Science corner

University of Genoa (UniGe) is a public institution founded in 1933 provided with scientific educational, organizational and financial autonomy and it is involved in the building of a European Area for Research and advanced professional training. UniGe is now composed of 22 departments within 5 schools, 13 interuniversity research centers and 2 centers of excellence. Its educational offer is composed of 124 Bachelor and Master courses, 28 PhD courses divided into 92 curricula, 53 specialization schools, 27 I and II level University Masters, 5 Libraries.

UniGe has a strong participation in the most important EU and international research and cooperation Programs, in particular it is currently involved in 85 running projects funded under FESR-INTERREG, LIFE and other international funding instruments and in 43 projects funded under H2020 (as of 31.12.2019). As regards the involvement in current and previous Life programmes, in particular, UniGe has been participating in 30 projects since 1999 (of wich 5 as Coordinating Beneficiary).

Discoveries, inventions, advances achieved by research activities are successfully commercialized, with 81 patent applications, 45 spin-off and a strong involvement in startup creation, with a specific business plan competition.

UniGe has a synergic collaboration with many national research organizations, innovative SMEs and industries which are located in Liguria and operate worldwide, such as the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), RINA Consulting among others, thus making Genoa very attractive for the brightest researchers in a variety of scientific disciplines. In an increasingly international competitive context, UniGe also considers the funding measures for mobility highly important to improve placement both at national and international level.

UniGe has a strong experience in Public Engagement and scientific dissemination activities.

Every year professors and researchers offer to the academia a high number of national and international congresses, workshops, seminars, conferences and lectures.

Furthermore UniGe directly organizes or participates to the organization of several events addressed to a large audience aiming to increase the scientific and cultural dissemination outside the academic world.

Ø  UniGe participation to events organized by other institutions/associations:

– Festival della Scienza

– Festival della Comunicazione

– Festival dello Spazio

INFN Sezione di Genova operates in the Physics Department of Università degli Studi di
Genova premises: the collaboration link with the University is deep and long-lasting.
Particle physics activities started in Genova in the early Fifties, with Ettore Pancini’s call
as experimental physics full professor. He contributed to set up the first laboratories and
to the foundation of the Sezione di Genova in 1954. Today INFN Sezione di Genova is
active on many of the research branches of INFN, from particle physics, with and
without accelerators, to nuclear physics, astrophysics and gravitational waves, theoretical
physics, new technologies development.

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) is a Foundation governed by Articles 14 et seq of the Italian Civil Code, established by Legislative Decree 269/03, converted by Law no. 326/2003 (Article 4 of the Statute), and financed by the State to conduct scientific research in the public interest, for the purpose of technological development.

IIT aims to promote excellence in basic and applied research and to promote the development of the national economy, also encouraging the promotion and dissemination of scientific culture.

The IIT Strategic Plan consists of 16 scientific Priorities belonging to the 4 Research Domains (RD).

Robotics advances the state of the art by developing new robotic platforms in hardware and software. This domain is divided in 5 Priorities: Mechatronics, Soft Robotics, Social Cognition and Human Robot Interaction, Biomedical Robotics and Intelligent Companion Robots

Nanomaterials includes new sustainable/biodegradable materials, nanocomposites, 2D materials, nanofabrication technologies and nanodevices, and new colloidal chemistry approaches. This domain is divided in 5 Priorities: Nanomaterials for Sustainability, Nanomaterials for Energy, Nanomaterials for Health and Exploratory Materials Science

Lifetech  is devoted to develop advanced genetic, molecular, electrophysiological, computational, imaging, and perturbation tools for dissecting the microscopic neural processes underlying brain function. This domain is divided in 3 Priorities: Neuroscience and Brain Technologies, RNA Technologies and Technologies for Healthcare

Computational Sciences is focused on massive simulations of physical systems, repeated numerous times to generate robust statistics and data mining of vast datasets to identify unexpected patterns. This domain will focus on 4 Priorities: Development HPC Algorithms & Software, Computational Modeling, Machine Learning, Deep Learning & AI and Computer Vision

IIT is active in public engagement and has dedicated offices for outreach (Outreach and Digital Production Office) and media communication (Communication and External Relations Office).

IIT  regularly participates to science dissemination events in public spaces, museums (in Italy and abroad) with workshops, exhibitions, conferences, hands-on activities.

General introduction to describe the institutions nature, mission and main features

The National Research Council (CNR) is the largest public research institution in Italy, the only one under the Research Ministry performing multidisciplinary activities.

Founded as legal person on 18 November 1923, CNR’s mission is to perform research in its own Institutes, to promote innovation and competitiveness of the national industrial system, to promote the internationalization of the national research system, to provide technologies and solutions to emerging public and private needs, to advice Government and other public bodies, and to contribute to the qualification of human resources.

In the CNR ‘s research world, the main resource is the available knowledge which means people, with their skills, commitment and ideas. This capital comprises more than 8000 employees, of whom more than half are researchers and technologists. Some 4000 young researchers are engaged in postgraduate studies and research training at CNR within the organization’s top-priority areas of interest. A significant contribution also comes from research associates: researchers, from Universities or private firms, who take part in CNR’s research activities.

Description of the Specific Department involved (if any)

Three institutes belonging to the National Research Council of Italy, operating also in the city of Genoa, are involved.

ICMATE – Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy

The Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy (ICMATE) institute has a strong multidisciplinary approach oriented towards innovation, owing to its consolidated and acknowledged expertise in chemistry, physics, and materials engineering.

Its unique know-how spans from innovative synthesis and theoretical modelling, to the correlation between structure and properties in nano-systems, materials and interfaces. ICMATE has an important role in the development of innovative molecules, functional surfaces and advanced inorganic and metallic materials, providing relevant solutions for advanced manufacturing and emerging technologies, energy efficiency and sustainability, and nanomedicine.

ICMATE has developed a strong connection with public institutions and industry, with consulting activities and knowledge transfer to the relevant stakeholders. An important aim of the institute is to disseminate knowledge and give contribution to educational programmes and scientific formation.

SCITEC – Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technology “Giulio Natta”

The Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies “Giulio Natta” (SCITEC) is an internationally recognised institution that carries out both basic and applied research in the following fields of the molecular sciences: biomolecules, chemical biotechnologies and mechanisms of bioregulation; macromolecular chemistry, physics, engineering and technology; theoretical and experimental modelling of molecular, macromolecular and nanostructured systems; development and application of new technologies to chemistry, materials science, life science, protection of cultural heritage. In the framework of the global challenges, research activities are also addressed towards the issues of safety, eco-sustainability and circular economy.

In the framework of the strategy adopted by CNR, SCITEC has developed a scalable model, named “3D Communication”, brought about to enhance and disseminate, also to the general public, scientific knowledge and research achievements.

IBF – Institute of Biophysics

The mission of the Institute of Biophysics (IBF) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) is to investigate biological systems using methods that are typical of the physical sciences. A wide range of subject areas are covered at IBF by a multidisciplinary research staff including physicists, physiologists, molecular biologists and biochemists. IBF plays an important role in research training, tutoring and science dissemination in schools.

Research activities include the study of membrane communication within and between cells, proteins structure and dynamics, molecular mechanisms of membrane permeability, physiopathology of genetic diseases, mathematical modelling of biological systems.

Previous experiences in Public Engagement activities and the European Researchers’ Night

The three Institutes previously described are all actively involved in outreach activities. The researchers in Genova are involved, among others, in:

ideation and implementation of different educational laboratories for specific events (for example, the Science Festival in Genova, the Space Festival in Busalla (GE) and other events)
seminars for a general public
tutoring of high school students within the framework of the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research programme named “School/Work Alternation” and PON-FSE (European Social Fund) projects (see below)
ideation and realisation of videos
Other relevant features of the institutions (research communication products/ publications/ European projects etc…)

Some departments were involved in/collaborated to the dissemination-focused Projects:

RawMaterials@Schools – ESEE – Project N. 19069/EIT/EIT Raw Materials, funded by European Institute of Innovation and Technology in the field of Raw Materials sector (EIT Raw Materials), aimed to promote and assist a wide dissemination action on Raw Materials related themes in schools and society (01/2020-12/2022)
PON-FSE (European Social Fund) 10.2.2A-FdRPOC-LI-2018-59 “Information Technologies applied to research in experimental sciences (biology, chemistry, physics)”; laboratory activities for high school students, 30 hours (year 2020).
Raw Matters Ambassador at Schools 3.0 – RM@Schools, Project N. 17146/2018/EIT/EIT Raw Materials. Flagship program in the Wider Society Learning segment of EIT Raw Materials, coordinated by CNR, 21 European partners from 13 countries (01/2018-03/2021)
PON-FSE (European Social Fund) 10.1.6A-FSEPON-LI-2018-28, “STEM professions – One week as a researcher in biology, chemistry and physics laboratories”; laboratory activities for high school students, 30 hours (year 2018).

L’ADI è l’associazione che rappresenta e tutela dottorandi/e, assegnisti/e di ricerca e giovani ricercatori/trici, impegnandosi al contempo per la valorizzazione del titolo di Dottore di Ricerca nel settore pubblico e nel settore privato. L’ADI è indipendente dai partiti e si compone di persone che dedicano in maniera volontaria e non retribuita il proprio tempo per migliore le condizioni di vita e di ricerca di tutti/e. Attualmente l’ADI è presente sul territorio nazionale con più di 30 sedi locali.

ADI Genova is the Genoa branch of the Associazione dottorandi e dottori di ricerca in Italia (ADI), an association that represents and supports PhD students, research assistants, and young researchers, and works to give a higher value to the title of PhD. It also deals with cultural initiatives aimed at enhancing and promoting PhD students and researchers. It brings together PhD students and PhDs from every department, boasting an extremely heterogeneous and multidisciplinary membership characterized by a high level of expertise. ADI Genova never officially participated to the European Researchers’ Night, but a concurrent event was organized in 2020 (a dialogue between the coordinator of ADI Genova and a Genoese scientist working abroad on science, brain drain and dissemination).