The Final Report of the Research Quality Assessment 2020–2024 (VQR4) by ANVUR — the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes — ranks the University of Trieste first among Italian universities in the following scientific disciplinary sectors:

- Architectural and urban design
- General and inorganic chemistry
- Medical genetics
- Physics applied to life sciences, the environment and cultural heritage
- Social psychology

UniTS also ranks second in the following sectors:

- Physical chemistry
- Stratigraphic and sedimentological geology
- Pathological anatomy
- Cardiovascular diseases

“The result of the latest ANVUR assessment reflects a University whose overall evaluation of publications is above the national average, one that promotes deserving researchers and, above all, acts as a hub for research with a strong impact on society,” comments Paolo Fornasiero, Vice-Rector for Research. “The latest data presented may also be underestimated, as disciplines involving only a small number of researchers, or those that did not submit at least 10 scientific works, are not included in the report for privacy reasons.”

The Final Report confirms the data released by ANVUR on 16 April: not only is the average evaluation of the 1,789 publications submitted for assessment higher than the national average, but in terms of knowledge valorisation — namely the impact of research on the local area and society — the University ranks sixth.

VQR4 assesses the results of scientific production, knowledge valorisation activities, the ability to attract competitive international projects and, for the first time on an experimental basis and limited to research bodies and voluntary institutions, research infrastructures.

The University of Trieste, the Department of Medical Sciences, and the School of Specialization in Forensic Medicine express their deep sorrow at the passing of Dr. Fulvio Costantinides, former Researcher in Forensic Medicine.

A graduate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Trieste, Dr. Costantinides was among the first members of the Trieste School to obtain a Specialization Diploma in Forensic Medicine (1981). From the very beginning of his career, he dedicated himself to crime scene investigations and post-mortem examinations, including external inspections and autopsies. He carried out these activities on behalf of the Judicial Authorities with great commitment and enthusiasm throughout his professional life.

A knowledgeable and empathetic educator, he was a forensic pathologist distinguished by a rigorous methodological approach and exceptional analytical, synthetic, and intuitive abilities. His colleagues remember him as a highly skilled and meticulous forensic physician when dealing with expert assessments and medico-legal cases. In this field, discussion and debate were always welcomed, conducted openly and honestly, while maintaining the strictest adherence to procedural rules.

Always present, approachable, and willing to contribute, he taught Forensic Pathology to at least two generations of forensic medicine specialists, leaving a lasting impact on his students and colleagues alike.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has awarded Federico Rosei the 2026 Centenary Prize for Chemistry and Communication. The award recognizes his contributions to the design, synthesis, and characterization of nanomaterials for renewable energy applications, as well as his excellence in science communication.

The prize is part of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Research & Innovation Prizes, established to celebrate outstanding individuals who advance the chemical sciences in both academia and industry. Previous recipients include more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates.

“This is a great honor, especially when looking at the list of past award winners,” commented Professor Rosei.

The University of Trieste is also among the recipients of the 2026 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Horizon Prize, together with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China).

The award recognizes the development of innovative photocatalytic approaches for producing solar hydrogen from sustainable biomass, a promising technology for the energy transition and decarbonization.

For the University of Trieste, the team includes Professors Tiziano Montini and Paolo Fornasiero, Vice-Rector for Research. The international group also includes Professors Nenchao Luo and Feng Wang of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, partners in a well-established scientific collaboration spanning more than ten years.

Cooperation between the two groups has been supported over time through a bilateral program funded by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), highlighting the strategic value of scientific relations between Italy and China.

“This prestigious recognition confirms that only through strong, long-term international collaborations can we address and solve the major global challenges of our time, from sustainable energy to environmental protection,” the researchers involved emphasized.

Commenting on the awards conferred upon the University of Trieste researchers, Helen Pain, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society of Chemistry, stated:

“Chemistry and chemists are present everywhere in our daily lives and throughout society, and our awards are designed to celebrate this impact. The winners of the Research & Innovation Prizes include groups and individuals, professors and researchers, as well as people from around the world working across a wide range of roles and sectors. Each contribution plays a vital role in advancing human knowledge and improving the world in which we live. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the faculty members of the University of Trieste. Winning an RSC award is an exceptional achievement: they now join a distinguished list of award recipients that began more than 150 years ago and includes dozens of individuals who later went on to receive the Nobel Prize.”

The Royal Society of Chemistry is an international organization that connects chemical scientists with one another, with scientists from other disciplines, and with society as a whole. Founded in 1841 and headquartered in London, it has more than 60,000 members worldwide.

PHOTO: Federico Rosei, Paolo Fornasiero, and Tiziano Montini.

An international study has revealed a new piece of Mars’ geological puzzle. The research, led by Brock University (St. Catharines, ON, Canada), in collaboration with the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, ON, Canada) and with the contribution of the University of Trieste, has identified for the first time the presence of garnet in a Martian meteorite, opening up new perspectives on the complexity of the processes that shaped the Red Planet.

The study, published in the international peer-reviewed journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters of the European Association of Geochemistry, involved Ana Černok, a researcher at the University of Trieste.

Garnet is a very common mineral on Earth, often associated with metamorphic rocks and with processes occurring under conditions of high temperature, high pressure or in the presence of hot fluids. Until now, however, it had never been recognised in samples from Mars or directly on the Martian surface. Its identification therefore expands the known mineralogical diversity of the planet and suggests the possibility that Mars may have undergone more complex geological processes than previously documented.

The sample analysed is a fragment of the Martian meteorite NWA 8171, preserved in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum. During the mineralogical and chemical analyses, the research team identified an unexpected composition, initially attributed to a more common mineral such as pyroxene. Further investigations, carried out using specialised instruments, made it possible to recognise the presence of garnet.

The discovery could point to the existence of a previously unknown type of Martian rock, formed through metamorphic or metasomatic processes, or through new forms of magmatic differentiation. The authors of the study, however, remain cautious: further investigations will be required, particularly into the isotopic signatures of the sample, to establish whether the garnet actually formed on Mars or whether it has an “extra-Martian” origin, linked to a celestial body that was later incorporated into the planet’s surface.

Ana Černok’s contribution focused on the mineralogical and geochemical interpretation of the sample, drawing on her expertise in the study of meteorites and planetary materials. The scientific collaboration originated within the doctoral research of the first author, Tanya Kizovski, then based at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and now a faculty member at Brock University. Černok contributed to this work as a member of the supervisory team and as a scientific mentor.

“If chemical elements are the letters of the alphabet, then minerals are the words through which planets tell their story,” explains Ana Černok. “Discovering a new mineral on another world is like finding a lost word from an ancient language. Garnet tells us that Mars experienced more complex geological processes than we previously thought, adding a new piece to the story of its evolution.”

The work is the result of an international collaboration involving institutions from Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy, including Brock University, the Royal Ontario Museum, the University of Toronto, the University of Portsmouth, The Open University and the University of Trieste.

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The study Expanding Mars’ lithologic diversity: discovery of a garnet-bearing clast in NWA 8171 was published in Geochemical Perspectives Letters.

Publication link: https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2619

A study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences has unexpectedly found that rhythmic passive movements, such as rocking or carrying-like motions, can change the emotional state of domestic chicks, inducing both calming and pleasurable responses. The study, conducted by Cinzia Chiandetti, Andrea Dissegna and Paolo Gallina from the University of Trieste, and Lorenzo Scalera from the University of Udine, investigates the effects of rhythmic motion in animals outside the mammalian class.

In mammals, slow rhythmic passive motion has long been recognized as an important component of parental care: it can reduce crying, lower heart rate and promote sleep. In humans, anecdotal observations also suggest that faster rhythmic movements in babies and young children, such as playful tossing in the air, swinging or rides such as roller coasters, can elicit pleasure and excitement.

To test whether these effects also occur outside mammals, and to understand when motion shifts from a primarily calming function to a potentially pleasurable one, the research team observed domestic chicks while they were being rocked. The use of chicks to study this phenomenon is unprecedented: these animals are able to walk immediately after hatching and, unlike mammalian infants, are not carried by their mother.

During the experiment, individual chicks were placed inside an opaque box attached to a precision robotic arm, programmed to reproduce rocking and carrying-like motions while varying their frequency — slow or fast — and direction — horizontal or vertical. The animals’ emotional state was monitored non-invasively by recording their vocalizations.

The results show that slow rocking and slow carrying-like movements reduce so-called “contact calls”, vocalizations associated with discomfort, isolation or separation. This finding mirrors the calming effects of maternal carrying already documented in mammals.

A particularly significant result, however, concerns the possibility that specific forms of rhythmic movement can also induce a positive response. When the chicks were exposed to fast horizontal rocking or fast carrying-like movements, they emitted a significantly higher number of affiliative vocalizations — so-called brood calls — which are usually produced in safe and socially positive contexts and are considered indicators of a pleasurable state.

Taken together, the findings suggest that the calming effects of carrying and rocking observed in mammals may stem from a widespread sensitivity to rhythm and motion in animals.

As the study’s authors note: “Our findings expand the functional scope of rhythmic stimulation, positioning it as a regulator of affect with both calming and pleasurable dimensions across vertebrate lineages.”

Because chicks do not experience maternal carrying in their natural history, their sensitivity to rhythmic movement appears to reflect a deeply conserved mechanism across vertebrates, rather than a response to specific parental care strategies.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is a multidisciplinary journal with more than two centuries of history, publishing high-impact research articles, reviews and perspective pieces dedicated to significant advances across all areas of scientific knowledge.

The journal is truly multidisciplinary in scope and welcomes contributions from researchers worldwide in the life sciences, physical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, environmental sciences, and the intersections among these fields.

www.nyas.org

Research at the University of Trieste is entering the heart of the international debate on the new geographies of global security. Federico Donelli, Professor of International Relations at the Department of Political and Social Sciences – DiSPeS, has been appointed Research Fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington for the 2026–2027 year.

The prestigious U.S. center, established by the United States Congress in 1968 as the national memorial to President Woodrow Wilson, is today one of the leading places of exchange between research, geopolitical analysis and public policy. Its mission is to provide institutional decision-makers and the public with independent, nonpartisan insights on major issues in international relations, fostering dialogue between academia, institutions and policy-making.

The new class of Research Fellows, officially presented in Washington on June 9, brings together scholars, experts, journalists and public intellectuals selected through an international competitive process. The fellows will work on research projects designed to connect scientific production with the main challenges of contemporary foreign policy.

In this context, Donelli will develop the project “Great and Middle Power Competition in the Red Sea: Hybrid Security Orders and U.S. Strategic Interests”, dedicated to competition between great and middle powers in the Red Sea region and its implications for political, economic and security balances.

The Red Sea is currently one of the most sensitive passages in the global scenario: an essential maritime corridor between the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Indo-Pacific, where strategic, commercial and military interests are increasingly intertwined. The research will analyze the role of actors such as the United States, China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, examining how their presence interacts with fragmented local contexts and hybrid forms of security governance.

At the center of the project there will therefore be not only competition between powers, but also the ways in which local actors adapt to, respond to and at times exploit external involvement, helping to redefine regional orders. The research will be based on qualitative analysis, interviews, fieldwork and the study of available documentation.

The results will lead to an academic study and a Wilson Center monograph also addressed to policymakers, with the aim of offering evidence-based interpretations and recommendations.

The appointment represents an important international recognition of Donelli’s scientific work, particularly in the study of transformations in global balances. His research focuses on international politics and security in the Middle East and Africa, with particular attention to the strategies of regional and extra-regional actors.

Donelli is the author of articles published in international journals including International Affairs, Third World Quarterly, Small Wars & Insurgencies and The International Spectator. His publications also include the volumes Turkey in Africa: Turkey’s Strategic Involvement in Sub-Saharan Africa and Power Competition in the Red Sea: Testing the Post-Liberal International Order.

From 13 to 16 June, Trieste will celebrate the literary genius of James Joyce with the 17th edition of #BloomsdayTrieste, this year focusing on the second chapter of Ulysses, Nestor, and on the great dilemmas of identity and history.

The University of Trieste, through the Department of Humanities, remains one of the key pillars of the event, curating not only its solid scientific framework but also its creative dimension, thanks to the contributions of professors Laura Pelaschiar and Paolo Quazzolo.

Through exegetical insights in historic cafés, guided tours and an evocative theatrical adaptation that will bring University professors, graduates and PhD students onto the stage of the Rossetti Theatre, UniTS turns one of the great works of twentieth-century literature into a living heritage shared with the whole community.

Events promoted by the University of Trieste in the PROGRAMME of this edition:

• SATURDAY 13 JUNE

11:00 | Antico Caffè San Marco
Via Cesare Battisti 18
Nestor in Half an Hour

The now traditional and much-anticipated flash-format event dedicated to individual chapters of Ulysses focuses this year on Nestor. The meeting is designed to reveal the structure, symbols and meanings of the second chapter of Joyce’s masterpiece in an agile and accessible format. This exegetical journey will be led by Laura Pelaschiar, professor at the University of Trieste and curator of the Joyce Museum, in the historic setting of Caffè San Marco.

20:00 | Teatro Politeama Rossetti
Largo Giorgio Gaber 1
Circe & Nestor – Theatrical adaptation

A central event in the evening programme, the performance offers an ambitious dramaturgical reworking that brings together the chapters Circe and Nestor. The text adaptation and direction are jointly by Laura Pelaschiar and Paolo Quazzolo, professors at the University of Trieste. The production stands out for its strong academic synergy: in addition to its scientific and directorial guidance, the staging brings to the Rossetti stage a group of PhD students and graduates from the University of Trieste — Elisa Mariuz, Valeria Piraino, Federica Rufolo and Tommaso Piccolo — turning literary research into stage action.

• SUNDAY 14 JUNE

11:00 | Spazio Forum – Museo LETS
Piazza Hortis 4
Joyce Museum Tour

A themed guided tour inside the rooms of the Joyce Museum to explore the dense network of relationships, influences and real-life traces that connected the Irish writer to the city of Trieste. The itinerary through documents and archive materials will be led by Laura Pelaschiar, University of Trieste, who will illustrate the decisive impact of Joyce’s Trieste years on the genesis of Ulysses.

12:00 | Spazio Forum – Museo LETS
Piazza Hortis 4
JJ Walking Tour

Immediately after the museum visit, a walking itinerary will begin through the symbolic places of James Joyce’s Trieste. The city landmarks, buildings and streets frequented by the author will become the setting for an itinerant narrative. The cultural walk will be led by Laura Pelaschiar, with the contribution and participation of Professor Paolo Quazzolo, University of Trieste, offering the public a rigorous yet accessible field-based analysis.

20:00 | Teatro Politeama Rossetti
Largo Giorgio Gaber 1
Circe & Nestor – Theatrical adaptation | Repeat performance

To close the days dedicated to the Joycean celebrations, the evening repeat performance of the theatrical adaptation will be staged. It will offer the public a further opportunity to attend the performance born from the scientific and artistic collaboration of professors, researchers and students of the University of Trieste.

The University of Trieste mourns the passing of Antonio Bava, former Full Professor of Physiology.

A graduate of the University of Catania, Professor Bava devoted his scientific career to the study of the neurophysiological mechanisms of language, its functional foundations, and the principal brain regions involved in its processing. His research also contributed significantly to the understanding of cerebellar functions and their relationships with other structures of the central nervous system, as well as to the fields of clinical neurophysiology and neuropathology.

A scholar of recognized distinction, he organized the first National Congress of the Italian Society of Primatology, of which he also served as President for several years. At the University of Trieste, he carried out an extensive teaching activity in health sciences and psychology degree programs, passing on his passion for Physiology to generations of students.

His colleagues remember him for his broad intellectual interests, scientific rigor, and intellectual generosity; his students for his infectious enthusiasm and his extraordinary ability to teach and communicate knowledge.

Five years after graduation, Master’s degree graduates from the University of Trieste rank among the top performers regionally and nationally in terms of employment, salary levels and international mobility during their studies. These results reflect the University’s policies aimed at enhancing second-cycle degree programmes, which have led to an excellent 47% of students coming from other Italian regions and almost 7% from abroad.

This is what emerges from the 27th AlmaLaurea Report, which analysed the performance of students who graduated in 2025.

In detail, five years after graduation, the employment rate of Master’s degree graduates reaches 97.3%, exceeding both the regional figure of 96.5% and the national figure of 94.4%. Their average monthly salary amounts to €2,023, compared with €1,977 in Friuli Venezia Giulia and €1,903 in Italy.

These figures show clear growth compared with 2025, when employment for this category of graduates stood at 93%.

UniTS Master’s degree programmes continue to prove highly attractive: 47% of students come from other Italian regions, compared with a national average of less than 30%, while 6.7% come from other countries, marking an increase of almost one percentage point compared with last year.

The share of Master’s degree graduates who took part in a study experience abroad recognised by their degree programme is also increasing, rising from 13% in 2025 to 16.1% today.

Bachelor’s degree graduates also show excellent results. One year after graduation, 87% of Bachelor’s graduates who do not continue their studies are employed, up from 84.8% last year, compared with 81.2% nationally and 85.4% in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Their average net monthly salary is €1,543, higher than the national average of €1,491.

The high quality of the academic experience in Trieste is also confirmed by students’ overall assessments: 89% say they are generally satisfied with their university experience, with very positive evaluations also of their relationship with teaching staff (87%), the study workload (83%), and teaching activities and facilities (86.5%).

The 27th AlmaLaurea Report analysed the performance of more than 335,000 graduates from 2025 across 81 Italian universities, including 3,326 graduates from the University of Trieste: 1,917 Bachelor’s graduates, 1,026 two-year Master’s graduates and 383 single-cycle Master’s graduates.

Through its Career Service, UniTS carries out placement and career guidance activities for students, graduates and PhD candidates, with the aim of reducing as much as possible the time needed to enter the labour market: https://amm.units.it/placement

All information on the UniTS educational offer is available at: https://units.it/immatricolazioni26

The first edition of the Raman Spectroscopy Summer School: Principles and Applications (RAMSS 2026) has successfully concluded. The event was hosted in the Chapel Hall of the former Military Hospital in Trieste, home to the University of Trieste’s Luciano Fonda Honors College.

All 20 available places were filled by PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, and professionals from across Italy, confirming the strong interest of the scientific community in this analytical technique.

Raman spectroscopy is an analytical method that allows scientists to determine the composition of a material and understand how its molecules are organized without damaging or altering the sample. The technique works by illuminating the selected sample with a laser beam. Most of the light is reflected unchanged, but a small fraction interacts with the material’s molecules and undergoes slight energy shifts. By analyzing these variations, researchers obtain a sort of molecular “fingerprint” that enables them to identify the chemical composition of the sample.

The Summer School combined lectures, hands-on sessions using real instrumentation, and a workshop dedicated to spectroscopic data analysis. The teaching staff brought together eight specialists. Representing the University of Trieste were Alois Bonifacio, Stefano Fornasaro, Vanni Lughi, and Valter Sergo. They were joined by Ivano Alessandri (University of Brescia), Stefano Legnaioli (CNR-ICCOM, Pisa), Barbara Rossi (Elettra – Sincrotrone Trieste), and Giorgia Sciutto (University of Bologna). Their expertise covered a wide range of fields, including biomedicine, materials science, catalysis, and cultural heritage conservation.

The school received the patronage of the Italian Chemical Society (SCI) through its Divisions of Analytical Chemistry and Chemistry for Technologies, which provided four scholarships covering the registration fees for four outstanding participants.

The event was organized by the local committee of the University of Trieste, composed of Alois Bonifacio, Gianpiero Adami (co-directors of the school), and Stefano Fornasaro.