What are the opportunities and limits of applying Artificial Intelligence to cultural institutions – particularly museums, archives and libraries?

These questions will be explored on 6th and 7th October 2025 at the Conference Centre of the Gorizia Campus (Via D’Alviano 18), during the conference ‘Artificial Intelligence in Cultural Institutions’. The national-level event is organised by the University of Trieste, through its University Museum Services (smaTs), in collaboration with MAB – Museums, Archives and Libraries coordination of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It will bring together scholars and cultural professionals for an in-depth exchange, with the support of Generali Group, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, and the Municipality of Gorizia.

A rich programme of high-level guests and content

The conference will unfold over two days. On Monday 6th October, from 15:30 to 19:00, the opening session entitled ‘Artificial Intelligence: a dialogue between science and culture’ will begin with the institutional greetings of Professor Donata Vianelli, Rector of the University of Trieste, together with representatives of major national and regional cultural institutions.

Speakers on the first day will include representatives of the Trieste academic community, such as Paolo Gallina (Head of the Department of Engineering and Architecture), who will speak on ‘Art, Artificial Intelligence and their perception’; Maria Teresa Scantamburlo (holder of the Chair in Responsible and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence), who will present ‘Responsible Artificial Intelligence at the service of culture’; and Massimo De Grassi (Head of the Department of Humanities), who will explore the question ‘Artistic production and Artificial Intelligence: shared paths?’. The discussion will also feature cultural-sector professionals: Bruna La Sorda (Vice-President of the National Association of Archivists – ANAI) will discuss ‘Artificial Intelligence in archives: evolutionary trajectories’; Matilde Fontanin (AIB Information Literacy Observatory) will present the European project ‘Supercharged by AI’, focused on AI literacy in Italian libraries; and Anna Maria Marras (member of the ICOM Italia Board) will conclude with ‘Inclusive Intelligences: education, accessibility and sustainability of AI in cultural institutions’.

On Tuesday 7th October, from 9:30 to 12:15, the second session, ‘AI Applications in the Cultural Sector’, will take a practical perspective with real-world case studies. Speakers will include Marco Ranieri, entrepreneur and developer of AI apps for cultural institutions; Roberta Spada, Head of Historical Archive and Corporate Heritage at Generali; and Tilman Scheel, founder and CEO of AboutSomethinK, who will discuss chatbots designed for libraries, archives and museums. Also taking the floor will be Bruno Callegher (smaTs) and Giorgio Donato (IT Manager of Nomismata), with a talk entitled ‘Nomismata (Byzantine Coin Hoards): AI interprets for us’, and Luca Bortolussi (Vice-Rector for Digital Transformation at the University of Trieste), who will address the topical question ‘Does Artificial Intelligence copy or create?’

Focus on responsible Artificial Intelligence

The conference tackles one of today’s most pressing challenges: how to reconcile automation with human creativity and the diversity of cultural expression. As the organisers point out, ‘the automation of cultural data encompasses different types of Artificial Intelligence, from those involved in creating art and culture to those dedicated to cataloguing and processing their results.’ The event aims to explore the potential of a responsible Artificial Intelligence model – one that can guide institutions, professionals and cultural venues towards sustainable cooperation between automation and human creativity, without undermining the richness of Italy’s cultural heritage.

Opening of the exhibition La donna del mare by Annamaria Ducaton

To conclude the conference, on Tuesday 7th October at 12:15, again at the Conference Centre of the Gorizia Campus (Via D’Alviano 18), the University Museum Services will inaugurate the exhibition by Trieste artist Annamaria Ducaton, who has donated to the University of Trieste the 28 works in her series ‘La donna del mare’ (the sea woman), created to mark the University’s centenary. The exhibition will be introduced by Paolo Quazzolo from the Department of Humanities.

The University of Trieste wishes to align itself with the position of CoPER – the Council of Presidents of Public Research Bodies – which in a statement ‘shares the feelings of horror, pain, indignation and anguish at the dramatic humanitarian crisis that the Palestinian population is suffering as a result of the military actions undertaken by the Israeli Government in the Gaza Strip. The brutal terrorist attack carried out by Hamas on 7th October 2023 cannot in any way justify what is being inflicted on Palestinian civilians, victims of continuous attacks, bombings and famine.

It condemns the actions that have caused, and continue to cause, thousands of civilian casualties, including a very high number of children. It also condemns the obstacles to the delivery of aid, in clear violation of international humanitarian law, and the destruction of essential civilian infrastructure. A tragedy for which the International Court of Justice has declared the risk of violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – a position confirmed by a special United Nations commission which concluded that Israel’s war practices in Gaza ‘bear the characteristic elements of genocide’.

In these dramatic days, UniTS also recalls that its actions are inspired by respect for constitutional principles, with specific reference to Article 11 of the Italian Constitution, which states that ‘Italy repudiates war as an instrument of aggression against the freedom of other peoples and as a means of resolving international disputes’; and Article 33, which affirms that ‘the arts and sciences are free, and free is their teaching’, thereby forcefully asserting the value of freedom of research; as well as to the values enshrined in its Statute and in its Code of Ethics.

The UniTS community shares and makes its own the concern and distress of the entire italian academic community regarding all the wars currently underway in the world, with particular reference to the crisis in Gaza, expressing its sorrow for the immense suffering inflicted on the civilian populations involved.

In a groundbreaking achievement, researchers from CNR – Istituto Officina dei Materiali (CNR-IOM), the University of Trieste, Italy, and Innsbruck, Austria, and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste have successfully synthesized a novel two-dimensional crystalline form of diboron trioxide. This new crystal, composed entirely of structural units previously seen only in its disordered, glassy state, marks a significant scientific milestone. Published in the prestigious journal Science, the study confirms the existence of a structure previously predicted only in theory, and opening exciting possibilities for future applications of this innovative material.

Boron oxide is a critical component in the production of ultra-durable glasses, such as Pyrex, and high-performance enamels. The addition of boron trioxide enhances glass’s resistance to thermal shock and chemical reactions, making it ideal for demanding industrial and scientific applications. However, the vitrification process of boron oxide remains poorly understood, exhibiting unique anomalies compared to other oxides, like silica, which can exist in both crystalline and amorphous forms.

“The key distinction between a crystal and a glass lies in the ordered arrangement of atoms in the former, which is absent in the latter,” explains Alessandro Sala, a CNR-IOM researcher and the project’s lead designer. “Both materials typically share a basic structural unit of a few atoms, repeated throughout. In crystals, this “building block” is arranged in a precise, repeating pattern, while in glass, it is disordered. Boron oxide is an exception: its glassy phase contains a structural unit called boroxine – a ring of three boron and three oxygen atoms – that have never been observed in a crystalline form until now. Our team has achieved a world-first by creating a two-dimensional crystalline phase made entirely of these boroxine units.”

The international research team not only devised a method to synthesize this material, using platinum as a substrate, but also conducted detailed analyses of its physical properties. Maria Peressi, a professor at the University of Trieste, elaborates: “Our numerical simulations reveal that this porous material, formed by a lattice of boroxine rings, is extraordinary flexible – ten times more elastic than graphene, making it the most elastic single-layer material ever reported. This remarkable flexibility arises because the rigid boroxine rings are connected by a single oxygen atom, acting as a hinge that allows them to rotate in the plane. Experimental and simulation results also show that the material interacts weakly with its platinum substrate, suggesting it could be easily separated using conventional techniques for using in cutting-edge devices.”

Laerte Patera, a professor of University of Innsbruck, adds: “using advanced scanning tunneling microscopy in Trieste and Innsbruck, we visualized the crystalline structure of this two-dimensional material down to its individual atoms. This unprecedented resolution enables us to pinpoint the position of each atom in the lattice, offering valuable insights into how atoms reorganize during the transition from crystalline to glassy states. This capability will be transformative for future studies of material transformations.”

Andrea Locatelli, head of the Nanospectroscopy beamline at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, emphasizes the mix of advanced technology: “Synchrotron light was instrumental in confirming the material’s elemental composition, purity and crystallinity. We can now produce homogeneous crystals spanning tens of square microns. The synergy between experimental techniques and numerical simulations was pivotal to this project’s success. With its unique properties – a wide-bandgap semiconductor that is both highly flexible and porous – this material holds immense potential for application in fields ranging from electronics and catalysis to quantum technologies.”

Adding to the significance of this achievement, the study’s first authors, Teresa Zio and Marco Dirindin, are PhD students from the University of Trieste, specializing in experimental and theoretical research, respectively. Their contribution highlights the University’s commitment to fostering excellence in advanced research training. 

Huge public participation and sold-out events: the 14th edition of Trieste Next, once again under the scientific direction of UniTS, has been a great success.

With its rich programme, the University managed to bring science into the square, engaging with children, welcoming Nobel laureates and internationally renowned scholars, and connecting with the citizens who crowd our stand every year.

Centre stage were today’s scientists and science communicators as well as those of tomorrow: this year, young people were truly among the leading voices animating the activities and shaping the narrative of the festival.

Thanks go to everyone who values and enjoys the festival, to those who discovered it for the first time and to those who have followed it from the beginning.

And a special thanks to our magnificent and tireless volunteers, our students, without whom Trieste Next would not be the same.

The 14th edition of Trieste Next opened today, Friday 26th September, dedicated to the theme ‘Life Within. Dialogues between Science and Technology.’ The University of Trieste is a central player in the festival, with a programme designed for the general public: from today until Sunday 28th September, UniTS will organise 18 events (six today, nine on Saturday, and three on Sunday), featuring more than fifty speakers, alongside the UniTS stand in Piazza Unità with ten interactive spaces and the ‘UniDiversitas’ information point.

Two international headline events are on the programme: David Quammen this evening at Teatro Verdi, and Nobel Laureate Brian K. Kobilka tomorrow evening on the same stage.

In the opening panel, Rector Donata Vianelli, taking part in her first Trieste Next as head of UniTS, reaffirmed the importance of a systemic and open approach:
 ‘Innovation does not come from individuals alone; it comes from the system – universities, institutions and businesses working together in open networks, with multidisciplinarity and both national and international openness. Only in this way does research stop being self-referential and translate into real solutions for the territory and for society.’

The first day’s programme includes events on cities in transition and inclusive tourism, followed by sessions on nuclear fusion and safety in research. In the evening, the stage will host the performance ‘Storie dentro’ and the encounter with David Quammen at Teatro Verdi.

On Saturday 27th September, the schedule covers generative artificial intelligence and algorithmic transparency, energy between myths and realities, dialogue between African traditional medicine and research, advanced microscopy (All-Micro), the ‘environmental plate’ (an interdisciplinary round table that, starting from the leftovers of a dinner, brings together statistics, economics, psychology, viticulture and Slow Food to balance taste, sustainability and health), glaciers and life between science and mountaineering, through to space robotics, culminating in the special evening event with Brian K. Kobilka at Teatro Verdi.

Sunday 28th September will close the programme with sessions on community justice, neuroscience and music, and ‘care-based tourism.’

At its stand in Piazza Unità, UniTS presents a showcase reflecting the breadth of its expertise: from journeys into space with ASTREO to quantum science; from health – with a focus on chronic pain and digital rehabilitation – to restorative justice; from comparative law to marine sciences and geosciences; from ‘Rogue AI’ (distinguishing safe from deceptive generative AI) to the chemistry of future materials; and from merit and community with Collegio Fonda to the UniDiversitas information point.

In this light, Trieste Next is the ideal environment for the University of Trieste to put this approach into practice:
 ‘Trieste Next is our ideal training ground: three days of dialogue and debate to analyse problems from different perspectives and build shared solutions. A research festival that is also a multicultural and multidisciplinary crossroads, where each participant contributes an essential part to improving people’s lives and our future,’ concluded Rector Vianelli.

All UniTS events

At the end of September UniTS will be illuminated in gold to mark Gold September, the international awareness campaign on childhood and adolescent cancer Light it up gold / Go Gold, promoted worldwide by Childhood Cancer International.

The Italian campaign is organised by FIAGOP (Italian Federation of Parents’ and Survivors’ Associations in Paediatric Haematology and Oncology) and is supported in Trieste by AGMEN, the association that provides help to families of children with cancer treated at the Burlo Garofolo Research Hospital.

From 21st to 28th September, associations and families across Italy will take to the streets with the symbol of the Gold Ribbon, representing the strength and resilience of children with cancer. Wearing it is a sign of solidarity with young patients and their families, and a way of shining a light of hope.

This year, the campaign coincides with a long-awaited milestone: the final approval of the law on the right to be forgotten in oncology. This will allow more than 45,000 former paediatric patients to access banking, insurance, employment and adoption without discrimination.

Every year, more than 400,000 children and adolescents worldwide are diagnosed with a malignant tumour – one every three minutes. While survival rates in high-income countries approach 80%, in middle- and low-income countries they remain below 20%. In Italy, around 2,400 new cases are diagnosed annually, with recovery rates close to 80% and peaks of nearly 90% for some conditions. These figures point to significant progress, while also highlighting the urgent need for increasingly personalised treatments with fewer side effects.

The Euclid Consortium has published the largest simulated galaxy catalogue to date, making it available to researchers worldwide. It includes 3.4 billion galaxies, each modelled with numerous properties such as brightness, position, velocity and shape. The work was developed by eight European institutions, led by the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and the Port d’Informació Científica (PIC) in Barcelona, Spain.

The new catalogue is available on the CosmoHub platform.

The University of Trieste contributed to the project by validating the catalogue, ensuring its suitability for cosmological analysis.

In parallel, Pierluigi Monaco, Professor of Astrophysics and Cosmology, and his team produced a set of thousands of simulations using a fast approximate method called PINOCCHIO (PIN-pointing Orbit Crossing Collapsed HIerarchical Objects). The 4,500 simulations replicate the sample that Euclid will observe through spectroscopy, with the aim of calculating the uncertainties in determining cosmological parameters.

To learn more, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) interviewed Prof. Monaco, first author of the article recently accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics on these simulations.

Read the interview “Thousands of Simulations: One Universe Is Not Enough” – MEDIA INAF

Federico Rosei, professor of Industrial Chemistry at the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Trieste, recently elected Member of the Italian Academy of Engineering and Technology, has been elected Foreign Member of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering - ATSE.

The election of prof. Rosei recognises his pioneering contribution in the field of nanomaterials and his international leadership in research, innovation and training of young people. The ATSE Class of 2025 brings together 35 leading scientists and engineers who represent the cutting edge of technological progress and applied sciences worldwide. Among them, Federico Rosei is the only Foreign Member.

This recognition by the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering further highlights prof. Rosei's achievements as a world-renowned scientist.

The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent academy founded in Melbourne that brings together over 900 of Australia's leading engineers, technologists and scientists.

On the night of 22nd September, UniTS will turn off the lights on its façade to firmly condemn all ongoing wars.

At a time when the role of universities as builders of peace and bridges of collaboration between peoples is under threat, the University wishes to reaffirm the strategic importance of the free sharing of knowledge in improving international relations and addressing global challenges.

The statue of Minerva beside the grand staircase in Piazzale Europa – a symbol of knowledge – will remain in darkness tonight, not only to highlight this concern but also to express mourning for the victims of the conflicts underway.

On 21st September, the 32nd World Alzheimer’s Day will be observed. In Italy, more than 600,000 people live with the disease, a number that ISTAT estimates will exceed two million by 2030.

The University of Trieste is taking part in the 2025 campaign promoted by Alzheimer’s Disease International: ‘Ask About Dementia. Ask About Alzheimer’s.’ On Sunday 21st September 2025, the façade of Building A will be illuminated in purple, the colour of the forget-me-not, the flower symbol of the disease.

‘In the field of applied clinical research,’ recalls Paolo Manganotti, professor of Neurology at the University of Trieste and Director of the Neurology Clinic at the local healthcare provider ASUGI, ‘the frontier is represented by the forthcoming availability of monoclonal antibodies, which appear to slow the progression of the disease, and by new forms of brain neuromodulation. These minimally invasive approaches modify the activity of neurons and neural circuits with the aim of correcting abnormal signals and treating neurological and psychiatric disorders.’

To mark the occasion, the Italian Alzheimer’s Federation has presented the World Alzheimer Report 2025, drafted by Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). The document highlights rehabilitation as an effective and sustainable intervention, in line with new guidelines from the Italian National Institute of Health, and calls attention to two priorities: the provision of accessible telerehabilitation services throughout the country and the training of rehabilitation therapists, both of which are essential to improving the quality of life of people with dementia and their caregivers.

World Alzheimer’s Day offers an opportunity for the academic community to express solidarity and closeness to people with dementia, to their families and to

their caregivers, whose contribution remains invaluable and irreplaceable in ensuring continuity of care.

Across its institutional channels, UniTS will use the hashtags #AskAboutDementia and #AskAboutAlzheimers to connect with the international campaign and guide the public towards reliable information.