Researchers from the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste, in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome, have discovered that the preference of animal species, both human and non-human, for consonant sounds would be partly physiologically determined. The hypothesis at the origin of the study, conducted on one hundred and thirty hatchling chicks, is that the constituent elements of musical abilities - of humans and animals - have a biological root, shared between species that are also phylogenetically distant, and do not depend solely on culture and musical experience.

‘Previous research by the University of Trieste had already led to the discovery that chicks, like other species, prefer so-called consonant musical intervals. The latter, in fact, are those that most resemble the sound produced by living beings, while the dissonant ones recall the lesser harmony of environmental sounds,’ explains Andrea Ravignani, professor of general psychology at the Department of Human Neuroscience at the Sapienza University of Rome. ‘At the time, we did not know the reasons for this; today, however, we know – thanks to studies conducted together, the University of Trieste and the Sapienza University of Rome - that consonant intervals are produced in acoustic social signals.’

The research was carried out on one hundred and thirty hatchling chicks; once hatched, the chicks – which do not require any parental care, neither to develop their vocal repertoire nor to walk – were reared for four days, in pairs, in rectangular cages at controlled room temperature. 

The following calls were recorded for each chick in soundproof pens: contact calls emitted by the chick when it feels discomfort because, for example, it is separated from the hen, brooding calls emitted in pleasant situations and food calls emitted when the chick identifies a profitable food source. These calls are part of a complex vocal code that chicks develop from hatching to adulthood to communicate their needs to other conspecifics and to express the positive or negative nature of a situation they are experiencing. 

The researchers stimulated the production of each type of call by the chicks by gradually recreating the natural situation associated with each one. Specifically, they recorded: contact calls, leaving the chicks alone in the empty pen after separating them from their rearing mate and the imprinting object; brood calls, placing an imprinting object in the centre of the pen after initial isolation; food calls, placing a dish of food in the centre of the pen after removing the imprinting object.

After analysing the minimum and maximum peaks of the fundamental frequencies and calculating their ratio, the study revealed a prevalence of perfect consonance in all types of calls, confirming the idea that consonant sounds are intrinsically present in animal communication. The only recorded dissonances were found in situations of particular distress, such as isolation contexts.

‘This research could open up promising applications: a chick that emits a sound with a certain frequency is probably indicating a certain type of situation, and we now know that the most harmonious calls are those emitted in the most pleasant situations,’ explains Cinzia Chiandetti, associate professor of psychobiology at the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste. ‘Depending on the dominance of consonances or dissonances, we will be able to understand the emotional status of the animal associated with the context in which it finds itself: we are not so far from being able to imagine devices capable of recording the calls and returning the level of comfort or stress of the animal in front of us, even of chickens that, as the writer Andrew Lawler would say, are the birds that have nurtured civilisation’ concludes the expert.

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Full study published in Biology Letters

Chicks produce consonant, sometimes jazzy, sounds

Gianmarco Maldarelli1,2, Andrea Dissegna1, Andrea Ravignani3,4,5 and Cinzia Chiandetti1

1Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy

2Department of Biopsychology, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-Universitat

Bochum, Bochum, Germany

3Comparative Bioacoustics Group, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

4Center for Music in the Brain, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

5Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

Recent observations using the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed a surprisingly large number of black holes in the early universe. This research, led by Professor Matthew Hayes of Stockholm University and published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, also involved PhD student Vieri Cammelli of the University of Trieste.

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope launched in 1990 by NASA and the ESA, which continues to provide extraordinary images of the cosmos. One of its most iconic observations, and one of the deepest ever collected in the visible light spectrum, was the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), an image of the universe showing galaxies formed not long after the Big Bang.

Twelve years later, the team of researchers again observed this same area of the universe to identify so-called active galactic nuclei, signs of the presence of accreting black holes. Using variations in the brightness of galaxies, numerous black holes housed within them were discovered, many of which formed during the early stages of the universe.

The discovery aligns with results from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a new instrument that continues to push the boundaries of astronomical observations. The JWST, launched in 2021, is capable of observing even more distant objects and providing new information on the birth and growth of black holes.

Vieri Cammelli, a PhD student at the University of Trieste and co-funded by Chalmers University in Gothenburg, played a key role in the analysis of the data: his research, which will form part of his PhD thesis, represents a significant contribution to the understanding of how supermassive black holes formed in the early stages of cosmic evolution.

To learn more about the research results, you can read Glimmers in the Cosmic Dawn: A Census of the Youngest Supermassive Black Holes by Photometric Variability in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

On the occasion of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the University of Trieste, four volumes have been published that tell the story of the University and enhance its artistic collections.

Produced by EUT, the University's university press, these texts offer an in-depth historical and archival rediscovery of the University's rich architectural, artistic and documentary heritage.

The volumes, available in digital format and open access on the OpenstarTs Institutional Archive, are

1924-2024 - Un secolo di storia dell’Università degli Studi di Trieste attraverso immagini e documenti (1924-2024 - A Century of History of the University of Trieste through Images and Documents), by Tullia Catalan and Lorenzo Ielen, traces the history of the University through photographs and historical documents.

Download here

Guida alla Pinacoteca dell'Università degli Studi di Trieste (Guide to the Art Gallery of the University of Trieste), by Massimo De Grassi, offers an overview of the works of art preserved at the University.
Download here

L'Edificio Centrale dell'Università di Trieste. Storia e architettura 1938-1950 (The Main Building of the University of Trieste. History and Architecture 1938-1950), curated by Valentina Fernetti, dedicated to the architectural evolution of the University's main building.

Download here

“Ricorda e Splendi”. Catalogo delle opere d’arte dell’Università degli Studi di Trieste (‘Remember and Shine’. A Catalogue of the University of Trieste's Works of Art), by Massimo De Grassi, a comprehensive catalogue of the works of art held by the University.

Download here

A one hundred square metre stand, as blue as the jerseys of the athletes who have made the history of Italian sport, will be the ‘branch’ of the University of Trieste in the prestigious setting of Piazza Unità d'Italia, on the occasion of the 56th edition of the Barcolana.

From 5th to 13th October, the University of Trieste, as part of the celebrations linked to the 100th Anniversary of its foundation, will once again take part in what has become one of the world's greatest sporting events and will open ‘Casa UniTS’ in the Barcolana Village to meet the world of sport and citizenship through a series of events, talks and presentations that will deal with some of the key themes of the university world in an original and light-hearted way.

In particular, within a daily appointment open to the public, researchers, alumni, students, athletes, journalists and sports managers will discuss scientific and technological innovation, phenomena affecting society, sustainability, social inclusion, culture and the challenges of the future.

Guests will include athletes such as Paralympic gold medallist Matteo Parenzan, Jana Germani, Francesca Genzo, Stefania Buttignon, Ilaria Corazza and Giorgia Marchi, Marcell Jacobs' former coach in Tokyo Paolo Camossi, journalists Paolo Condò, Sergio Tavčar and Giovanni Marzini, Trieste basketball star Daniele Cavaliero and swimming champion Novella Calligaris. The latter, on Saturday 12th October, will talk, in her capacity as president of the Associazione Nazionale Atleti Olimpici e Azzurri d'Italia (National Association of Olympic Athletes and Italian National Team members), about the emotions aroused by the travelling photographic exhibition ‘Tutte le sfumature dell'azzurro’ (All shades of blue), which can be visited in Trieste at the Sala Fittke in those days.

The stand will be inaugurated on Saturday 5th October with the presentation of Aura, the electric racing car of the UniTS Racing Team, the result of a project of technological excellence and innovation in the field of sustainable mobility, on which around sixty students from the University are working to take part in Formula SAE competitions.

Aura will be on display in front of the UniTS stand for the entire opening period of the Barcolana Village and will be accompanied by Bai-Flying Lina, the world's first moth-class boat equipped with terraces composed of a core and linen fibre sandwich, a jewel of technology and sustainability designed by the students of the Audace Sailing Team.

Among the highlights, the 100UniTS Barcolana Dragon Boat Race ‘Rowing for the Future’, organised by Trieste University Sports Centre, is scheduled for Thursday 10th October: two characteristic dragon-headed canoes, made available by Venice University Sports Centre, will be steered by crews of UniTS students.

The non-competitive performance will see the two boats take to the water at the entrance to the Grand Canal to reach the Old Sea Wall. The initiative will see the participation of students from different cultures and countries to promote peace, coexistence and social inclusion through sport.

The activities of the University of Trieste at the Barcolana see the contributions of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and Io Sono Friuli Venezia Giulia and the technical partnership of Illy caffè.

The Art Relations project, inaugurated in June 2024 with the exhibitions of Serse and Manuela Sedmach, is completed with the two exhibition points dedicated to the artists Elisa Vladilo and Antonio Sofianopulo set up in two different UniTS locations in the San Giovanni Campus on Via Weiss 6.

The two exhibitions, curated by Lorenzo Michelli, are the final point of a collaboration agreement signed on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the University of Trieste with ERPAC – Friuli Venezia Giulia Cultural Heritage Agency, which has given rise to a series of exhibition initiatives culminating in Art Relations.

Elisa Vladilo has come into contact with the structure of the San Giovanni Theatre, reinterpreting it in its historical, identity and architectural components to offer a contemporary reinterpretation of a positive nature. The installation Funny Reflections finds its place on the facade of the building, in particular in the glass parts of the windows and doors that are reinterpreted thanks to warm block colours.

‘Imagining that these coloured panes of glass could ideally project the light, obviously of the same colour, onto the asphalt in front, we can create a further imaginary game, where skewed rectangles and ovoid circles are created on the ground that precisely reflect what exists on the facade – explains Vladilo herself – All this is part of the usual path of Public Art, in particular of Ambient Painting, that I have been carrying forward for years, where colour relates to space in a dialogue that enhances and reanimates places.’

Antonio Sofianopulo, on the other hand, exhibits an apparently light painting and sarcastic in which elements of the natural appear in extremely complex counterpoints.

The collection of his paintings ‘RiConoscenza’ is exhibited in the Museum of Mineralogy and Petrography of the University of Trieste, in Building O of the San Giovanni Campus.

 ‘The salient features of the narrative poetics of Sofianopulo's paintings are discretion, gentleness, tact, subtlety, readiness, elegance, diplomacy, irony. Implied Irony is an obvious value, since the combinations on the canvases can not only hide a criticism and generate a smile, but invite us to think of a craftsman/carver who carries out his work with an infinite series of small touches in order to make it full of indecipherable details and not recognizable at first glance,’ we read in The ethics of the image by Roberto Vidali.

The four exhibition points inaugurated between June and October have allowed these spaces to be regenerated thanks to the artists who, through their works, have expanded themes and suggestions linked to the university institution.

More info at https://100anni.units.it/index.php/home/relazioni-darte/ 

Art Relations is an initiative organized on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the University of Trieste in collaboration with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, ERPAC FVG, ARDIS and SMATS – University Museum Services.

Biography Elisa Vladilo

She studied at the Art Institute of Trieste, and at the Academy of Fine Arts, Scenography, in Venice and Milan.

Her work is based on installations and site specifics in public and private spaces, through the use of colour in various modalities.

She has held various exhibitions in Italy and abroad, and has created various permanent and temporary projects in various spaces including public spaces, gardens, schools, streets, squares, and train stations.

She collaborates with various cultural associations and professional studios.

She lived in London for 3 years (1997-2000), where she came into contact with some aspects of Public Art; During that period she also participated in Whitechapel Open in London, and the Billboard Site Project in Belfast.

She won a grant from the Pollock- Krasner Foundation in New York in 1998, and participated in a residency in Berlin as part of a European project (2001).

Echo Surrounding, The Old Port, Trieste (2020), Rhyme of Origin, Cambridge – UK (2014), Melting Street, Pula – Croatia (2013), Melting tower, Villach – Austria (2011), I take the landscape and bring it with me, Nervesa della Battaglia (2010).

Biography Antonio Sofianopulo

Antonio Sofianopulo was born in Trieste in 1955, the city where he lives and works. 
He studied art, but his education mainly took place in the family with his mother Renata, a painter and advertiser, and with his great-uncle Cesare, a symbolist painter and student of von Stuck. He 
began exhibiting in 1977. Among his solo exhibitions, we will remember those held at the ‘M. Merkouri’ in Athens in 1997, in Trieste at the ‘Palazzo Gopcevich’ for the Revoltella museum in 2003, at the Juliet space in Casier, at the Galleria Victor Saavedra in Barcelona in 2006 and at the Franco Toselli gallery in Milan in 2008 and at the Duetart in Varese in 2009, Bocconi University, Milan in 2010, at the Maniero gallery in Rome in 2011, and at the Revoltella Museum in Trieste in 2015, in 2021 at the Duetart in Varese, in 2022 at the Medusa gallery in Koper and in 2023 at the Studio Vigato in Alessandria.

Among the collective exhibitions we will remember in 1993 ‘La montagna Dipinta’ at Castel Tevlana and Raffaelli gallery in Trento, ’Equinozio’ at Rivara Castle in 1994, ‘Va' pensiero…’ at the Promotrice alle Belle Arti in Turin in 1997, ‘Bel tempo’ Ludwig ,museum in Budapest in 1999, ‘Mediterranea’ in Dubrovnik in 2001, ‘Da de Chirico a Leonor Fini’ at the Museo Revoltella in Trieste in 2002, ‘A ruota libera’ in the spaces of the Fiera di Milano in 2004, in 2016 ‘Corrispondenze d'Arte’ at the Revoltella museum in Trieste, in 2017 Sala 1 – Rome, in 2018 ‘Soft Revolution ‘ at the Triennale – Milan/ in 2019 Hotel Aquerello Toselli Museo city Milan.

The main reference galleries in Italy are: Studio Vigato in Alessandria, Toselli in Milan and in Spain the Galeria Saavedra in Barcelona. 
His work appears in Germano Celant's latest book +Spazi. One of his works was featured on the 
Luc Orient music CD ‘La Vie À Grand Vitesse’ from 2012

Among others, the following have written about him: Roberto Vidali, Maria Masau Dan, Valerio Dehò, Vittorio Sgarbi, Alessandra Tiddia, Elena Pontiggia and Franco Toselli, Ivan Quaroni, and Francesca Liotta.

Antonio Sofianopulo was among the founders of the international contemporary art magazine Juliet, and is the curator of the ‘Costantino e Mafalda Pisani’ museum of the Eastern Greek Community of Trieste. His works are found at the Paolo Pini museum in Milan, at the ‘P. Revoltella’ museum in Trieste and in various private collections in Italy and abroad.

Simone Kresevic, a PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering group at the Department of Engineering and Architecture, won two prestigious awards at the EU TalentOn 2024, held in Katowice, Poland. His project ‘Breath for Life’ not only won first place in the ‘Prevention and Treatment of Cancer’ category, but further distinguished itself by winning the final Grand Prize in all categories of the competition.

The project proposes an innovative device for the early diagnosis of cancer using a system based on innovative sensor technology and Artificial Intelligence-based analysis. The project stood out in terms of its scientific creativity, feasibility and practical impact. 

The EU TalentOn is a competition promoted by the European Commission as part of the Horizon Europe programme involving young researchers aged between 21 and 35 from all over Europe. Out of more than 1,200 applications, 108 participants were selected, divided into interdisciplinary teams to develop innovative solutions related to the five European Missions: climate change adaptation, cancer prevention and treatment, ocean and water restoration, zero-emission smart cities and sustainable soil management. 

Biomedical Engineering PhD student Francesco Bassi was also selected from our University.

https://eutalenton2024.eu/

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/news/all-research-and-innovation-news/discover-winners-eu-contest-young-scientists-and-eu-talenton-2024-09-13_en

Photo - Simone Kresevic with his two teammates during project preparation

‘Friuli-Venezia Giulia is often referred to as ‘the Australia of Italy’ due to the high rate of melanomas linked to environmental factors,’ began Professor Iris Zalaudek, a regular lecturer and director of the Dermatology Clinic at the University of Trieste, during the presentation of the ‘Watch out for the sun! Good practices for staying healthy while outdoors’.

The initiative, promoted by Fondosviluppo FVG and conducted in collaboration with the Immaginario Scientifico Science Musem, with the patronage of the University of Trieste and the University of Udine, is aimed at more than 10,000 students in the second year classes of secondary schools in the region, and aims to raise awareness among young people on the importance of preventing skin diseases.

Through a series of interactive workshops, the youngsters will learn how to protect themselves from UV radiation and gain awareness of the risks associated with sun exposure. Specifically, the educational approach is divided into four modules that, starting with cells, will allow students to explore the human body, with a special focus on the skin. Among the proposed activities, one of the practical experiments will offer a visual demonstration of the impact of UV rays, highlighting the importance of using sun cream for proper protection.

Unlike other preventive programmes, ‘Watch out for the sun!’ is not based on bans or strict rules, but aims to stimulate applied knowledge, promoting a conscious change in the daily habits of young people who will be able to adopt healthier and more responsible behaviour.

Thanks to this project, the University of Trieste renews its commitment to spreading a culture of prevention, educating the new generations to take care of their health from a young age.

For those interested in learning more about this topic, please visit the following links:

Subjects at risk: Melanoma in breve

The Sun's risks: AIRC - I rischi del sole

The presentation of the project ‘Beyond White with Chromotherapy’, made possible thanks to the collaboration between the ASUGI (healthcare services of the Trieste and Gorizia provinces), the University of Trieste and the Work Integration Service (SIIL) of the Municipality of Trieste, was held in the spaces of the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Odontostomatology of the Maggiore Hospital of Trieste.

At the end of the ‘Digital Illustration Techniques’ regional training course, four young people with autism spectrum disorders, selected for their creative talent, had the opportunity to participate in social inclusion internships, financed by the Municipality of Trieste, which took place between February 2023 and January 2024.

During this period, the four young people worked decorating the interior spaces of the Department with a series of paintings entitled ‘The Adventures of Peter Canine’, inspired by J. M. Barrie's famous character, Peter Pan, and reinterpreted in a comic strip story dealing with the theme of prevention and laughter being the best medicine.

The University of Trieste supported the initiative by producing and publishing a volume collecting all the panels created by the children. The publication, entitled ‘Le avventure di Peter Canin’ (The Adventures of Peter Canine), represents an important contribution to the promotion of social inclusion and the talent of the young people involved and is available free of charge on Le avventure di Peter Canin (in Italian)

The project not only spruced up the interior spaces of the department, but had a profound impact on the lives of the young participants, contributing to their personal and professional growth. The wall decorations and the book that was produced are now an asset appreciated by patients, healthcare staff and the community, offering a strong message on the importance of inclusion and creativity.

Tiziano Agostini, Professor of General Psychology at the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste, received the prestigious Wolfgang Metzger Prize during the opening ceremony of the 23rd Scientific Conference of the Society for Gestalt Theory and its Applications (GTA), held at the University of Milan-Bicocca. The award was presented to him for the book ‘Showing Time: Continuous Pictorial Narrative and the Adam and Eve Story - In Memory of Alberto Argenton’, of which he is co-author.

The prize, named after the German psychologist Wolfgang Metzger, is awarded to those who have significantly contributed to the research and application of Gestalt Theory. Gestalt is an interdisciplinary approach that sees the human being as an open system in constant interaction with its environment. It focuses on how we perceive the whole of an experience or phenomenon, rather than its individual parts, emphasising the importance of global perceptual structures. In a nutshell, what we perceive is not a sum of elements, but simply a synthesis of reality.

For Professor Agostini, this award represents not only a personal accolade, but also an important achievement for the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste. This is the second time that the Metzger Prize has been awarded to a lecturer at the University of Trieste: the first to receive it was Gaetano Kanizsa, founder of the Experimental Psychology Laboratory in Trieste, together with Riccardo Luccio in 1987.

With the awarding of Tiziano Agostini, the University of Trieste reaffirms its leading role on the international academic scene, continuing its tradition of excellence in research on the psychology of perception and experience..

Trieste NEXT 2024 has officially begun. Over the weekend of 27th - 29th September, the festival of scientific research will bring thousands of science enthusiasts from all over Italy and abroad to Trieste.

The 20th edition was inaugurated in Piazza Unità d'Italia by Roberto Di Lenarda, Rector of the University of Trieste and President of the event's Scientific Committee, Nicola Casagli, President of the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), Maurizio De Blasio, Councillor for Education and Family Policies of the Municipality of Trieste, Antonio Maconi, Director of Trieste Next: Festival of Scientific Research, Caterina Petrillo, President of Area Science Park,

Pierpaolo Roberti, Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Councillor for Local Authorities, Public Function, Security and Immigration and Andrea Romanino, Director of SISSA.

This year's festival is yet again made possible thanks to the invaluable work of the 150 UniTS volunteers who will ensure that visitors enjoy the scheduled events in the best possible way.

Here is the extensive programme offered by the University of Trieste:

Venerdì 27 settembre 

Sabato 28 settembre

Domenica 29 settembre

Queste invece le 10 nuovissime attività interattive che UniTS propone nel suo stand in Piazza Unità:

Stand UniTS Piazza Unità