Research infrastructures

Applications are now open for the new edition of the Master in Data Management and Curation (MDMC), a one-year advanced programme promoted by Area Science Park and SISSA. The course is designed to train highly qualified professionals in the management, enhancement and curation of scientific data, based on a FAIR-by-design approach. Developed in collaboration between two leading institutions in the national and international scientific landscape, MDMC is open to ITS diploma holders as well as holders of Bachelor’s, Master’s or equivalent degrees. The programme provides both theoretical knowledge and practical skills in data management and curation, with a strong focus on data quality, integrity and documentation throughout the entire data lifecycle. These competencies are essential to ensure a more reliable, transparent and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, within the broader framework of Open Science and Data Governance practices. The programme runs for approximately 10 months and is entirely delivered in English. It combines intensive in-person teaching in Trieste with a six-month internship at research laboratories and partner organisations, during which participants develop an applied project. The programme is built around the integration of data design, quality, interoperability and the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, preparing professionals such as Data Stewards, Data Curators, Data Engineers and Research Data Managers – roles that are increasingly in demand across both academic and industrial sectors. Students will have dedicated access to the ORFEO HPC infrastructure at Area Science Park, including a dedicated virtual machine, storage space and computing resources specifically designed to support hands-on training in data management and data-intensive research. Five scholarships funded by Area Science Park, SISSA and OGS are currently available. These cover the tuition fee and provide an additional €3,000 contribution towards living expenses in Trieste during the in-person teaching period (September–December 2026). Subject to the availability of funding through agreements with external organisations – such as the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, research institutions or private companies – additional financial support, scholarships and awards may be made available and will be announced on the MDMC website. Applications must be submitted via the PICA platform by 1:00 pm (CET) on 30 June 2026. Selection will be based on the evaluation of the applicant’s CV and motivation letter; a short online interview may also be required. Full details on the call, admission requirements and course structure are available in the official call.

On 28 February, World Rare Disease Day is celebrated worldwide, drawing attention to a major health and social challenge: today, around 300 million people globally live with a rare disease, and treatments exist for only 5% of these conditions. According to data reported by the European Commission, between 27 and 36 million patients are affected across Europe, including more than 2 million in Italy, and in 70% of cases the disease manifests during childhood. These figures highlight the need for the scientific community to strengthen its commitment to research in order to accelerate and improve the diagnostic phase, open new therapeutic perspectives and support patients along what is often a complex care pathway. This is a particularly sensitive and important research area that requires coordinated efforts and the use of tools capable of connecting highly diverse expertise and, above all, transforming heterogeneous and complex data into knowledge useful for the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases. Area Science Park remains actively engaged in this field. Through regional and national research projects and initiatives, the organisation has long contributed to advancing scientific knowledge in the area of rare diseases. Within the activities linked to the MIRA project, funded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the Data Engineering Laboratory – LADE is currently developing a virtual assistant based on artificial intelligence technologies to improve the timeliness of diagnosis. Artificial intelligence has the potential to speed up the identification of symptoms associated with rare diseases, suggest to physicians and researchers when further diagnostic tests may be necessary, and ultimately support specialists in formulating a diagnosis. The virtual assistant – currently being tested together with the Friuli Centrale University Health Authority (ASUFC), the project’s lead partner – is being developed by the LADE laboratory in collaboration with Aindo, an innovative company based in the Area Science Park science and technology campus and specialised in the use of synthetic data that ensure both privacy protection and data reliability. More recently, the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) announced a €21 million funding allocation in support of the INGenIO project (Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure for the Study of Rare Diseases: Target Identification Driven by Multi-Omics and AI for Precision Drug Discovery and Delivery), coordinated by Area Science Park. The project aims to develop an integrated, interoperable and distributed infrastructure for the diagnosis of rare diseases, the understanding of their molecular mechanisms and the identification of personalised therapies. By bringing together specialised expertise and advanced instrumentation across the national territory, the project will cover the entire research pipeline, from disease investigation and computational modelling to the synthesis of new candidate drugs. Area Science Park’s commitment in this field builds on the organisation’s consolidated experience in designing and implementing research infrastructures, particularly in the life sciences domain. Examples include PRP@CERIC (Pathogen Readiness Platform for CERIC-ERIC Upgrade), an infrastructure dedicated to the study of pathogens, and ORFEO, the data centre that represents the digital core of Area Science Park’s research activities, supporting advanced projects every day in artificial intelligence, materials science, computational biology and genomics.  

The Nextstep program has officially opened its second round of applications, offering 10 fully funded PhD fellowships scheduled to begin in Autumn 2026. These positions represent the first tranche of a total of 18 spots that will be made available between February and March 2026. Program Details Supported by the MSCA COFUND actions of Horizon Europe, the project aims to cultivate a new generation of researchers within a world-class international setting. Research Fields: Physics, materials science, chemistry, biochemistry, and engineering Technological Focus: Utilization of advanced neutron, X-ray, and electron microscopy techniques to address challenges in sustainability and industrial competitiveness Host Institutions: ESRF, ILL, Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), and Area Science Park. In addition to working at one of these leading European research institutions, PhD candidates will benefit from enrollment in a doctoral program at a partner university and a secondment period of at least two months with academic or industrial partners. Regarding the PhD program to be developed at Area Science Park, the focus will be on the advanced study of functional materials using high-resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques, including in-situ and operando methodologies. The objective is to analyze the nanostructure of materials down to sub-Angstrom resolution, as well as to study their evolution under realistic operating conditions by applying various stimuli such as temperature, electric fields, and reactive environments (liquids or gases). The selected candidate will be enrolled in the PhD program in Nanotechnology at the University of Trieste and will conduct their research activity full-time at the Electron Microscopy Laboratory (LAME) of Area Science Park in Trieste. How to Apply: Submit your application at https://nextstep-programme.eu/job-offers/. Deadline: March 31, 2026.

The INGenIO project submitted by Area Science Park under the competitive call of the National Programme for Research, Innovation and Competitiveness 2021–2027 of the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) has secured funding of over €21 million. The funding will support the development of an integrated, interoperable and distributed infrastructure for the diagnosis, molecular understanding and identification of personalised therapies for rare diseases—conditions that affect around 30 million people in Europe alone. The project ranked fifth in the merit list, with a score of 96/100. INGenIO (Next-Generation Digital Infrastructure for the Study of Rare Diseases: Target Identification Guided by Multi-Omics & A.I. for Precision Drug Discovery & Delivery) aims to analyse clinical data from patients with rare diseases using Artificial Intelligence techniques designed to enable early diagnosis and identify potential drugs. On the experimental side, the project integrates Area Science Park’s multi-omics and digital technologies with magnetic resonance methods, electron microscopy and advanced preparative techniques available at partner laboratories. By bringing together specialised expertise and equipment across the national territory, the project will cover the entire value chain—from disease study to computational modelling and the synthesis of new drug candidates. INGenIO, coordinated by Area Science Park, builds on the organisation’s experience in designing and implementing research infrastructures focused on life sciences, including the Pathogen Readiness Platform for the CERIC-ERIC Upgrade (PRP@CERIC) for the study of pathogens and the ORFEO data centre. The project relies on a strong partnership including the University of Salerno, the University of Salento, the University of Florence, the CNR – Institute of Materials (IOM), the University of Naples “Federico II”, which brings collaboration with TIGEM, the CERM Magnetic Resonance Centre in Florence, and ENEA in Casaccia. This is complemented by a network of companies—particularly SMEs in Southern Italy—that have already expressed interest in collaborating on the project. The project structure integrates the expertise needed to cover the entire translational research cycle and its links with the industrial system. A distinctive feature of INGenIO, which expands the offering of the European infrastructure CERIC, is the functional integration of specialised laboratories distributed across the country and belonging to two other European research infrastructures, INSTRUCT and METROFOOD. In this way, a portfolio of instruments and expertise unique in Europe is oriented towards achieving a shared scientific objective—ambitious and with a high impact on health and society. “INGenIO’s 100% funding and its high ranking in the national list represent an important achievement for the organisation, which in recent years has focused its activities and investments on developing research infrastructures open to both the scientific community and industry,” said Area Science Park President Prof. Caterina Petrillo. “In particular, the project is an important booster to strengthen and relaunch the development strategies of the Area Sud site in Salerno, where, together with the university, we work on multi-omics characterisation in close synergy with our laboratories in Trieste”.

Creating a meeting place between different disciplines, where students and researchers can acquire new tools and skills to address scientific questions at the interface between physics and biology. This was the aim of the first biophysics school in Guatemala, that was held at the University of the Valley from November 26th to December 5th, promoted by ICTP – International Centre for Theoretical Physics with the participation of Area Science Park. Francesca Cuturello, a researcher at the Data Engineering Laboratory (LADE) at Area Science Park, took part in the initiative with the course “Machine Learning for Structural Biology.” In her presentation, Cuturello illustrated how statistical artificial intelligence models can be used to understand the structure and function of biomolecules. Edith Natalia Villegas Garcia, a PhD student in the Area, was also among the organizers and teaching assistant for the Machine Learning course. The school represents an important step toward building an international biophysics network, with the aim of promoting biophysics research and creating lasting links between Guatemalan universities and the international scientific community.

The World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW), promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO), will take place from 18 to 24 November under this year’s theme “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together: Protecting Our Present, Securing Our Future”. The main goal is to raise global awareness of the danger of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – a phenomenon that occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve to resist the effects of medicines, making infections increasingly difficult to treat. In the lead-up to this globally significant event – from health, scientific and social perspectives – Area Science Park organised today in Trieste, in collaboration with the University of Trieste, the International Workshop “Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance: Prevention, Monitoring and Counteraction”. The event focused on prevention, monitoring and counteraction strategies to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The initiative, developed within the PRP@CERIC project and promoted under the patronage of major national and international scientific institutions – including the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), the Italian Society of Microbiology (SIM) and the University of Trieste – the initiative brought together experts from academia, clinical research and industry to discuss the latest studies and innovative solutions aimed at addressing the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria. In recent years, scientific research has been striving to find effective answers and strategies to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and develop therapies capable of treating infections that no longer respond to traditional treatments. International scientific cooperation remains one of the key factors in tackling what is widely recognised as one of the greatest public health challenges of our time. During the workshop, experts emphasised that monitoring is a cornerstone of the Italian National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (PNCAR). Antimicrobial resistance is an evolutionary and global process responsible for 1.27 million direct deaths and 4.95 million total associated deaths each year – a figure that exceeds the combined totals of tuberculosis and HIV. The ESKAPE group of bacteria (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli), together with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Streptococcus pneumoniae, are currently among the main culprits of the most difficult infections to treat. “The situation regarding antibiotic resistance is highly heterogeneous. In Italy, we are observing growing caution and awareness in the prescription and correct use of antimicrobials — both in human medicine and in livestock farming — but globally, management of the issue remains inconsistent,” said Federica Mantovani of Area Science Park. The World Health Organization and the European Commission have both pointed out that, despite preventive measures, there is still a serious lack of innovation in this field. Of the roughly ninety drugs currently under development, only fifteen are considered truly innovative. It is crucial to intensify research — including basic research — to develop radically new therapies and overcome antibiotic resistance, since continuing to rely on existing therapeutic models will not be sufficient”. To combat the spread of AMR, coordinated action is needed at both international and local levels, based on antibiotic stewardship programmes – promoting the rational and targeted use of antimicrobials – along with continuous epidemiological surveillance and the “One Health” approach, which recognises the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health. “Antimicrobial resistance is a global phenomenon that requires local action,” highlighted Stefania Stefani of the University of Catania. Its impact varies greatly, with much more severe consequences in Africa, India and the Far East, where there are critical issues in accessing care and new antibiotics. In Italy, for instance, we face high mortality rates due to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative microorganisms. It is a multifactorial problem with no borders. To address it, the One Health approach is essential, recognising that resistance arises equally in humans, animals (livestock) and the environment. We must study the problem in all these contexts, identifying hotspots for resistant microorganisms — such as wastewater treatment facilities — to understand their origins and assess future risks to human health”. A significant portion of the workshop was devoted to presenting innovative therapeutic strategies, including research on human monoclonal antibodies isolated from convalescent patients, capable of preventing and treating bacterial infections and helping to identify new antigens for vaccine development. These advances open up concrete perspectives for countering resistant pathogens and reducing the global public health burden of AMR. “Monoclonal antibodies represent a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics,” explained Claudia Sala of the Biotecnopolo Foundation of Siena, “as they can target only pathogenic bacteria with high specificity, preserving the ‘good’ microbiota that is often harmed by conventional antibiotics. Monoclonal antibodies are already approved for other diseases, such as cancer and autoimmune disorders, where their use is well established. As for antibacterial antibodies, we are still in the discovery phase — and human trials take time, as they must go through multiple stages of testing”. Another promising approach, discussed by Mariagrazia Di Luca of the University of Pisa and the ICGEB, involves the use of bacteriophages, viruses that infect and destroy bacteria, emerging as precision antimicrobials for targeted therapies — for example, in cases of chronic infections. These viruses offer a highly specific solution because they selectively attack pathogenic bacteria while preserving beneficial microbiota. Thanks to scientific advances, researchers can now engineer phage cocktails and derivatives to overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms, with encouraging results already observed against multidrug-resistant pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain, particularly in terms of regulatory approval and large-scale production. Fighting antimicrobial resistance requires shared commitment and strengthened international cooperation — through the promotion of responsible antibiotic use, improved hygiene and infection prevention (including vaccination), and sustained support for research into new therapies.

From November 3 to 5, 2025, the EOSC Symposium 2025 took place in Brussels. The Symposium is an annual meeting organized by the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC), the European technological ecosystem that promotes open science and open data paradigms and provides services to manage, share, and reuse research data securely and in compliance with regulations. Among the speakers at the symposium, in the session Integrating Training & Skills in EOSC, was Mariarita de Luca, technologist at Area Science Park, who gave an insights on strategies to be implemented at the European level to integrate EOSC skills into national and community training programs, enhance the role of Competence Centres, and bridge the gap between policy and practical application in open science education. During her talk, Mariarita de Luca also shared the experience of theMaster in Data Management and Curation(MDMC), co-organized by Area Science Park and the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA). Now in its second edition, the Master provides young researchers with advanced skills in managing research data according to the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and includes innovative modules on open science and artificial intelligence, addressing emerging needs related to both FAIR and EOSC-oriented competencies.

Area Science Park has significantly upgraded the hardware infrastructure and computing power of ORFEO, the Data Center that serves as a cornerstone of the organisation’s research and innovation ecosystem. Supported by the PNRR – Mission 4 “Education and Research”, the Data Center expansion marks a major step forward in computing performance and in the delivery of advanced storage and data management services for scientific applications in numerical simulation and artificial intelligence.   A more powerful and sustainable Data Center The €3 million investment through PNRR funds has enabled the creation of a new 125 kW server room equipped with high-efficiency cooling systems, reducing both the carbon footprint and operational costs. Computing capacity has been enhanced with new servers for simulations and predictive modelling, supported by three AI nodes, each with eight state-of-the-art GPU accelerators. These resources make it possible to train large language models, run computer vision applications, and analyse complex datasets in a fraction of the time. Internal interconnections have been upgraded with ultra-low-latency, high-speed links to ensure smooth data flow even under heavy workloads. Storage capacity has been increased by several petabytes, with the addition of an ultra-fast solid-state memory layer for “hot” datasets, further improving performance and efficiency. “ORFEO represents a strategic investment for Area Science Park, enabling the full operation of the organisation’s research and technological infrastructures,” explained President Caterina Petrillo. “It manages the entire data lifecycle from our genomics and virology research laboratories, materials microscopy, and soon, from the green energy production demonstrator. ORFEO also provides AI and HPC access and services to companies, driving digital transformation and business competitiveness in coordination with the regional data center network. To sustain excellence and the quality of our data science investments, Area Science Park has developed an advanced training programme for young researchers and technologists”.   A key infrastructure for scientific research As the digital core of Area Science Park’s research activities, ORFEO supports advanced projects in artificial intelligence, materials science, computational biology, and genomics. Thanks to its high-performance architecture, the Data Center enables researchers to run complex simulations, train large-scale machine learning models, and analyse massive amounts of scientific data in a reproducible and traceable way. The infrastructure also powers a broad research ecosystem focused on AI model interpretability and the energy sustainability of computational processes. ORFEO hosts automated pipelines integrating high-performance and cloud computing, ensuring data interoperability and faster analysis. Its evolution strengthens collaborations with universities, research institutions, and national and European infrastructures, consolidating Area Science Park’s role as a hub for computational research and digital innovation.   An ally for digital business transformation Beyond supporting scientific research, ORFEO is a strategic asset for enterprises seeking to innovate through high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. Area Science Park provides consulting services, feasibility studies, and Proof of Concept projects to facilitate the adoption of advanced digital solutions—from numerical simulation to data science—within a secure, high-performance environment.   ORFEO is Area Science Park’s high-performance computing and artificial intelligence Data Center, designed to support scientific research and industrial innovation. Established in 2020 to serve the life sciences, it now functions as a cross-sector platform integrating HPC, AI, and big data management. It enables the training of advanced models, digital twin simulations, and FAIR-compliant data repositories linked to the organisation’s experimental laboratories. The infrastructure provides services in Infrastructure, Platform, and Software as a Service (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) modes, with ready-to-use environments and tools for data science and HPC. The cluster delivers millions of computing hours annually, is connected to national research backbones (LightNet, GARR), and follows open standards to ensure interoperability and security. Technical management is entrusted to the Data Engineering Laboratory (LADE), which brings together expertise in AI, data engineering, and high-performance computing.