Research infrastructures

The kick off meeting at the Area Science Park officially got the “Pathogen Readiness Platform for CERIC-ERIC Upgrade” PRP@CERIC underway, the national project funded by Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (Ministero dell’università e della ricerca — MUR) within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza — PNRR) and coordinated by the research institute Area Science Park in partnership with the National Research Council (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche — CNR) (Institute of Materials [Istituto Officina dei Materiali] and Institute of Crystallography [Istituto di Cristallografia]), the University of Salerno, the University of Naples and the University of Salento. The project, which can count on funding of 41 million euro, aims to create a highly specialised research infrastructure, unique in Europe, which integrates instruments and expertise in biology, biochemistry, physics, bio-electronics, bio-informatics and data science to study pathogens of human, animal and plant origin and intervene quickly to prevent the spread of potential new outbreaks of diseases. A multidisciplinary approach is the key to achieving the fundamental and applied research objectives that the project aims to implement in compliance with the DNSH (Do No Significant Harm) principle, namely, not to cause significant harm to the environment. In line with practices already in place at the Area Science Park and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste laboratories, both academic and industrial users will be provided open access to the new infrastructure for studies and analyses. PRP@CERIC provides for the construction of new laboratories, as well as the updating of existing instruments and services. In fact, the laboratories of Area Science Park, Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, CNR and ICGEB (institutes of scientific excellence collaborating to implement the project) will be potentiated. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to leverage solid scientific principles and interdisciplinary and international collaboration, which are all fundamental to successfully reducing the human, social and economic impact of potential future risks of epidemics. Research infrastructures can play a key role in understanding the fundamental aspects of pathogenicity and in the effective development of prevention and healthcare strategies. Cutting-edge instruments, methodologies and technologies on diverse and mutually integrated scales (from single molecules to whole organisms) have the potential to meet the sensitivity and selectivity requirements required by the study of complex biological systems, thus contributing to shedding new light on host-pathogen interaction mechanisms. “The PRP@CERIC project was developed based on the expertise in genomics and data science already present at the research institute, integrating these competencies with those of the Area Science Park system. I refer, for example, to the research excellence in the field of virology at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), as well as the experimental capabilities of the Electra synchrotron light source, a research centre of international importance”, commented the President of Area Science Park, Caterina Petrillo, during the project’s kick off meeting. “This consolidated scientific expertise is complemented by certain specialties at the universities of Naples, Salento and Salerno, partners with whom we have already developed projects of national importance. The integration of varied expertise and the networking of laboratories located in different geographical areas will create a unique infrastructure in Europe that will be at the service of the world of research and business, nationally and internationally”. The PRP@CERIC project, which will continue for 30 months, it also adheres to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data guidelines, that is, the data produced will be processed in such a way as to be easily available, accessible, interoperable and reusable, in the spirit of open and collaborative science at an international level. Sustainability will also be extended to models of higher education, since the project involves the setting up of master’s course for graduates and training for the next generation of researchers. The “Pathogen Readiness Platform for CERIC-ERIC Upgrade” PRP@CERIC project is funded by the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) under Mission 4 “Education and Research”, Component 2 “From Research to Enterprise”, Investment Line 3.1 “Fund for the creation of an integrated system of research and innovation infrastructures”, funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU.

The next edition of the international Big Science Business Forum (BSBF) will be held in Trieste in the autumn of 2024. The focus of the event is technological innovation, a crossroads between research and industry, bringing together Europe’s major research infrastructures. Following in the footsteps of Copenhagen in 2018 and Granada in 2022, Trieste will be the city of the Big Science Common Market in 2024. Important international players involved in designing and building equipment using latest-generation technologies will be able to meet with technologists, researchers and managers of large research organisations. The Forum will be held at Trieste’s Porto Vecchio conference centre. Attendees will meet to discuss cutting-edge tech issues and needs in Big Science, including in light of the major investments in research infrastructure through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP). Trieste’s winning bid had the full backing of local authorities in the form of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and is the result of the combined efforts of Area Science Park, ILO Network Italia – the Industrial Liaison Officers for Italy at the major international Big Science organisations (CNR, ENEA, INAF and INFN) – and PromoTurismoFVG. The announcement and subsequent handover took place today in Granada at the closing ceremony for the 2022 edition, which was attended by over 1,100 participants and 190 exhibitors. Picking up the baton for Trieste was Friuli Venezia Giulia’s Councillor for Labour, Training, Education, Research, University and Family, Alessia Rosolen, who commented: “This is an important achievement for Friuli Venezia Giulia, and the city of Trieste, which will take centre stage for another prominent international event. Finding and facilitating the crossover between development goals in industry and the objectives of large research organisations is a way of turbocharging innovation and economic development.” Friuli Venezia Giulia’s candidate project chosen from a shortlist of proposals from different European countries. “The project’s success represents the success of Trieste as ‘the city of Science,’ with its interconnected network of scientific institutions, universities, and international research bodies and organisations. The real driving force behind research and innovation in a pivotal, central and eastern European region like Friuli Venezia Giulia is the collaborative network created among these institutions,” said Caterina Petrillo, President of Area Science Park, following the announcement. She added: “The Region has always been attentive to promoting everything the local area has to offer and was fully behind the candidacy, submitted thanks to the collaboration and expertise of institutions including Sincrotrone Elettra Trieste, home to the international headquarters of the CERIC-ERIC European infrastructure, and the Free Electron Laser FERMI, at the cutting edge of European research. And this is just the beginning. We will be working together with other scientific institutions in the area to organise the event and we hope that it will provide an opportunity for research and industry to meet and discuss key issues on an international scale.” Research infrastructure is a particularly strategic sector for Italy, which is involved in numerous large international research infrastructures and often contributes in-kind by building and installing technologically advanced equipment and services. This type of exchange has an important positive impact on national industry and the companies in the supply chain invited to submit a tender, who not only benefit from a direct return, but also have the chance to qualify as listed suppliers for the international research infrastructure market. “We also mustn’t forget that, during the building phase, research infrastructure is first and foremost a form of ‘construction site’ for implementing innovative technological ideas as regards engineering, design, the choice of materials and energy sustainability,” said President Petrillo. “The recent major investments in infrastructure as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan – which implies a commitment to keeping the facilities operational for at least ten years – make having a network in place that effectively links the needs of infrastructure to the relevant suppliers even more pressing. BSBF will tackle these issues, providing an effective platform for research infrastructures and businesses to meet and exchange ideas in Trieste.”

The Sentinel Immune Self is an immersive artwork, set inside an aquatic science-fiction world, that invites viewers to explore its different levels: it is a real-time simulation inspired by the human immune system and recent scientific investigation into the possible reactions of our organism with microplastics present in our blood. “The Sentinel Immune Self” is a project by Danish artist Sissel Marie Tonn, inaugurated on 4 October in Milan at MEET Digital Culture Center, an international center for art and digital culture funded by Fondazione Cariplo. Created in the context of the “:REWORLD”  collective, the work is the result of the artistic residency hosted this year by MEET Digital Culture Center and Area Science Park. The artist had the opportunity to collaborate with researchers at the Laboratory for Genomics and Epigenomics and the Orfeo Data Center of the National Research Body (lear more here), with support from the European programme S+T+ARTS, an initiative exploring potential collaboration between science, technology and art. The work, which will remain on display in Milan until 30 October 2022, unfolds with an interactive narrator that accompanies the public on a simulated journey within their own body. In the end, it is revealed that humans are not only transforming the world but have also been transformed. Click here to read more: > https://www.meetcenter.it/en/event/reworld-repairing-the-present/ > https://www.meetcenter.it/en/reworld-the-artists-on-show/

Apostolia Karamali, Head of the R&I Actors and Research Careers Unit within ERA & Innovation at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation visited Area Science Park today to find out more about the institution’s main areas of work and to see some of the on-campus research infrastructures. She was welcomed by Area Science Park President Caterina Petrillo and by Head of the Research and Innovation Division Stephen Taylor. Ms Karamali also met with Lawrence Banks, Director-General of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB); Alfonso Franciosi, President and CEO of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste; Giorgio Paolucci, Italian Ministerial Representative at the CERIC-ERIC General Assembly; Giorgio Rossi, Coordinator of the nanoscience research infrastructure NFFA-Trieste and NFFA-Europe; and Salvatore La Rosa, Head of the Technical Secretariat at the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR). The meeting was an opportunity to explore the ecosystem of infrastructures, labs and businesses at Area Science Park, as well as to discuss opportunities and strategies to be developed at the European level. Ms Karamali presented the priorities and next steps that the European Commission intends to take to strengthen the role of research and innovation infrastructures and their integration with technology platforms. At the end of the visit, the delegation looked round the Genomics and Epigenomics Laboratory at Area Science Park’s Basovizza Campus, as well as Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste and the Fermi Free-Electron Laser facility.