On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the University of Trieste renews its commitment to promoting equal opportunities, supporting women’s careers, including in STEM fields, and continuously monitoring gender dynamics as a key tool for shaping inclusive and informed university policies.

Further insight is provided by the data presented in the AlmaLaurea Gender Report 2026. The survey confirms the high participation and strong academic performance of UniTS female students, while also highlighting structural differences in the transition to the labour market, particularly in terms of pay.

More women among 2024 graduates

In 2024, the University awarded degrees to 3,226 students (1,842 bachelor’s degrees, 979 master’s degrees and 405 single-cycle master’s degrees). Women account for 58.7% of the total, with a particularly strong presence in single-cycle master’s programmes (65.7%).

Women graduates show strong academic performance overall: 62.1% complete their studies on time (compared with 56.2% of men), and 69% have undertaken a curricular internship — nearly 15 percentage points higher than their male peers.

The report also shows that choosing the same field of study as a parent is less common among women, suggesting greater independence in the choice of field. 

Employment Five Years After Graduation: High Rates, Pay Gap Remains

The survey of master’s graduates from 2019, interviewed five years after graduation, shows high employment rates: 92.5% for women and 93.6% for men.

However, differences remain in job characteristics and earnings. Women report an average net monthly salary of €1,904, compared with €2,097 for men. Women are also more likely to work in the public sector (44.7% compared with 38.1%), while men are more likely to hold permanent contracts or be self-employed.

STEM Fields: Female Participation Growing, Disparities Persist 

In STEM programmes, traditionally characterised by lower female participation, women account for 38.7% of 2024 graduates.

Five years after graduation, the employment rate stands at 90.8% for women and 93% for men. A pay gap is also observed in this area: women report an average net monthly salary of €2,118 compared with €2,207 for men. Permanent contracts are more common among men, while women are more likely to hold fixed-term contracts.

Stefano Parolai, Director of the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Geosciences at University of Trieste, has been appointed by the Seismological Society of America (SSA) as the new Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (BSSA), one of the most authoritative international journals in seismology.

Parolai will begin his term in summer 2026, succeeding geophysicist P. Martin Mai. Founded in 1911, BSSA publishes approximately 175 scientific articles each year on earthquakes, seismic risk, and Earth sciences.

“BSSA is perhaps the most historically significant journal in the field of seismology,” Parolai commented. “I am honored to take on this role and to help ensure that it remains a reference point for the international scientific community.”

Parolai’s research focuses on seismic hazard and risk, the development of methodologies for assessing site effects, and seismic signal analysis, with particular attention to early warning systems.

Among the goals of his new mandate are strengthening the quality of the peer-review process, expanding the journal’s author base, and engaging the next generation of researchers within the international seismology community.

As part of DEH ALMA (Advanced Learning Multimedia Alliance for Inclusive Academic Innovation), funded under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) through the Digital Education Hubs initiative, the University of Trieste has launched a new video production laboratory dedicated to digital teaching and developed its first four MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which will become part of the national ALMA catalogue. 

MOOCs are free and flexible online courses designed to broaden access to higher education and complement traditional teaching through innovative digital tools. They fit within the framework of micro-credentials, short academic certifications that recognise specific skills gained through targeted courses.

UniTS MOOCs are available on the Federica Web Learning platform of the University of Naples Federico II, which is responsible for the operational management and coordination of the ALMA network. The catalogue can be accessed via the project website .

“With the launch of the new Laboratory and the first four MOOCs, our university strengthens its commitment to high-quality digital teaching capable of integrating technological innovation, inclusion and international outlook, contributing to the transformation of the Italian higher education system within the framework of the PNRR’s strategic investments,” emphasises Rector Donata Vianelli.

The University of Trieste’s first four MOOCs

The courses developed by the University cover different disciplinary areas, adopting an interdisciplinary approach and addressing a non-specialist audience.

Data Science and Statistics
Led by Luca Bortolussi, Adriano Peron, Alejandro Rodriguez Garcia, Alessandro Fabris and Teresa Scantamburlo, the course provides an introductory interdisciplinary overview of digital data. It addresses key issues related to the nature, collection, organisation, analysis and visualisation of data, with particular attention to ethics, personal data protection and current regulations (GDPR). The aim is to provide conceptual and practical tools to understand and use data correctly, consciously and responsibly.

Philosophy
The course delivered by Professor Giovanni Grandi introduces different interpretations of “doing justice”, examining commutative justice, distributive justice, retributive justice and the paradigm of restorative justice. Conflict resolution practices related to restorative justice are explored, with particular reference to the criminal justice context.

Physics
Created by Professor Pierre Thibault, the course provides a comprehensive overview of X-ray computed tomography (CT). It covers the historical development of the technique and its main applications in medicine, research and industry, introducing the fundamental principles governing X-ray interaction with matter, including attenuation and beam hardening. The course describes different CT system configurations (medical CT, micro-CT and synchrotron-based systems) and presents the mathematical foundations of image formation through the Radon transform. The course explains both analytical reconstruction methods, such as filtered back projection, and iterative approaches. It concludes by presenting techniques for interpreting and visualising volumetric data.

Health and Medicine, Anthropology, Translation
The course delivered by Federico Berton, Roberta Altin, Giuseppe Grimaldi and Caterina Falbo addresses contemporary migration, with particular attention to healthcare management in contexts characterised by linguistic, cultural and religious diversity. The programme highlights the importance of adequate training for healthcare professionals, enabling them to interact appropriately with interpreters and patients while promoting effective and culturally aware communication.

The DEH ALMA lab: Technology and Broadcast-Level Quality

The new studio is a multifunctional space designed to be rapidly reconfigured according to production needs: a MOOC recording set, video-podcast studio, photo studio setup and platform for live webinars.

The facility is equipped with 4K PTZ cameras, multicamera control systems, professional lighting and broadcast-level audio systems. Thanks to a dedicated 10 Gbps network and an advanced storage system, the laboratory streamlines the workflow from recording to post-production.

Preparations are already underway for Trieste Next – the Festival of Scientific Research, whose 15th edition is set to take place from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th September 2026.

The 2026 edition of the Festival – promoted again this year by the Municipality of Trieste, the University of Trieste, Gruppo NEM Nord Est Multimedia, ilNordest, Il Piccolo, co-promoted by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia with Area Science Park, OGS-National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, SISSA-International School for Advanced Studies, will be entitled “The shape of thought. Interactions between brains and intelligences”.

“Since its first edition, Trieste Next has addressed some of the most pressing themes in scientific and cultural debate”, the organisers state. “The 15th edition, titled ‘The Shape of Thought’, invites reflection on what it means to think in today’s world, where brains, intelligences and systems interact in increasingly complex ways. The festival explores intelligence in its many forms – natural, artificial, emotional, social and collective – and examines how digital technologies and artificial intelligence are transforming cognitive processes and learning environments. The programme explores systems of thought as interconnected networks of bodies, machines, languages, cultures and institutions, as well as the responsibilities that arise when designing the future of intelligence, with contributions from guests working across STEM, the humanities and the social sciences.”

Following the success of the 2025 edition, the organisers reaffirm their aim to continue fostering dialogue on science and innovation in Trieste, further expanding the programme through meetings, talks and debates that will bring the city to life over the three-day festival and will, as always, also be available via live streaming. As in the past two editions, Trieste Next will retain its international outlook, complementing the extensive Italian-language programme with events held in English and collaborations with leading international scientific partners. “Once again this year, we look forward to welcoming researchers from across Europe, who will join the hundreds of PhD and undergraduate students travelling from all over Italy to Trieste each year to take part in the Festival,” the organisers add.

The “Trieste Next Award – Science Book of the Year”, dedicated to leading figures in science communication, will also be presented for the fourth consecutive year. Last year’s prize was awarded to Martina Ardizzi for "L’algoritmo bipede. L’avvincente storia di come mente, corpo e tecnologia evolvono insieme" (Egea).

From 25th to 27th September, the programme will feature three days of conferences, seminars and workshops, with more than 100 events and 300 speakers, as well as exhibition spaces in Piazza Unità d’Italia and activities for schools. 

TRIESTE NEXT

On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Transform4Europe alliance, of which UniTS is a member, has issued the following statement:

Four years ago, Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, gravely and deliberately violating international law. Among the countless acts of aggression and suffering caused, one case that stands out is the forced displacement of Mariupol State University (MSU), one of the main partners of the Transform4Europe alliance. Our friends and colleagues at MSU continue to demonstrate, at great personal sacrifice and under constant threat, remarkable resilience, strength and courage in upholding European values and our shared vision for Europe's transformation.

“Standing with MSU means standing with the principles that define Europe itself,” stresses Dominik Brodowski, Acting Secretary General of the Transform4Europe alliance and Ambassador of Mariupol State University. “Transform4Europe remains firmly committed to supporting our partners at Mariupol State University.”

A delegation from Panama was welcomed at UniTS by Prof. Erik Vesselli, Rector's Delegate for Technology Transfer and Research Partners. The delegation represents the Panamanian scientific system and has come to visit the Trieste System institutions. It consisted of Prof. José Fábrega, President of the Panamanian Association for the Advancement of Science (Asociacion panamena para el avance de la ciencia - APANAC), Director at theTechnological University of Panama and professor of Hydraulic and Hydrotechnical Engineering, Environment and Environmental Technology, Prof. Mairim Solís from the The Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies (GMI), professor of Cell Biology, Biotechnology, Stem Cells Applied to Regenerative Medicine and Health, Prof. Miguel Ángel Esbrí from the University of Panama, professor of Civil and International Law, and Prof. Luisa Morales, also from the University of Panama, professor of Mathematics.

The aim of the meeting was to define an operational plan to strengthen academic and scientific cooperation between the University of Trieste and the University of Panama, with which a six-year agreement was signed in 2024 for the organisation of academic and educational activities, specialised training courses and research programmes of mutual interest.

One of the key points discussed during the visit concerned doctoral courses. The University of Trieste is willing to offer Panamanian students access to its PhD programmes through the funding of scholarships on specific shared topics, in relation to the spectrum of scientific expertise available at the university.

The visit confirms UniTS's international vocation and strengthens its position as a scientific and educational hub capable of attracting and developing strategic collaborations at a global level.

After two and a half years, the Horizon Europe Green-GEAR project, focused on reducing the environmental impact of air traffic, has come to an end. Among the project partners was the Università di Trieste, represented by the research group of Prof. Lorenzo Castelli from the Department of Engineering and Architecture (DIA).

Currently, every flight crossing European airspace is subject to charges proportional to the distance flown and the aircraft’s weight, with rates varying depending on the country overflown. Flying through the airspace of Switzerland or the Netherlands, for example, entails significantly higher costs than crossing Ireland or Croatia.

These differences may lead airlines to choose longer routes to avoid more expensive airspaces: a strategy that results in higher fuel consumption and, consequently, additional and unnecessary carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

With the aim of correcting these distortions and reducing the sector’s environmental impact, the contribution of the Trieste team focused on defining new charging models consistent with current European regulations, capable of mitigating disparities among States and encouraging more direct trajectories. The theoretical models were formulated using mathematical programming tools and validated on real traffic data provided by EUROCONTROL, a project partner.

Large-scale tests produced tangible results: a reduction of up to 1.46% in flown distance and up to 1.44% in CO₂ emissions. Considering that more than 10 million flights operate in Europe each year, even apparently small percentages translate into millions of tonnes of CO₂ avoided. Recent estimates indicate that flights departing from European airports alone generate between 130 and 140 million tonnes of CO₂ annually.

“Working on charging mechanisms that may appear purely technical actually means intervening structurally in the system,” Prof. Castelli emphasized. “By reducing economic disparities among national airspaces, it is possible to encourage more direct routes and achieve significant environmental benefits without compromising operational efficiency.”

The professor also acknowledged the key contributions of post-doctoral researcher Andrea Gasparin and PhD candidate Fulvio Vascotto, who worked on the project alongside him.

Green-GEAR represents the tenth European project developed by the UniTS research group over the past twenty years, always in collaboration with major continental stakeholders in the sector, and focused on the mathematical optimization of air traffic management.

The new Director of the Department of Engineering and Architecture, Giorgio Sulligoi, highlighted the strategic importance of this research, which is closely aligned with the European Commission’s objectives to reduce the climate impact of industrial activities, including air transport: “This is a crucial field of research for the ecological transition of the aeronautical sector. We are particularly pleased with the strong positioning of our group within the European landscape, further confirmed by the recent funding of a new Horizon Europe project that will extend the analysis beyond CO₂ alone, considering additional effects such as contrails and nitrogen oxide emissions.”

Most recently, the approval of FairSky has been announced. The project will broaden the analysis to the overall climate impacts of air traffic and will further strengthen UniTS’s role in European research on optimization and sustainability in air traffic management.

Linda Favero is the winner of the second edition of the Fermeglia Award, which recognises the best UniTS master's theses on energy, environment and transport.

The € 1,000 prize was presented by Prof. Sabrina Pricl on behalf of the family of Maurizio Fermeglia, former Rector of the University of Trieste, who died prematurely in 2024. 

Second place went to Alessia Oliva and third place to Erica Zotti.

The winning thesis, Water content of vegetation and fire risk in the Karst: experimental assessment and monitoring using hyperspectral remote sensors, addresses one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time in light of climate change. 

The study focuses on the Karst area, a particularly vulnerable region as demonstrated by the devastating fires of 2022. 

Linda Favero's thesis contributed to deepening our understanding of the response to fire of the 13 most representative plant species of the Karst, offering new perspectives and ideas for possible improvements to water monitoring systems through remote sensing.

The identification of species that are more resistant to combustion (Quercus pubescens, Prunus mahaleb and Ailanthus altissima) may be useful for the targeted construction of firebreaks, especially in high-risk areas such as along roads, railways and urban-forest interfaces. Hyperspectral remote sensing systems, on the other hand, would provide tools for continuous monitoring of the water status of vegetation on a large scale, allowing early identification of water stress conditions that increase the risk of fire ignition and facilitating timely intervention.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the Office for the Protection of Culture and Memory of Defence, the University of Trieste and the University of Bari ‘Aldo Moro’ concerning the analysis of the remains of the fallen crew of the submarine Scirè, currently buried at the Military Shrine of the Fallen at Sea of Bari, was signed in Rome in the evocative historical library of Palazzo Marina. 

Present at the event were the Head of the Office for Protecting the Culture and Memory of Defence; Lieutenant General Andrea RISPOLI, the Rector of the University of Trieste, Professor Donata VIANELLI, accompanied by Prof. Paolo FATTORINI; and the Rector of the University ‘Aldo Moro’ of Bari, Prof. Roberto BELLOTTI, accompanied by professors Valeria SANTORO and Francesco INTRONA.

The Memorandum of Understanding regulates the analysis of the remains of the fallen of the Scirè submarine, with a view to identifying them. To this end, the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Bari will carry out anthropometric examinations, while the Institute of Legal Medicine of the University of Trieste will conduct DNA analysis. 

The two universities will receive 14 of the 42 ossuary boxes containing the remains of the fallen in order to perform a feasibility study to determine whether definitive identification is possible.

The Office for the Protection of Culture and Memory of Defence is responsible for the census, collection, provisional arrangement and subsequent definitive arrangement of the remains, as well as for the maintenance and custody of military burials, both in Italy and abroad, where the mortal remains of the Italian servicemen are laid to rest. 

This multidisciplinary study aims to provide a fundamental scientific contribution to give the fallen of the Scirè submarine a name.  The Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the parties involved, marks a new phase in the recovery and enhancement of the historical and human heritage linked to the Second World War and is part of the broader project to preserve and protect the memory of Italian soldiers who died in the war.

The Scirè submarine was not only a unit of the Royal Navy but became ‘legend’. Built at the shipyards of Muggiano (near La Spezia), it was launched on 6th January 1938. It entered service on 25th April of the following year and received the combat flag on 19th June of the same year. It became the protagonist of bold actions culminating with the raid on the port of Alexandria in Egypt on 18th December 1941, and with the damage of the British battleships Queen Elizabeth and Valiant.  On 6th August 1942, the Scirè met its tragic fate. It sailed from Leros to the port of Haifa. The British, however, managed to decrypt the messages encoded with the Enigma system and, at 10:30 on 10th August, attacked the Italian submarine with depth charges from the corvette Islay. Severely damaged, the Scirè emerged but was hit again and sank, taking all 60 crew members with him. On 14th August, on the beach of Haifa, the bodies of two raiders were found: Captain Egil CHERSI and PO Eugenio DAL BEN. They were buried by the British, with the honour of arms, in the cemetery of Haifa. They were repatriated in 1965. The other crew members were trapped at a depth of 35 metres. On 31st August 1942 the Scirè was declared lost in action. On 28th April 1943 it was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valour. With the support of the Navy vessel Nave Anteo 42 bodies were recovered. On 15th October 1984, it returned to Italy, in the port of Bari. The crew now rests at the Military Shrine of the Fallen at Sea of Bari in a common shrine that welcomed men who lived, sailed, fought and died together. The lack of identifying features made identification impossible, and were all therefore classified as ‘unknown’. Unfortunately, 16 sailors still rest at the bottom of the sea. The submarine was sealed in 2002. On 10th October 2024, the Scirè became a military shrine, a silent guardian of valour, brotherhood and glory. 

More than 200 high school students from Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto are taking part this year in the International Masterclasses in Particle and Astroparticle Physics, an international initiative that brings students into direct contact with cutting-edge scientific research. In the region, the Masterclasses are organised by the Trieste Section and the Udine Associated Group of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) in collaboration with UniTS, UniUD and the International Center for Theoretical Physics.

Specifically, the INFN Trieste Section is organising the following Masterclasses:

https://www.ts.infn.it/pub/eventi-e-divulgazione/scuole/masterclass 

• Masterclass CMS experiment, 19th February and 4th March 2026
• Fermi Masterclass, 18th March 2026

The Masterclasses will be held simultaneously at other Italian and international venues, and the students enrolled will have the opportunity to experience what it is like to work as researchers: Together with experts, they will analyse real data from large experiments in particle physics and astroparticles, discovering how research is carried out in large laboratories. 

In Friuli Venezia Giulia, the activities will take place in the classrooms of the Universities of Trieste and Udine and the International Center for Theoretical Physics. The programme includes introductory seminars and practical computer sessions. The data analysed come from experiments conducted at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerator at CERN in Geneva, such as ATLAS and CMS, and the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi satellite, which studies high-energy gamma rays. 

As is customary in international scientific collaborations, at the end of each day, the students participating in the Masterclasses in Italy and abroad will connect via videoconference with CERN in Geneva and with researchers from the international Fermi-LAT collaboration. 

Created in 2005, the International Masterclasses are organised worldwide by IPPOG (International Particle Physics Outreach Group) and, in Italy, by INFN. The initiative involves around 60 countries each year, bringing together some of the world’s most prestigious research institutions and universities and more than 13,000 secondary school students. This year, INFN venues include Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Cosenza, Ferrara, Florence, Genoa, Lecce, Milan, Milan-Bicocca, Naples, Padua, Parma, Pavia, Perugia, Pisa, Rome I, Rome II, Rome III, Salerno, Trento, Trieste, Turin, Udine, the Frascati National Laboratories (INFN – LNF), the Gran Sasso National Laboratories (INFN – LNGS).