International Women's Day celebrates the progress made by women in the economic, political and cultural spheres all over the world. To mark 8 March, UniTS sheds light on women in the world of mechanics, a traditionally ‘masculine’ sector.

 An in-depth analysis of the presence of women in the engineering sector in FVG was presented at the ‘Women Entrepreneurs and Managers in the World of Mechanics’ event (part of the ‘Women and Work’ series), organised by UniTS Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics (DEAMS) and Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Managers (AIDDA) in collaboration with MIB Trieste School of Management.

The data collected by Rubina Romanello, lecturer in Economics and Business Management at DEAMS, and Lucia Parussini, lecturer in Fluid Machines at the Department of Engineering and Architecture (DIA), showed that the number of women employed in the metal sector in the FVG region between 2020 and 2022 has increased by 70%. However, it emerged that the majority of these women (60%) held administrative or operational roles. Furthermore, only 10% of metalworking companies in FVG are women-owned. The predominance of all-male boards was also discussed at national level. Only 17.6% of companies have a board where 50% or more of its members are women.

In the field of education, it was noted that, despite a growth in the enrolment of women in bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering, the overall percentage still remains low – just over 20%. Consequently, there is also a significant under-representation of women among university teaching staff.

The iNE(S)T-working meeting has recently been held in Vicenza at the local campus of the university of Verona. The event was attended by 300 researchers involved in iNEST (Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem) and was funded 110 million euro by the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP)., 

iNEST promotes innovation in North-East Italy in multiple ways through research groups coordinated by the 9 universities of the three north-eastern regions. These groups relate to: mountain environments, health and lifestyle, sustainable manufacturing, architecture for sustainable cities, sustainable living and working environments, tourism, culture and the creative industries, agrifood, marine and river environments and digital models.

The University of Trieste is coordinating the innovation activities addressed to maritime, marine and inland water systems, which will eventually lead to the development of a digital twin for the sustainable management of the Northern Adriatic Sea, with contributions from various disciplines (biology, geology, physics, chemistry, ship design, spatial planning, IT, administration management) and great expertise from the Italian National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, the technology park ‘Polo Tecnologico Alto Adriatico’ and the Universities of Padova, Trento, IUAV and Ca' Foscari of Venice. 

In 2023 iNEST strengthened its activities, recruiting more than 250 young researchers and creating a truly collaborative network among people, institutions and companies in this area. The quality of the research carried out, the high value of the teams and collaborations that have been set up, and the involvement of over 300 companies in the presentation of innovative projects for the region are all testimony to the strength of the North-East Innovation Ecosystem. 

According to Prof. Bonollo, Professor at the University of Padua and President of the iNEST Consortium, the meeting in Vicenza is a very important opportunity to take stock of iNEST's activities, through thematic comparisons and insights into the future scenarios that open up for the Consortium. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate that the universities in this region are able to form a close-knit, motivated and never-before-seen 'orchestra'.

M'illumino di Meno, the switch off campaign organised by Rai Radio2 through its popular show Caterpillar, has since last year become the Italian National Day of Saving Energy and Sustainable Lifestyles, celebrated every 16th February.

The name of the campaign, which literally means ‘I fill myself with less light’, evokes in the Italian reader a famous line from the poem Mattina (morning) by Giuseppe Ungaretti: M’illumino d’immenso (immensity fills me with light). In 2024, this campaign celebrates its 20th edition. This year’s theme is ‘No borders’, an invitation is to switch off borders by seeking international alliances!

UniTS joins in the campaign by involving the partner universities of Transform4Europe, the university alliance that brings together Saarland University (Germany), the University of Alicante (Spain), Estonian Academy of Arts, University of Silesia - Katowice (Poland), Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria), Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), Catholic University of Portugal, University of Primorska (Slovenia) and Jean Monnet University (France).

To raise awareness of saving energy, the University main building will dim the lights illuminating its façade from the evening of 16th February and throughout the weekend.

FameLab, the science communication talent show, is returning to Trieste. The local selection for the international contest will take place next Friday 5th April from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Luttazzi Hall (Magazzino 26, Porto vecchio). As always, the challenge will be to describe a research topic in a clear and engaging way in just 3 minutes to an audience of non-experts, without the aid of projections, graphics or videos. Applications must be filled in online by Thursday 28th March 2024.

Contestants from both STEM or medical fields and the humanities (Anthropology, Archaeology, Economics, Philosophy, Geography, Law, Linguistics, Literature, Psychology, Political Science, Sociology, History and Art History) are eligible.

The local selection is organised by Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico, the University of Trieste, the University of Udine, the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) and the Municipality of Trieste, as part of the ‘Trieste City of Knowledge’ Memorandum of Understanding. 

The people ranked first and second in the local selection will receive a cash prize, take part in an international masterclass to be held in Perugia in June, and then in the national final scheduled for September and October. The winner of FameLab Italia 2024 will gain access to the FameLab International final, scheduled in November, where they will face other competitors from all over the world.

A free training session has been planned for all the Trieste competitors to better prepare for the challenge. The meeting, organised by FameLab Italia, will take place remotely on the Zoom platform on 21st March 2024, (4pm-8pm). All eligible researchers interested in joining FameLab can participate, even if they haven’t registered yet. For more info on registration, please write to info@immaginarioscientifico.it

The University main building will be illuminated in blue and orange on World Cancer Day, celebrated on 4th February.

The event aims to raise awareness of the disease and to educate people on its prevention. The theme chosen for the 2024 edition is 'Close the Care Gap - Everyone deserves access to cancer care'.

Half of the world's population lacks access to essential health services and, when it comes to cancer, many are denied basic treatment. Internationally, people seeking cancer care face several barriers: insufficient income or education, geographic location and discrimination based on ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability and lifestyle. The most disadvantaged groups are also more likely to be exposed to a range of other risk factors, such as smoking, an unhealthy diet or environmental triggers.  

This is an equality gap, which costs lives.

2023 Italian data.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon and the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR) estimate that in 2023 there were 395,000 new diagnoses.: 208,000 in men and 187,000 in women. In the last 3 years, there has been a further increase of more than 18,400 cases. These figures illustrate a growing trend and raise questions for which there are presently no comprehensive answers. In 2023, the most frequent cancers were breast cancer (55,900), rectal cancer (50,500), lung cancer (44,000), prostate cancer (41,100) and bladder cancer (29,700). 

Healthy lifestyles are an important defence against the disease. 40% of cases could be avoided by eliminating or reducing risk factors such as smoking, obesity, alcohol and physical inactivity. A cross-sectional approach is therefore needed, by implementing prevention through healthy lifestyle, early diagnosis and participation in screening programmes.

The feasibility study for 5G-SITACOR - the CAM-based 5G corridor between Italy and Slovenia - has officially launched.

The project is part of the EU programme CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) and, more specifically, the CEF-DIG-2022-5GCORRIDORS programme, which funds growth, employment and competitiveness through investments in infrastructure located in key areas among EU countries. CEF is coordinated by HADEA, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency.

The study will last 6 months (until July 2024) and will include the analysis of existing arterial roads and telecommunications infrastructure, as well as assessments of the investments needed to achieve CAM 5G coverage in the corridor between Italy and Slovenia. 

The ultimate goal of the study is to define the parameters necessary for the subsequent implementation of an infrastructure dedicated to the development of smart digital services for territories and communities, to be applied to businesses, schools, hospitals, cities, and highways.

The border area between Italy and Slovenia is one of the 5G corridors identified - by the EU - for enhanced coverage and connectivity, being the crossroads of several routes (national, regional and local), serving both rail and port infrastructure and being, at the same time, an area with many obstacles such as mountains and road tunnels. 

The 5G-SITACOR project was entrusted by the EU to a pool of diverse and complementary entities: the Friuli Venezia-Giulia Region (project coordinator); the Port of Koper; ANAS and DARS (Italian and Slovenian highway operators); Retelit and Telekom Slovenia (telecommunications operators); the University of Trieste; and the University of Ljubljana.

The cost of the study is €600K, with the EU funding over €300K through grants.

The Molecular Biology Laboratory in the local health authority’s (ASUGI) Anatomical Pathology Department has obtained EMQN 2023 Certification. The European Molecular Genetics Quality Network (EMQN) awarded this important European certification in recognition of the laboratory’s activities in the analysis of prognostic-predictive markers in the field of oncology.

The accreditation is crucial for authorising the purchase of very expensive drugs for patients.

In the past, ASUGI could only evaluate a small number of markers for a few types of tumours. The accreditation increases the number of markers and tumours the lab can analyse, guaranteeing more treatment possibilities.

This year, the Anatomical Pathology Laboratory has seen a significant increase in activity, and by the beginning of February 2024, the new state-of-the-art instrumentation that also allows for second-line oncological examinations should be up and running.

‘What has been achieved in terms of clinical oncology diagnostic services, provided for patients, has been made possible thanks to collaboration between hospital and university staff from the various laboratories within the Anatomical Pathology Department, allowing for an optimisation of the material used in analyses. The molecular laboratory staff have also played an essential role, contributing to the execution and interpretation of tests and working harmoniously with the support of clinical professionals across the various sectors involved. In addition, in this field, the Anatomical Pathology Department has been able to count on a sizeable contribution from LILT (an Italian foundation funding research into tumours) to equip itself with state-of-the-art equipment and research funding in order to develop the field of tumour biomarkers in liquid biopsy,' says Prof. Fabrizio Zanconati, professor of Anatomical Pathology at UniTS and Director of the Pathological Anatomy and Histology Unit.

On Saturday, 27 January, 20,000 AIRC volunteers will distribute in the squares little red oranges grown in Italy, honey and orange marmalade. The contributions collected will be used to fund cancer research.

The 2024 arancedellasalute.it campaign invites people to take concrete action to prevent cancer, with their lifestyle, and to make it more curable by supporting research. A mobilisation in which tens of thousands of students and supporters are also participating.

Numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle in reducing the risk of cancer. Up to 40 per cent of new cancer cases are potentially preventable or more curable when action is taken on modifiable risk factors through individual behaviour: not smoking, physical activity, choosing a healthy, balanced diet, and adhering to recommended screening for early diagnosis.

Data on the population living in Italy have shown that about one third of adults have risk factors for developing cancer. About 33% of people are overweight and 10% obese, 31% are sedentary and 24% smoke. The most worrying numbers concern school children: about 39% are overweight and, of these, 17% are obese. These numbers are among the highest in Europe, mainly due to insufficient physical activity and a diet that has moved away from the principles of the Mediterranean diet.

UniTS participates in AIRCAMPUS

Since last year, UniTS has also been part of AIRCampus, the project dedicated to university students to introduce them to the reality of AIRC and spread awareness of the 'cancer' problem.

In the 2023/24 academic year, the university is organising 8 lectures on topics related to the Foundation's activities and, at the same time, of interest to students on various study courses.

The UniTS degree courses involved in AIRCampus are: Medicine and Surgery; Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics; Economics and Business Management; Physics; Functional Genomics; Primary Education Sciences; Scientific Computing and the Master's Degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Materials Engineering.

AIRC supports researchers under 40

Once again this year, AIRC is making more than 19 million euros available for talented oncology researchers under the age of 40, activating specific calls for proposals to accompany them at different stages of their careers.

M2TEST, a spin-off of the University of Trieste, is once again present this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's most important trade fair dedicated to electronics and technological innovation, currently taking place in Las Vegas (USA).

The CES, held every year in January, attracts the attention of thousands of journalists, analysts and industry experts, is attended by innovation companies and investors, and receives global media coverage. The show is considered the event from which the technology trends that will characterise the new year, from AI to health, from mobility to smart cities, emerge.

M2TEST, born from the research activity of Francesca Cosmi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UniTS, and from the patents developed jointly with the Julian University, operates in the Digital Health sector with innovative tools for diagnosing the risk of fragility fractures, which afflict people with osteoporosis (particularly menopausal women), sportsmen and women due to stress or, for example, cancer patients, as a consequence of the therapies they undergo.

Over the past few years, the Trieste-based start-up has patented and initiated the use of the BES TEST (Bone Elastic Structure Test), an examination that is completely different from bone densitometry, which is based on the simulation of the application of forces on what can be considered a virtual biopsy of the patient's bone architecture, obtained from X-ray images.
At this edition of CES, M2TEST is presenting the OTTO (Optimal Test Technology for Osteoporosis) prototype, a new remotely controlled medical device for performing the BES TEST. OTTO, jointly patented in 2023 by the company and the University of Trieste, is being developed at the University of Trieste also thanks to a PhD scholarship co-funded by M2TEST.

It is, therefore, a frontier technology developed at UniTS, which has from the outset made itself available in its work to support business creation, refine the business model and promote start-ups in companies in the sector, and still continues to collaborate with a view to open innovation and technology transfer.

The Digital Health sector is booming, particularly in the US, and we are therefore experiencing great interest," explained Francesca Cosmi, who spoke on the 'Innovation Talk: Diversity and Inclusion' panel. "Our 'booth' is set up in the Italian pavilion, a very well organised and stimulating environment where we are together with the 49 other Italian start-ups and innovative companies selected to participate in the CES.

Visitors to M2TEST's booth also include the Consul General of Italy in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini.