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.

Davide Rossi, docente del Dipartimento di Scienze Giuridiche, del Linguaggio, dell’Interpretazione e della Traduzione (IUSLIT) dell’Università di Trieste, ha accompagnato il Presidente della Repubblica Sergio Mattarella in visita privata alla MEDIF – Mostra degli Esuli Fiumani, Dalmati e Istriani, allestita al Vittoriano, a Roma, nella Sala del Grottone. La visita si è svolta il 10 febbraio, in concomitanza con il Giorno del Ricordo, e ha visto il Capo dello Stato dedicare un’attenzione non formale al percorso espositivo, soffermandosi anche oltre i tempi protocollari per approfondire contenuti, fonti e scelte narrative.

Rossi coordina il Comitato tecnico-scientifico che ha curato l’allestimento della mostra dopo la scomparsa del prof. Giuseppe Parlato. In questa veste, ha accompagnato il Presidente lungo un itinerario costruito per raccontare le vicende degli esuli fiumani, dalmati e istriani e, più in generale, la complessa vicenda del confine adriatico nel secondo dopoguerra. Il progetto si fonda su un lavoro di selezione e organizzazione di documenti, fotografie, oggetti e testimonianze dirette, frutto di un comitato multidisciplinare, e nasce da un’iniziativa della Federazione delle Associazioni degli Esuli Istriani, Fiumani e Dalmati con il sostegno dei Ministeri competenti e del Museo Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia (VIVE).

La MEDIF è pensata come luogo vivo, aperto e accogliente, rivolto in particolare a giovani e studenti, e invita a dialogare con il passato per costruire una coscienza storica condivisa dentro un orizzonte europeo. Anche l’allestimento concorre a questo obiettivo attraverso un impianto narrativo dinamico, giocato su variazioni di geometrie e prospettive, guidato da due elementi simbolici — un involucro scuro e materico, che richiama la densità della storia, e un nastro in acciaio corten, continuo e sospeso, come viaggio nel tempo. Ricco il percorso multimediale, con installazioni interattive che raccolgono eventi, testimonianze, nomi e volti; di forte impatto emotivo, l’installazione simbolica dedicata alla memoria degli infoibati e di Norma Cossetto. 

La presenza del Presidente Mattarella al Vittoriano si lega a un filo già intrecciato con l’Università di Trieste. Due anni fa, infatti, l’Ateneo giuliano ha conferito al Capo dello Stato - insieme all’ex Presidente della Repubblica di Slovenia Borut Pahor - la laurea honoris causa in Giurisprudenza, riconoscendo il valore di una sensibilità istituzionale volta a "perseguire una politica di riconciliazione, retta sulla creazione e sul consolidamento di spazi e di simboli dedicati alla memoria collettiva, quale fondamento di autentica pace tra i popoli", come recita la motivazione del conferimento. In quell'occasione, tra l'altro, proprio Rossi ebbe l'onore di leggere la laudatio. La visita alla MEDIF, nel Giorno del Ricordo, diventa così anche un segno concreto di continuità: la memoria non come gesto rituale, ma come esercizio civile di riflessione sul presente e di impegno al dialogo.

Federico Donelli and Federico Battera, faculty members at the Department of Political and Social Sciences (DiSPeS) of the University of Trieste, have recently returned from Mogadishu, where they took part as speakers in the course “Training and Capacity Building for Peace and Security in Somalia”. 

Structured around seven thematic modules, the programme involved 40 young Somalis aged 18 to 24—political science students and members of civil-society organisations—selected for their commitment to dialogue, development and peacebuilding processes. The project was funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and promoted by ANOLF Regional FVG APS in partnership with Associazione SAGAL APS, with the collaboration of the local partner Rawdah Youth Organization. 

Hosted at the Rawdah Youth Centre, led by Ahmed Faghi Elmi, Donelli and Battera guided participants through a capacity-building pathway focusing on security, conflict dynamics and electoral processes, combining an international relations perspective with an in-depth reading of the regional context of the Horn of Africa. Designed as an interactive programme, the sessions alternated theoretical framing and analytical tools to interpret transformations in the international order with open discussions and dialogue, supporting the development of critical and analytical skills relevant to the Somali context. 

What made the initiative particularly meaningful was the quality of the exchange with the young participants: questions, reflections and debate turned the training into a process capable of offering depth and nuance that no external reading or desk analysis can fully provide. During the week, Federico Donelli also joined a live connection with BBC News Africa to discuss emerging regional dynamics in the Horn of Africa. 

The course is part of a broader framework of cooperation and academic dialogue involving Italian and Somali stakeholders, including the Somali National University, relevant Somali ministries, the Embassy of Italy in Mogadishu and the Embassy of Somalia in Rome, as well as the National Association Oltre Le Frontiere ETS – ANOLF and the International Observatory on Legality in Trieste. 

A second week of activities is planned in the coming months to ensure continuity and further strengthen dialogue between academic expertise, local perspectives and the engagement of younger generations in peace, security and governance processes in Somalia. 

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 fifteenth edition of the science communication talent show will take place at the Teatro Miela on April 23rd

FameLab, the international science communication talent show for young researchers, as well as university students, is back in Trieste. The local selection will be held on April 23rd at 6:00 PM at the Teatro Miela. As always, the challenge will be to explain a scientific topic clearly and engagingly in just three minutes, even to a non-expert audience, without the aid of projections, graphics, or videos. Registration is due by Thursday, April 16th via the form online 

Researchers or research fellows, people working in the research and development sector with a master's or single-cycle degree, and students in a doctoral school, specialization school, or postgraduate master's degree will be admitted, provided they were born after January 1, 1991. Applicants may come from both STEM fields and medicine or study humanities (anthropology, archaeology, economics, philosophy, geography, law, linguistics, literature, psychology, political science, sociology, history, and art history).

Among other requirements, candidates must never have qualified for the national final or masterclass in previous editions of FameLab, in Italy or abroad, and must not be engaged in professional activities in the field of communication or science communication (except marginally).

The top two in the local selection process will receive a cash prize, attend an international masterclass on science communication to be held in Perugia in June, and then progress to the national final scheduled for this fall. The winner of FameLab Italia 2026 will advance to the FameLab International final, scheduled for November, where they will compete against other competitors from around the world.

All competitors in the Trieste selection process will receive a free training session to better approach the challenge and hone the theatrical component of their performances. This short, free training session has proven crucial for FameLab competitors in the past: those who have attended have often won regional and sometimes even national selections.

The training session will take place at Polo Giovani Toti (Via del Castello, 1, Trieste) on Monday, April 13, 2026 (5:30–8:30 PM).

Donato Ramani, a science communicator at SISSA, will explain how to construct an effective narrative structure, while actress Daniela Gattorno will highlight various aspects related to stage presence and voice.

The local selection is organized by Immaginario Scientifico, the University of Trieste, the University of Udine, SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies, and the Municipality of Trieste, within the framework of the Trieste City of Knowledge Memorandum of Understanding.

Information: info@immaginarioscientifico.it 

A study published in Microplastics has highlighted the presence of microplastics in deep karst caves connected to the Timavo river system, one of the main underground water systems in the Alpine-Dynaric area. The research shows that even extreme and uninhabited environments are not isolated from anthropogenic pollution.

The analyses confirm that the presence of microplastics in the Timavo system was consistent with what is already known for surface-connected river environments: the study’s contribution lies in clarifying how these particles are distributed in underground water systems, revealing marked spatial variability even over short distances.

The study was carried out by the University of Trieste, in collaboration with the Adriatic Society of Speleology, the Municipality of Trieste and the Bioscience Research Center (BsRC), a centre specialised in microplastics. 

Sampling was carried out in rarely accessible environments, including Maucci Cave, which can only be reached via cave diving, and Luftloch cave, discovered only recently after decades of exploration. 

The study was carried out by Raffaele Bruschi, a researcher at the University of Trieste and responsible for sampling and analysis, together with professors Manuela Piccardo, Monia Renzi and Stanislao Bevilacqua from the Department of Life Sciences at UniTS and Lucia Gardossi from the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. For the BsRC, Tecla Bentivoglio and Serena Anselmi were involved.

The research is dedicated to Patrice Cabanel, 32, (Fédération Française d’Études et de Sports Sous-Marins), an experienced cave diver who carried out the sampling at Maucci Cave.  Cabanel sadly disappeared a month after the sampling.

A second methodological study, published in Environmental Pollution https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2025.127208 and developed in collaboration with Manuela Piccardo, addresses the strategies necessary to properly study highly heterogeneous underground environments. 

 

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). 

From 20th February to 3rd April 2026, the series of free events aimed at bringing psychology to a wider audience, returns with six in-depth sessions held across the region, in Palmanova, Trieste, Tavagnacco, Gradisca d'Isonzo, Gorizia and Cormons.

The sixth edition, dedicated to ‘Border Psychologies’, will explore selected contemporary areas of research and application in psychology through the contributions of experts from the academic world, , drawing on the work of six authors active in border regions: Alberto Argenton, Gaetano Kanizsa, Giovanni Bruno Vicario, Paolo Bozzi, Anton Trstenjak and Edoardo Weiss.

The events will address creativity, perception, art, music, the unconscious and relationships, reflecting on how psychology can explore and interpret the frontiers of the human mind and behaviour.

PROGRAM 

Follow thePsychology Festival on social media:

FB: www.facebook.com/festivaldellapsicologiafvg

IG https://www.instagram.com/festivaldellapsicologia/

The ‘100 best companies in the Isonzo area’ will be presented at the Conference Centre of the UniTS Gorizia Campus. The event curated by Post Imprese and Nord Est Multimedia rewards leading companies in the manufacturing, logistics and commercial sectors in the area, focusing on growth and competitiveness. 

The event will analyse the challenges faced by companies in uncertain markets and strategies for continued growth. 

At 17:55 Guido Bortoluzzi, UniTS Vice-Rector for Industrial and Community Relations, will participate in the round table entitled ‘Continuing to grow’.

Free registration to  100 best companies in the Isonzo area