The ‘Mille e una Vela Cup’ (thousand and one sails cup) university trophy will be held in Trieste from 25th to 29th September, with the UniTS AUDACE team among the participants with its three boats ‘Lina’, ‘Dedalo’ and ‘Bai - Lina Rossa’.

The University sailing team's laser-focus objective is simple: to consolidate the victories of the previous three editions.

Hosted by the ADRIACO Yacht Club and organised with the cooperation of the University of Trieste in the year of its 100th Anniversary, the international regatta will see sailboats designed, built and sailed by university students.

Only boats made with materials that guarantee a high degree of recyclability and environmental sustainability will be admitted to the competition.

During the three-day regatta, the ‘1001VELAcup’ Challenge Trophy and the ‘Paolo Padova’ Trophy will be awarded. The first is contested with boats designed and built by students and with crews formed exclusively by them. The second features crews formed by a teacher and a student.

The ‘Mainaldo Maneschi Prize’ will also be awarded for the best boat project, combining the evaluation of the competing projects with the results of the regattas.

Seminars and in-depth lectures on design techniques are also planned.

1001 Vela Cup

A journey that followed in the footsteps of the digital revolution, in the place that is the global symbol of technological innovation, of the visionary and courageous creativity of the start-ups that have conquered markets and transformed the world over the last thirty years.

This is the summary of the California Tech Tour undertaken by Silvia De Cleva, Nicandro Alberto di Salvia and Francesco Zamar, the University of Trieste students who won the 2023 edition of the CLab Think Tank.

The stimulating week-long educational experience allowed the three young people to visit institutions and centres of excellence, among the most important and influential places of innovation development and entrepreneurship culture in the world.

The trip, organised by the UniTS Innovation Office, began in San Bernardino at the ESRI-Environmental System Research Institute and the University of Redlands, where they met leading figures from academic governance and the business world. 

Later, in San Francisco, they were welcomed by Consul Sergio Strozzi at the Consulate General of Italy. In the same city, the clabbers got to know the reality of INNOVIT, thanks to a presentation by Director Alberto Acito, who illustrated the possibilities offered to Italian start-ups in the US.

A highlight of the trip was the seminar at the UC Berkeley University Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, where the UniTS students were able to learn advanced entrepreneurship strategies. 

The trip concluded with a visit to Silicon Valley, where they were given access to Google, one of the companies symbolising the technological revolution and the web economy, and NASA, the world's most important aerospace agency and a leader in technological innovation. 

For our clabbers, it was an exciting experience in an international network of extraordinary dynamism, from which they returned with an injection of knowledge and expertise in business development.

The University of Trieste is currently participating in the EAIE (European Association for International Education) Conference, Europe's most important fair dedicated to international education. The event, which takes place in Toulouse, France, is a meeting point for academic professionals from all over Europe and beyond.

With a dedicated stand, UniTS has the opportunity to strengthen relations with existing partner universities and initiate new international collaborations.

‘EAIE represents a strength and a necessity in the education of the future ruling class. Thanks to various international education programmes students come into contact with different cultures and different countries, strengthening their awareness as citizens of the world. And the strengthening of international education programmes is one of the goals of UniTS!’ These were the words of Prof. Barbara Milani, Deputy Rector for International Relations and Mobility, who attended the event.

The new Major Project of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs nad International Cooperation (MAECI) entitled ‘CoReng - Conservation of the Religions Complex in Old Cairo through the integration of geosciences and earthquake engineering’ has been launched.

The Italy-Egypt bilateral scientific and technological collaboration project, coordinated by Chiara Bedon, involves UniTS with researchers and lecturers from the Department of Engineering and Architecture (DIA) and the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Geosciences (MIGe). 

CoReng's theme is ‘New Technologies applied to Cultural and Natural Heritage’.

The objective is to develop new methodologies for monitoring, assessing the vulnerability, hazard and seismic risk of the monumental buildings of the Religious Complex in Old Cairo. These are highly specialised and multidisciplinary activities, which demonstrate the strong synergy between the various fields of civil engineering and geosciences.

For DIA, in addition to Chiara Bedon, Marco Fasan, Raul Berto, Alessio Bortot, Stefano Bozza, Alessandro Mazelli (PhD student) and Franco Vaccari (with a CoReng research grant) are involved. Fabio Romanelli is collaborating on the project for MIGe.

The joint activities will be carried out in cooperation with colleagues at the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) in Cairo, coordinated by Hesham Mossa.

CoReng is one of the four projects (out of more than 100 applications) selected for the new 2024-2026 Executive Programme, and provides funding of €200,000

The sixth edition of CFC - Climbing for Climate, promoted by the Network of Universities for Sustainable Development (RUS) and the Italian Alpine Club (CAI), has just come to an end in the beautiful setting of the Marmolada glacier. 

The main objective was to raise public awareness to the rapid melting of glaciers by emphasising the need to rethink our relationship with the mountain environment. In this specific case, a different usage model of the Marmolada has been proposed, one that no longer sees it exclusively as a perfect mountain for mountaineering and skiing – as defined by Dino Buzzati – but rather as a master mountain capable of teaching and guiding towards a more conscious and respectful approach to the fragile Alpine ecosystem.

The Marmolada, one of the most iconic glaciers in the Dolomites, is today at the centre of an accelerated melting process. During the two-day event, participants took part in a ‘participatory glaciological campaign’, promoted by the Italian Glaciological Committee and the Museum of Geography of the University of Padua, which allowed them to observe at first hand the dramatic effects of climate change and the gradual shrinking of the glacier.

The Manifest for another Marmolada.

At the end of the two-day event, the Manifest for another Marmolada was officially presented, a document created to trigger a concrete trend reversal regarding the intensive exploitation of natural resources.

Signatories of the manifesto included the University of Trieste, which joined the initiative with the participation of Prof. Ilaria Garofolo, who emphasised the importance of giving continuity to the work of Prof. Maurizio Fermeglia, who passed away before his time. Fermeglia, who had always been a passionate mountaineer and promoter of concrete actions against climate change, participated in the first edition of Climbing for Climate on the Adamello glacier in 2019.

For more details on the event and to download the Manifest for another Marmolada, please visit the RUS site

The first edition of the Summer School of Energy Law was held at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ljubljana.

The Summer School, organised in cooperation with the Department of Political and Social Sciences at UniTS, the University of Ljubljana and the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), was attended by 52 selected candidates from 15 countries and several international experts. 

The active participation and discussions between the speakers and participants made the educational experience particularly enriching, representing a valuable opportunity for in-depth study on crucial issues for Europe's energy future and fostering the consolidation of cooperation in the energy sector between Italian and Slovenian universities and ACER.

The organising committee was composed of Andrea Crismani, full professor, and Giacomo Biasutti, associate professor, from UniTS, the associate professors Bruna Žuber and Bruno Nikolić (coordinators), the associate professor Marjan Kos, the assistant Matevž Bedič and Silvia Manessi

E’ stato rinnovato oggi alla presenza del Questore di Trieste, Pietro Ostuni, l’accordo tra la Polizia di Stato e l’Università degli Studi di Trieste per la prevenzione e il contrasto dei crimini informatici che hanno per oggetto i sistemi e i servizi informativi delle Piccole e Medie Imprese e Pubbliche Amministrazioni Locali.

La convenzione, firmata dal rettore UniTS Roberto Di Lenarda e dal Dirigente del C.O.S.C. - Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni per il Friuli Venezia Giulia Assunta Esposito rientra nell’ambito delle direttive impartite dal Ministro dell’Interno per il potenziamento dell’attività di prevenzione alla criminalità informatica attraverso la stipula di accordi con enti, operatori e amministrazioni che forniscono prestazioni essenziali.

Il protocollo continuerà a garantire la condivisione di analisi di informazioni idonee a prevenire attacchi o danneggiamenti che possano pregiudicare la sicurezza delle infrastrutture informatiche dell’Università degli Studi di Trieste, facilitando la tempestiva gestione di emergenze relative a vulnerabilità, minacce ed incidenti in danno della regolarità dei servizi di comunicazione.

In caso di incidente informatico, poi, il Centro Operativo e l’Università collaboreranno per l’identificazione dell’origine dell’attacco, realizzando altresì attività di comunicazione reciproca per fronteggiare la contingente situazione di crisi. 

Il rinnovo è stato anche occasione per implementare un’ulteriore forma di collaborazione, vale a dire la possibilità, per le Parti, che il proprio personale frequenti reciprocamente corsi di formazione nelle materie di specifico interesse. 

Nello specifico, alcuni operatori della Polizia Postale frequenteranno l'insegnamento “cybersecurity” della Laurea magistrale in Ingegneria elettronica e informatica, tenuto da Alberto BARTOLI, Professore ordinario di Cybersecurity e reti di calcolatori al Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Architettura dell’Università di Trieste.

Nei mesi a seguire, la Polizia Postale terrà alcuni seminari, rivolti agli studenti e al personale universitario, al fine di arricchire il loro bagaglio culturale  con contributi esperienziali sulle modalità di prevenzione e di contrasto al cybercrime.

 “Per la Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni, l’articolazione specialistica della Polizia di Stato che si occupa della prevenzione e repressione del cybercrime in tutte le sue cangianti declinazioni – ha concluso Assunta Esposito, Dirigente del Centro Operativo per la sicurezza cibernetica FVG – il rinnovo del protocollo d’intesa rappresenta la riprova della proficua collaborazione tra Istituzioni nell’ambito di quella sicurezza partecipata che ha come obiettivo comune la tutela della cybersicurezza, nelle sue molteplici sfumature.”

“Oggi rinnoviamo e consolidiamo un accordo a cui l’Università di Trieste tiene in modo particolare – ha sottolineato il rettore Roberto Di Lenarda – il dialogo diretto con la Polizia Postale consente alla comunità UniTS di mettere in campo strategie efficaci per difendersi dagli attacchi informatici, aumentare la consapevolezza delle nuove generazioni ai rischi connessi e, allo stesso tempo, di mettere a disposizione le nostre competenze d’eccellenza a chi ogni giorno combatte il cybercrime, sempre più diffuso”.

Nella foto: il Rettore Roberto Di Lenarda, il Questore di Trieste Pietro Ostuni e la Dirigente del C.O.S.C. - Polizia Postale e delle Comunicazioni per il Friuli Venezia Giulia Assunta Esposito.

Presentata l’edizione 2024 di Trieste Next, il Festival della Ricerca Scientifica giunto alla XIII edizione in programma dal 27 al 29 settembre. Tema di quest’anno "Gli orizzonti dell'intelligenza. La Conoscenza tra essere umano e tecnologie".

“La mission dell’Università è custodire e far fiorire l’intelligenza umana - ha sottolineato il rettore Roberto Di Lenarda – l’AI avrà il compito di amplificarla. Desidero anche ringraziare i nostri 150 volontari, una delle anime più belle della manifestazione”.

Il palinsesto prevede oltre 100 eventi in italiano e in inglese e la partecipazione di 300 relatori.

Eccezionale la presenza UniTS che, in occasione del Centenario, porta a Trieste Next grandi ospiti internazionali tra cui il premio Nobel per la Fisica Andre Geim e il premio Oscar Nicola Piovani. 

Questi gli eventi UniTS suddivisi in ciascuno dei tre giorni di durata di Trieste Next che vedranno impegnati oltre 20 docenti e ricercatori del nostro Ateneo:

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 27 – 29 settembre 

La tredicesima edizione di Trieste Next è promossa da Comune di Trieste, Università degli Studi di Trieste, ItalyPost, Area Science Park, Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale - OGS, SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, Gruppo NEM Nord-Est Multimedia / Il Piccolo.

Ente co-promotore della manifestazione è la Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia. Trieste Next è una manifestazione in collaborazione con l’Ufficio del Parlamento europeo a Milano, la  Commissione europea - Rappresentanza di Milano e Fondazione CRTrieste ed è un progetto di Trieste Città della Conoscenza, la rete che unisce le realtà della ricerca triestina e che promuove il dialogo tra scienza e cittadini. Main partner della manifestazione è Generali.

Partner: AcegasApsAmga, Estenergy, Insiel e Kioene.

Content partner: EuroBioHighTech, Fondazione AIRC per la ricerca sul cancro, Fondazione Telethon e Centro protesi Inail.

Partner tecnico: Apleona Italy, Lattebusche, Loison e Trieste Trasporti.

University of Trieste PhD student in Applied Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Davide Basso won the prestigious EDA (Electronic Design Automation) Competition during the SMACD conference (International Conference on Synthesis, Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Methods, and Applications to Circuit Design). This important international event was held in Volos, Greece.

The EDA Competition aims to promote the advancement of automation in circuit and integrated system design. Davide's success is the result of a close collaboration between the University of Trieste, in particular the PhD student himself under the supervision of Prof. Luca Bortolussi, and Infineon Technologies, a leading multinational in the semiconductor industry. Together, they have developed machine learning-based solutions for the complete automation of analogue circuit layouts, an area of growing interest in electronic engineering.

The jury, made up of academic representatives from universities such as Seville, Thessaloniki, Parma and Salerno, as well as industry representatives such as Ansys, evaluated the submitted projects according to criteria of complexity, level of automation and integration with commercial systems. At the end of the evaluations, Davide Basso and Jiaxiang Pan, from the University of Ningbo - China, were declared winners due to the high innovative value of their work.

The award confirms the importance of their research work in the field of artificial intelligence applied to circuit automation, underlining the role of our university in helping to revolutionise the technology sector.

In the photo, Davide Basso and Jiaxiang Pan, Master's student in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Ningbo University, China

A silent, quiet, protected space: a new museum area dedicated to sensory decompression will be available within the exhibition route at the Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico of Trieste from 10th September.

This innovative space is the result of a collaboration between the Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico and the University of Trieste, with the contribution of Fondosviluppo FVG. It is a refuge area for those who, while visiting such a dynamic and socialising environment as the science centre, may need a break to rebalance their senses.

The space was presented on Tuesday 10th September by Serena Mizzan, president and director of the Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico, Caterina Falbo, Deputy Rector for Third Mission and Knowledge Dissemination at the University of Trieste, Giuseppina Scavuzzo, associate professor in Architectural and Urban Composition at the University of Trieste, and Elena Bulfone, president of the non-profit foundation ProgettoAutismo FVG.

The initiative stems from the need to make the museum more and more inclusive for all visitors, in particular for people with sensory atypicalities, such as those on the autistic spectrum, the elderly, or people with neurodegenerative disorders. The Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico is in fact already accessible to people with motor, visual and hearing disabilities, and works constantly on cognitive and sensory inclusivity, with the aim of being accessible to all and improving the well-being of visitors.

The decompression space includes a special seat, covered in sound-absorbing material, known as the Alone-Together Seat. This innovative piece of furniture, designed as part of the European research project The Sensitive Home Senshome, led by Prof. Giuseppina Scavuzzo of the Department of Engineering and Architecture of the University of Trieste, is intended to promote the sensory well-being of people with autism or other sensory and cognitive disabilities. Originally designed for residential environments, the seat has been adapted for the museum context and can accommodate up to two people, thus providing a quiet space for other needs, such as breastfeeding or for situations where sensory overload is experienced.

Completing the shelter area is an element of separation from the rest of the museum, covered with sound-absorbing material, and two information panels, also made of sound-absorbing material, provided free of charge by Eternoivica s.r.l. of Padua. The information panels offer explanations on topics such as the perception of sound, sensory overload and sensory atypicality, the functioning of sound-absorbing and sound-insulating materials.

The new space is therefore not only a place of rest and refuge, but also a tool for knowledge dissemination. It tells the public about the multidisciplinary research conducted by the University of Trieste, with a focus on the importance of neurodiversity and sensory atypicality. Consolidating the University's existing presence at the Science Centre Immaginario Scientifico, Unidiversitas, the newly inaugurated space testifies to the University's commitment to promoting accessibility and inclusion as well.