual and textual reflection on identity, bonds and the need for freedom.

Twenty-eight of the original twenty-nine works survive and are intended to be read in an order established by the artist herself. The tension between belonging and the desire for escape lies at the heart of these works, in which the sea, evoked through undulating forms and shifting colours, represents the inner world and the hidden forces that accompany the journey of self-discovery.

Ducaton overlays symbols and images. This visual layering expresses the complexity of memory, in which past and present merge, while the face of the mother alternates with that of the artist in a dialogue that evokes both the generational bond and the conflict between what is inherited and what one seeks to overcome. Quotations from The Lady from the Sea accompany the images and intensify the sense of introspection and invisible threat.

The outlines of the figures dissolve into a surreal background, where marine forms and imaginary creatures seem to envelop and observe the characters, embodying inner fears and unspoken desires. The presence of the sea, with its call to freedom and danger, becomes a metaphor for the psychic depth in which the protagonists move.

At the heart of these works is also a reflection on female identity and autonomy. Ellida’s words express the desire to break free from constraints and affirm one’s authenticity. Visually, too, the female figures appear isolated, immersed in abstract landscapes that make them both part of and estranged from the environment around them, suggesting the duality of those seeking to discover and affirm themselves beyond imposed roles.

In summary, Ducaton’s series is an intimate and complex exploration of family relationships and identity, rooted in the poetics of Ibsen’s symbolic sea. The fusion of photography and abstraction produces a layered and vibrant image, inviting reflection on how bonds, whether familial or existential, can be both a refuge and a limit to be overcome.

22 May marks the International Day for Biological Diversity, established by the United Nations to draw attention to the value of life in its many forms and to our responsibility to protect it, including in the places we inhabit every day. For UniTS, this means recognising that biodiversity is not a silent backdrop, but a living presence that accompanies study, work and relationships: trees, wild plants, pollinating insects, birds, reptiles, fungi and many other organisms are part of the ecological quality of the university environment.

This is the context for Biodiversity @University of Trieste, the project active on iNaturalist that collects naturalistic observations made across the University’s spaces and surrounding areas. iNaturalist is an international citizen science platform that allows users to upload georeferenced observations of living organisms, support their identification through a broad scientific community, and gradually build an open and shared archive. Observations can also feed into GBIF – Global Biodiversity Information Facility, one of the main international infrastructures for open biodiversity data.

The project is open to the entire community. To take part, users simply need to register for free on iNaturalist, access the Biodiversity @University of Trieste page – available at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/biodiversity-university-of-trieste or searchable in the platform’s Projects section – and select “Join”.

The results collected so far already offer a significant picture. In just a few months of activity, thanks to the contribution of 59 students and academic staff from the University, 421 observations relating to 300 different species have been recorded: plants, insects, birds, reptiles, fungi, arachnids and molluscs. Almost 60% of the observations have already reached “research grade” level, confirming the quality of the data produced and their potential use in scientific, educational and environmental monitoring contexts.

On the occasion of 22 May, the invitation is therefore simple: to pause, look around, observe more carefully what lives alongside us and contribute to the project. Every wild plant along the edge of a path, every pollinating insect, every bird among the trees of the campus, every organism recognised and shared helps make the biodiversity of the University of Trieste more visible and strengthens the idea of an open, sustainable University.