Trieste, November 6, 2024 – A new generation of plastic microsatellites, modular like interlocking structures, integrating electrical connections between the various operational boards inside, thus making them lighter, more spacious, and more efficient: this is the goal of the RISE (Resilient Integrated Structural Elements) project from the University of Trieste and the company PICOSATS.

Since (NET) 6th of November, the International Space Station has hosted a very special prototype designed by UniTS researchers and the university's spin-off company, PICOSATS.

It is a cube made of plastic material with conductive tracks (circuits) running through it, which connect the operational boards mounted on the sides of the object. The electrical component, essential for the satellite’s operation, is thus integrated into the structure, making it much more robust, cheaper, and easier to produce compared to the older generation.

The microsatellite structure, made of 3D-printed plastic and hollow inside, finally allows for the modular management of its geometry, as if assembling modular building blocks... but extremely high-tech!

‘During the four months in which we will test our idea, we will find out if the device can function in microgravity and withstand the stresses from the launch of SpaceX's CRS-31 mission aboard the Falcon 9 rocket,’ explains Stefano Seriani, professor of Robotics at UniTS and scientific coordinator of RISE. ‘If so, we will have laid the groundwork for a real revolution in the microsatellite market.’

These space objects lend themselves to extremely versatile applications, ranging from Earth observation to telecommunications, to astrophysics and planetary exploration.

The RISE project took its first steps in 2018 when the founding team won the challenge sponsored by ICE Cubes within the ‘Space Exploration Masters’ competition organised by the European Space Agency (ESA), placing second in the ESA & Commercial Partners challenge.

The project thus secured a ‘ticket’ to the International Space Station provided by Space Applications Services, a Belgian aerospace company..

Now, in the year of the University of Trieste’s 100th anniversary, it has become a reality, thanks also to the contribution of ASI, the Italian Space Agency, which financed its development.

‘We wanted to bring this important anniversary into space,’ concludes Seriani. ‘Inside the cube, we included the UniTS 100th anniversary logo which, together with the PICOSATS logo, will float in microgravity, sending very special greetings to our ground command centre.’

The University of Trieste joins the project Promemoria_Auschwitz for 2025, promoted by the association Deina APS.

The project offers 48 university students enrolled at the University a training course and a coach trip to the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, with the aim of stimulating reflection on the construction of memories and the history of the 20th century from a European perspective. Students from the Universities of Bergamo, Milan Statale, Milan Bicocca, Turin, the Milan Polytechnic, and the Normale University of Pisa are also taking part in the project and the trip.

The project is divided into two distinct phases: the first part is historical training, curated in collaboration with the University of Trieste, which involves attending a series of seminars entitled Building Memory (17th December 2024, 9th and 20th January, 3rd and 17th February 2025); the second part consists of the trip, curated by the Deina association, which will take place from 26th February to 3rd March 2025.

Interested students will be selected based on a letter of motivation (max 2000 characters) that will be assessed by a committee composed of members of Deina APS and UniTS.

To apply, you must fill in the APPLICATION FORM (which includes the letter) by 1st December 2024.

The participation fee is 175 euros to be paid according to the terms that will be communicated at the time of registration. The fee is non-refundable.

Information: https://www.deina.it/promemoria-auschwitz

Contact: info@deina.it

A new start-up from the University of Trieste was presented on 25th October at the University of Verona on the first Demo Day of the iNEST Consortium (Ecosystem of Innovation of the Interconnected Northeast), together with other recently established entrepreneurial projects: namely Nemo.AI. ‘Nemo.AI uses artificial intelligence to make fishing practices more efficient and sustainable’ says Silvio Baratto, Master's graduate in Data Science & Scientific Computing and co-founder of the start-up.

Developed thanks to an iNEST initiative for the generation and development of start-ups and spin-offs from research centres, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for EUR 4 million, Nemo.AI has had the opportunity to meet with an audience of investors and industry experts in order to receive support in view of its market launch.

Nemo.AI in depth: AI for fishing

To contribute to innovation in the fishing industry, Nemo.AI aims to develop software based on artificial intelligence through predictive analysis and intelligent sensing. ‘The software will predict the abundance, location and market value of fish species,’ Baratto explains. In this way, the start-up will help improve operational efficiency, regulatory adherence and the health of marine ecosystems.

Collaboration with local fishermen is crucial to the project, as the cofounder says: ‘The integration of broad and varied data - biological, climatic, economic - from local fishermen, combined with the use of state-of-the-art AI techniques, will help reduce overfishing and unwanted catches, promoting a balance between human activities and marine health.’

iNEST's Acceleration Programme promotes new start-ups 

Nemo.AI was selected from over 100 ideas collected from leading universities and research institutes in the Triveneto area. The projects have been developed since last April thanks to the iNEST Acceleration Programme, a structured path aimed at transforming entrepreneurial ideas into sustainable business realities. Having completed this programme, the start-up now enters the fundraising phase, with the aim of launching its innovative service on the market.

Francesco Dattilo, a PhD student in Environment and Life at the University of Trieste and the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics (OGS), won the title of Italian champion at FameLab Italia 2024, held in Genoa on 27th October as part of the Festival of Science.

Dattilo was awarded for ‘having clearly and charismatically presented a very recent scientific result, at the same time highlighting the path of discovery by showing how science proceeds and how one can arrive at a discovery even through a failure and a wrong hypothesis’. During his presentation, the young physicist outlined in three minutes the research that recently led to an explanation of the flow and abundance of oxygen in the ocean floor. A challenge that lasted thirteen years, a journey studded with trial and error and concluded with the announcement of the discovery of how certain rocks on the ocean floor cause processes of electrolysis and the consequent abundant presence of oxygen.

‘I am really happy that the message I wanted to convey was appreciated. Beyond the result, it was a wonderful experience, I met a lot of scientists with stories to tell,’ said Dattilo, who will represent Italy in the FameLab international online final on 29th November. Together with him, Federica Moretti, a PhD student in nanotechnology at the University of Trieste, also made it onto the national podium, once again demonstrating the value of the city's research.

In 2024 FameLab Italia, coordinated by Cheltenham Festivals and Psiquadro Perugia, reached the milestone of its thirteenth edition, after having visited 25 cities throughout Italy over the years and involved over 1,000 young researchers. The event was made possible thanks to a collaboration with more than 100 cultural partners including, for the selection of Trieste, the Immaginario Scientifico Science Museum, the University of Trieste, the University of Udine, SISSA and the Municipality of Trieste, as part of the Trieste City of Knowledge System.

Laurel wreath for Elisa Ligas, the first graduate with a Master’s degree in Geophysics and Geodata, awarded with top honors, 110 cum laude and a special mention!

This is an English-taught degree program, closely aligned with industry, and supported by three of our departments: Mathematics, Computer Science and Geosciences; Physics; Engineering and Architecture.

Ligas presented a thesis on applications in the fields of natural resources and natural hazards, using innovative methods for subsurface studies with applications in energy and environmental fields.

Her academic path provided Elisa with training in both scientific and industrial settings, including international experiences such as the Arctic Geophysics School at the University Centre in Svalbard.

Now she is set to begin a PhD in Earth Sciences, Fluid Mechanics, Mathematics, and Applications.

The ‘Maker Faire Rome 2024 - The European Edition’, the twelfth edition of the annual fair open to the public dedicated to innovation, technology and creativity, will take place at the Gazometro Ostiense (Rome) from 25th to 27th October. It brings together innovators, makers, researchers and enthusiasts from all over Europe. In addition to the exhibition of projects and inventions, it offers workshops, lectures and laboratories to acquire technical skills and stimulate collaboration. It attracts students, start-ups, companies and government agencies, families, entrepreneurs and investors, promoting the exchange of ideas and the evolution of technologies.

The University of Trieste is present with a stand curated by the CLab Think Tank - the University's hub supporting the creation of innovative entrepreneurial projects - and two initiatives featuring students from the University: Enactus UniTS and UniTS Racing Team.

Enactus UniTS is exhibiting Hemp-Up, a business idea based on sustainable fashion, with clothes made from hemp. The initiative aims to reduce the environmental impact of the textile industry by using environmentally friendly materials and promoting ethical production. The team will present the project with an interactive workshop that aims to engage participants in their approach to the circular economy and social entrepreneurship.

After winning the SKF ‘Sustainability at 360 degrees’ award for the sustainable approach adopted at every stage of the project, from the choice of natural materials to the optimisation of the vehicle's life cycle, the UniTS Racing Team will present, by means of models, the solutions that led to the realisation of their innovative electric prototype with a flax fibre body, and that were instrumental in achieving this recognition.

An international research team coordinated by the University of Trieste's Department of Physics has synthesised a potential bifunctional catalyst, mimicking the functionality of vitamin B12, i.e. one capable of promoting two distinct chemical reactions, each supported by a different oxidation state of the metal. Also known as cobalamin, a molecule to the centre of which is bound a single cobalt atom, vitamin B12 is in fact capable of catalysing different reactions depending on the context. The results of the study, with important application implications in the field of energy storage and transport, have been published in the scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials.

The study involved the collaboration of the Materials Laboratory Institute of the National Research Council (CNR-IOM), Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste and the Laboratory for Surface Nanostructures of EPFL in Switzerland. The activities were funded in the context of the PRIN 2022 and PRIN NRRP projects.

'Energy storage and transport are today's most strategic applications; however, from the point of view of available technologies, they are still far from optimal. Think, for example, of rechargeable batteries and the need to use two separate catalytic agents to support the opposing reactions of oxidation and reduction in reversible charge and discharge processes', explains Erik Vesselli, professor of experimental matter physics at the Department of Physics, University of Trieste. ‘The result we have obtained shows, however, how we can be inspired by nature to create new materials of extreme applicative interest in the field of green energy, i.e. bifunctional catalysts, capable by themselves of promoting different chemical reactions.’

Cobalt is one of the strategic metals in the periodic table, already particularly used in catalysis. Its functionality can be controlled by defining the way it coordinates and calibrating its oxidation state. In nature, vitamin B12 - also known as cobalamin, as it is characterised by a single cobalt atom - in its various forms and through complex mechanisms, is itself able to regulate the oxidation state of this single cobalt atom, thus changing its reactivity and stability.

‘We did the same’, Vesselli continues: ‘That is, we synthesised a matrix of two-dimensional molecules and single cobalt atoms, using a single sheet of graphene as a worktable. By controlling the co-ordination, we were able to modulate the oxidation states of cobalt just as occurs in vitamin B12, and were also able to obtain phases in which several oxidation states are co-present in the material.’

In conclusion, the researchers succeeded in synthesising and characterising a new material whose properties are determined by long-range electronic and magnetic interactions between different reaction centres, i.e. individual cobalt atoms. This was achieved by combining state-of-the-art experimental techniques using laser sources, synchrotron light and microscopy techniques, combined with numerical simulations.

Full study published in Advanced Functional Materials 

Co(III), Co(II), Co(I): Tuning Single Cobalt Metal Atom Oxidation States in a 2D Coordination Network

Trieste, 23rd October 2024 – Today the University of Trieste awarded degrees to its first 26 graduates in Dentistry and Prosthodontics with concurrent professional certification.

The new graduates discussed their theses in the ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’ Hall of the Cattinara Hospital in front of Rector Roberto Di Lenarda, who awarded them the title.

The vocational degree was established by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research as of the academic year 2023-2024 and UniTS is among the very first universities in Italy to have implemented the degree, serving as an example for other universities in the future.

‘The transition to this vocational degree is testimony to the excellence of the University of Trieste, which is part of the small group of Italian universities able to implement the new degree right away,’ stressed Rector Roberto Di Lenarda. ‘By the academic year 2027-2028 everyone will be expected to offer the level of training that we have been offering for years. I would also like to emphasise how the clinical activity of the professionals in training (both undergrads and postgrads) provides an extraordinary support to the provision of dental care, in a collaboration between the University and the Regional Health Service.’

Friuli Venezia Giulia, and in particular the area covered by ASUGI (local health authority), represents the area with the widest range of high-quality dental services in Italy.

The Region's public dentistry programme was inaugurated in 2017. It was conceived and coordinated by Roberto Di Lenarda, President of the College of University Lecturers of Odontostomatological Disciplines and Director of ASUGI's Maxillofacial Surgery and Odontostomatology Clinic since 2000.

Since then, in the Trieste area alone, it has provided 500,000 services at the Maxillo facial Surgery and Odontostomatology Clinic in the Ospedale Maggiore (ASUGI) and 60,000 in the Paediatric Odontostomatology Department, directed by Milana Cadenaro, the current coordinator of the Bachelor’s Degree in Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics.

Trieste, 23rd October 2024 - The programme for the 2024-2025 academic year of the project 'The Lincean Academy for new teaching methodology in schools', in which the University of Trieste plays a leading role, has been presented.

The Trieste Hub of the initiative's national network, with the collaboration of the Foundation 'The Lincean Academy for Schools', the Regional School Office of Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, has been engaged for six years in organising refresher and advanced training activities for school teachers in the four disciplines covered by the project: Italian, mathematics, digital and science.

‘Primary and secondary school teachers from all over Italy take part in the project every year,’ explains University of Trieste lecturer Roberta Bulla, coordinator of the Trieste Hub. ‘From 2021 to date we have had a total of 1,000 teachers enrolled.’

‘At a complex time for the Italian university and school system such as the one we are currently experiencing, the role of support for the training of school teachers played by UniTS within the framework of the Lincean project is of strategic importance," says Rector Roberto Di Lenarda. "I would like to thank the Region for the support that it once again guarantees our university and all of our teachers involved, who add these activities to their ordinary ones with great passion and commitment.’

‘The presence of the Lincean Hub in Trieste represents a great opportunity for the education system in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Teachers who train and update their knowledge improve not only their own preparation, but also the school within which they teach and the system as a whole. If, as confirmed by the data from the Invalsi 2024 tests, school education in FVG is of high quality and the drop-out rate is among the lowest in Italy, we certainly owe this to projects like this one, which the regional administration will continue to support, as an investment for the younger generations, in the years to come,’ adds Alessia Rosolen, Regional Councillor for Employment, Training, Education, Research, University and Family.

‘In an ever-changing society, continuous teacher training is of fundamental importance to ensure the quality of education. It represents an opportunity for effective professional development and growth of the teaching profession. With a view to promoting continuous training, the FVG Regional School Office has signed an agreement with the FVG Region and the Universities of Trieste and Udine in which it commits itself to disseminating the training activities organised by the two university centres as part of the project ‘The Lincean Academy for new teaching methodology in schools’ and to cooperating in identifying tutor teachers among the local educational institutions to support teaching and workshop activities,’ concludes Daniela Beltrame, Head of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional School Office.

The project stems from a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Lincean Academy, the Ministry of Education and Merit, and the Ministry of Universities and Research, with the aim of supporting and encouraging the improvement of the national education and training system through numerous initiatives aimed at promoting a renewal of teaching-learning processes in the scientific and humanistic disciplines.

The programmes proposed for the 2024/2025 academic year are highly structured.

The University of Trieste today proclaimed 133 new PhDs, the highest number ever, during the Graduation Day ceremony held in the Main Hall of Building A in Piazzale Europa.

The 36th-cycle PhDs, who celebrated their proclamation with the traditional ‘tossing of the academic cap’, registered a further increase in the international presence – one in five is in fact from abroad – and witnessed the perfect gender balance achieved among PhD students. 

‘Graduation Day,’ says Prof. Alessandro Baraldi, Deputy for scientific research and Doctorates at the University of Trieste, ‘does not only celebrate the achievement of an extraordinary milestone for our young researchers, but it is also the moment when the University wishes to express its gratitude to the PhD students, who represent a fundamental part of our research activity. 

It is a recognition,' Baraldi concludes, ’that will culminate on 2nd December, with the awarding of the PhD Innovation Awards in the centenary year.’

The University of Trieste's initiative – an absolute novelty – will celebrate through the awarding of five prizes to young scholars a century of research, excellence, creativity and ingenuity, rewarding innovation in thought, knowledge, research methodologies and technologies.

The guest of honour at Graduation Day was Marco Gori, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Siena, who delivered a lectio magistralis entitled ‘Intelligent Machines that do not Accumulate Data’, in which he proposed a new approach to artificial intelligence and machine learning that is not based on the massive accumulation of data. 

Gori suggested that, as happens in nature, machines can develop cognitive skills through interactions with the environment, thus avoiding the centralisation of large collections of data. This approach would reduce privacy risks and concentration of power.