News

The most important European scientific journal on lung diseases, the European Respiratory Journal, has just published the results of a multidisciplinary research project carried out at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, which demonstrated how, thanks to the unique characteristics of the X-rays produced by the Elettra source, it is possible to obtain a significant improvement in X-ray images of the lung compared to a CAT scan made at a hospital. The study, coordinated by Dr. Giuliana Tromba from Elettra, involved the collaboration of Prof. Marco Confalonieri, Director of the Struttura Complessa Pneumologia (Complex Pneumology Structure) of the Cattinara University Hospital in Trieste, and doctors Christian Dullin and Willi Wagner, researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg in Germany. Currently, with the latest high-resolution CAT machines, it is possible to observe details of the human lung down to the limit of about 0.5 millimeters; however, extending visibility to smaller details would result in a significant increase in the radiation dose administered to the patient. At Elettra, the German-Italian research team demonstrated that, thanks to the innovative ‘phase contrast’ technique, which takes advantage of the peculiar characteristics of synchrotron light (such as monochromaticity and spatial coherence), a view of lung tissue can be obtained with effective resolutions of 0.067 millimeters, i.e., much higher, with a radiation dose to the patient reduced by 2-3 times compared to CAT. Practically speaking, with this technique it is possible to produce an image of a significantly higher quality by discriminating the various anatomical components and structures much better than with a conventional CAT scan. This makes potentially very useful information available for early recognition of pathological lesions such as tumors and pulmonary fibrosis. The experiments at Elettra were carried out at the SYRMEP (SYnchrotone Radiation for MEdical Physics) beamline and on an animal model, i.e. pig lungs, which have the property of being the most similar to human lungs. The lungs, obtained as waste from pig slaughtering in Germany, were transferred to Italy and exposed to the Elettra synchrotron light. The newly published results have made it possible to explore the morphology of lung tissue with an unprecedented level of resolution. With the new Elettra 2.0 light machine currently under construction, which will achieve much higher X-ray energies, these studies can be extended to patients in hospitals in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. In the examinations of patients, the new technique will allow the densitometric and structural changes caused by different pathologies to be highlighted very effectively, recognising the nature of the pathological lesion more quickly. According to Prof. Marco Confalonieri “The research work carried out in Trieste will soon allow us to study the human lung as if we had a huge microscope available to us, maximising resolution and mimimising the radiation dose. I am extremely satisfied that our multidisciplinary research work has received this important European recognition. It is the result of the multi-year collaboration between the School of Specialisation in Respiratory Diseases of the University of Trieste and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste with which we have had an agreement since the opening of the School of Specialisation”. Dr. Giuliana Tromba is also delighted with the work done and the results obtained, which have been appropriately recognised and enhanced in value by this prestigious publication: “The research team hopes to soon be able to make available to the Trieste healthcare system an innovative way of viewing the alterations created in the lung by serious diseases such as tumors and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.” The first lung CAT clinical protocol will be aimed primarily at cases where traditional diagnosis leaves interpretive doubts. These are the situations in which the potential of synchrotron light proves crucial in understanding and characterising tissue abnormalities. The President of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Prof. Alfonso Franciosi, expressed great appreciation for the research carried out, announcing that “from 2026 onwards, when the new Elettra 2.0 light machine becomes operational, a dedicated radiology clinic will be set up on the new SYRMEP-Life Science line which will be able to accommodate patients from all over the Region and will be a unique worldwide resource for medical research”. Download the research study here

Contrary to the widely held belief that Dengue is severe in Secondary infections, a new collaborative study from ICGEB New Delhi has found that a substantial number of primary dengue infections also carry severe disease conditions. Published in Nature Medicine this week, an analysis of severe dengue cases in a cohort of children in India has shown that more than half could be attributed to primary rather than secondary infection. Over the past two decades, Dengue infections have greatly increased in India and India now has one of the largest number of dengue cases globally. With 4 serotypes of the dengue virus, typically, Dengue patients fall into two categories- one, those experiencing the infection for the first time, known as primary infections and those, who get re-infected after a previous exposure, known as secondary infections. Traditionally, the prevailing belief has been that only secondary infections pose significant risks, leading much of the research into vaccine development and treatment to focus on this group. But now this widely held perception seems to loose its ground. A new study carried out in India and based on a wide sampling approach has shown that it is not just the secondary infections but the primary infections as well which can be severe and could jeopardise the life of the patients. This finding suggests a need to reevaluate our understanding of Dengue and the strategies employed to combat it. Dr. Anmol Chandele, Group Leader of the ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Program, ICGEB New Delhi, India, in collaboration with Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences AIIMS, New Delhi, and St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, India authored the paper on “Severe disease during both primary and secondary virus infections in pediatric populations.” Dr. Chandele states: “Dengue virus infection is a huge public health problem in India. Many patients develop severe disease that can also be sometimes fatal. However, much of the ongoing vaccine intervention research is based on the currently widely held global belief that primary dengue infections are not usually dangerous and that the severe dengue disease is mainly due to secondary dengue infections.” She continues: “Our study questions this currently widely held belief and shows that primary infections constitute a substantial fraction of severe disease cases and fatalities.” This finding has important implications for public health and in developing and implementing effective and safe vaccine strategies for controlling dengue. These findings are highly relevant not only in the Indian context but also on a global scale since dengue viruses continue spreading worldwide. Italy is a striking example of the expansion of dengue as also evidenced by a recent study being published on which Dr. Alessandro Marcello, head of the ICGEB Molecular Virology laboratory operating in the Area Science Park in Trieste, Italy, collaborated. “During 2023,” he tells us, “In Italy we had the highest number of cases and autochthonous transmissions of dengue so far. Climate change, above all, but also the movement of people, are the biggest contributors to the circulation of dengue in new areas. The study by our Indian colleagues shows us the need to protect our population also from the first encounter with the virus.” The Chandele lab studies human immunology of infectious diseases, vaccine research and therapeutics. The ICGEB-Emory Vaccine program is a unique partnership established to facilitate international collaborations in vaccine research for tackling diseases of public health importance in developing countries.

The 20th CERIC-ERIC Call for Proposals, that will allow coordinated access to more than 60 instruments and support laboratories, is now open. As usual, in addition to the possibility to access several instruments and laboratories through a single application, CERIC-ERIC offers support for mobility. To apply, use the link “Submit a new CERIC proposal” in the VUO (https://vuo.elettra.trieste.it/) As usual, for the 20th call (the first of 2024) there will be two deadlines: March 4th 2024, at 17:00 CET, to have a pre-evaluation and the possibility to improve your proposal; April 2nd 2024, at 17:00 CEST (final submission), recommended only for users that are experts in all the techniques requested. What is new in this call? Over the last years CERIC has been increasing its capacities in the field of Energy Materials. To this end, three energy storage facilities with state-of-the-art techniques in the field of fuel cells and batteries research, have been recently included in CERIC open access offer: – European Commissions’s Joint Research Centre for Battery Energy Storage Testing Laboratory and the Fuel Cell and Electrolyser Testing laboratory in Petter, The Netherlands – Hydrogen Technology Centre (HTC) at Charles University in Prague Additional instruments available – AMS-IRMS Accelerator Mass Spectrometry for radiocarbon dating at the CEDAD laboratory of the University of Salento – Next Generation Sequencing at the Laboratory for Genomics and Epigenomics (LAGE) in Trieste CERIC continues to offer access to: – Holographic Electron Microscopy (HoloTem) at University of Salento in Lecce, Italy – Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (MSI) at University of Salerno, Italy For further information about the call, please visit the website: https://www.ceric-eric.eu/users/call-for-proposals/

Two new quantum physics laboratories have been inaugurated at the University of Trieste: the ArQuS (Artificial Quantum Systems) laboratory, where artificial quantum systems will be studied through the control of single atoms, and the QCI (Quantum Communication and Information) laboratory where research on and technological development of new solutions for quantum communications on optical fiber and in free space will be developed. The laboratories are located in the CNR spaces within the Area Science Park, Basovizza Campus, and are directed by Francesco Scazza, associate professor in Physics of Matter at the University of Trieste’s Physics department, and by Alessandro Zavatta, senior research scientist of the National Institute of Optics at the National Research Council (INO-CNR). Laboratories devoted to frontier research are thus enriching the new master’s degree curriculum in Quantum Sciences and Technologies, the curriculum in Physics of Matter and the three-year Degree course in Physics. The University of Trieste boasts a well-respected tradition in the field of quantum mechanics, supported by interactive and collaborative efforts with important international research bodies. The Friuli Venezia Giulia region, and in particular Trieste with its university, is a leader in the field of quantum communications thanks to the “Quantum FVG” and “QuFree” projects financed by the Region and coordinated by the University of Trieste. The former aims at developing a regional fiber optic network for secure data transmission via quantum technology, with the QCI laboratory joined to it. The latter, however, is an ambitious research programme on quantum communication in the air and aims at paving the way for secure connections via satellite. ArQuS Laboratory – Cold atoms for quantum sciences and technologies The ArQuS (Artificial Quantum Systems) laboratory, the only one of its kind in Italy, was set up to create artificial quantum systems through the precise control of individual ytterbium atoms. Via laser beams and magnetic fields, atoms, which are by nature identical to each other and very delicate (to the point that their wave-like quantum nature could be destroyed by any external disturbance) can be slowed down in their movement and thus be thoroughly observed, offering a precious “magnifying glass” for the study of otherwise inaccessible processes and phenomena. This is made possible by a cutting-edge experimental apparatus within which atoms are isolated from the external environment and cooled to a temperature of only one-millionth of a degree above absolute zero, capturing them in real traps based on laser light. Laser radiation, also a wave, if appropriately synchronised with the internal oscillation of the atom, can in fact be used to control particles in an extremely precise manner without destroying their quantum nature, but on the contrary, harnessing it for new technological applications. QCI Laboratory – Quantum networks for maximum security of information systems The QCI laboratory was created to serve the research on and technological development of new solutions for quantum communications on optical fiber with the added purpose of training physics and engineering students at the University of Trieste and collaborating with the major research and training institutions in the field. The field of quantum information, a new subject born from the intermingling of computer science and quantum mechanics, is in fact a promising area that has made important progress in recent years. Thanks to the equipment present in the laboratory, which makes it possible to generate quantum cryptographic keys and experiment with ultra-secure communications, the researchers aim at laying the foundations for creating real quantum networks for the manipulation and transmission of data capable of guaranteeing maximum security. The QCI quantum communication laboratory was funded by the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region through the “Quantum FVG” and “QuFree” projects. The ArQuS laboratory, however, has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) within the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation (Grant Agreement no. 949438) and from the Ministry of Universities and Research within the FARE (FastOrbit project) and PRIN 2022 (CoQuS project) programmes.

The opening of the IMPRESS Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) Call for Tenders marks a significant milestone in advancing the frontiers of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The IMPRESS PCP process presents an extraordinary opportunity for innovative companies to collaborate in crafting a cutting-edge interoperable platform for TEM. The IMPRESS project, funded by the European Union, envisions a paradigm shift in TEM through the introduction of an innovative interoperable platform. This platform, characterized by standardized hardware and software interfaces and multifunctional components, aims to transcend current limitations in TEM. Based on a modular cartridge concept and open designs, it will create solutions that can be transferred interchangeably along the microscope column, between microscopes and across instruments. Bid Submission Technology providers keen on participating in the IMPRESS PCP Call for Tenders must register their companies on Subreport, accessible via the following link. Once registered, access to the Subreport platform allows for bid submission, document downloads, notifications and more via the following link. Key deadlines to note for bid submission: 30th January 2024 (13:00 hrs CET): Deadline to make comments on the IPR clauses 1st March 2024 (13:00 hrs CET): Deadline to submit questions 29th March 2024 (13:00 hrs CET): Bid submission deadline The contact address for any questions related to the content of the IMPRESS-PCP Call for Tenders is: impress-pcp@fz-juelich.de. In addition, Subreport has a helpdesk in case of questions or problems related to the use of the Subreport platform (oliver.mueller@subreport.de; oliver.schulze@subreport.de). For clarifications or queries regarding the PCP procedure, a comprehensive Q&A list addressing technical matters, open innovation and PCP issues is available on the IMPRESS website, here. To foster collaboration among companies and facilitate meeting the tender criteria, a Matchmaking Tool is available on the IMPRESS website, here. This tool enables interested parties to form partnerships, facilitating exchanges of expertise, skills and resources among potential partners whose needs align. Further details about the IMPRESS-PCP Call for Tenders and bid submission guidelines are provided at this link.   IMPRESS PCP: The Way Forward “The IMPRESS PCP Call for Tenders invites all interested parties to present their bids to develop an innovative interoperable platform based on correlative, adaptable and transferable cartridges with a standardized interface”, points out Regina Ciancio, the IMPRESS Project Coordinator. Once the PCP Call for Tenders concludes, selected companies with a diverse set of scientific and technological expertise will engage in a competitive three-phase development journey to develop the interoperable platform. The initial phase involves designing innovative solutions and verifying their technical and economic feasibility. The most promising prototypes will undergo development and testing at the lead procurer’s facilities during the second phase. The final phase will witness testing and validation of the chosen prototypes in operational environments. “The interoperable platform could be implemented on different transmission electron microscopes from different microscope manufacturers, other analytical instruments, and could be adapted by individual users to meet their unmet scientific needs to obtain innovative solutions”, says Rafal Dunin-Borkowski, the IMPRESS Project Scientific Coordinator. Collaborative endeavors between companies, scientists and end-users will culminate in establishing the IMPRESS innovation ecosystem. This Research & Innovation journey presents an exciting opportunity for companies to expand the horizons of TEM, unlocking business prospects and easing access to new sectors and markets. About IMPRESS IMPRESS (Interoperable electron Microscopy Platform for advanced RESearch and Services) is a cutting-edge Horizon Europe Research & Innovation project aimed at transforming the field of transmission electron microscopy. Bringing together 19 partners from 11 European countries, the project will develop a new generation of instrumentation that is flexible and adaptable. Based on open standards, interfaces, data formats and interchangeable components, the platform will allow for customized, interoperable arrangements. For more information about the IMPRESS project, visit the IMPRESS website and follow the project on LinkedIn.   IMPRESS-PCP LIST OF PROCURERS Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZ Jülich), Germany (Lead Procurer) Area di Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica di Trieste (AREA), Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) ERIC, Czech Republic Fundacio Institut Catala de Nanociencia i Nanotecnologia (ICN2), Spain Leibniz Institut für Festkörper und Werkstoffforschung Dresden EV (IFW), Germany Universiteit Antwerpen (UAntwerp), Belgium

After the latest positive experience with the Danish artist Sissel Marie Tonn, Area Science Park repeats the experimentation of artists’ residencies, moments of the physical presence of artists within scientific institutions to give life to contaminations of ideas and quality planning in art and science. Again this year, thanks to the collaboration with MEET Digital Culture Center of Milan, Area hosted Studio Above&Belove, the artist duo, winner of challenge no. 6 of the “S+T+ARTS in the City” call on December 6th and 7th. The challenge launched to artists from all over the world, in fact, asked them to investigate and narrate, through their own language and poetics, one of the most critical passages that the world must face at the moment: green and digital transformation require the use of an imposing amount of resources that the EU has defined as critical raw materials, i.e. a series of raw materials that are difficult to find or that have a high environmental impact when extracting or recycling them. With the Regenerative Symphony project, Daria Jelonek, German, and Perry-James Sugden, English, from Studio Above&Below were the winners of the residency in Area Science Park. Their project is to create an interactive audiovisual installation generated by an artificial intelligence model that uses self-analysis, monitoring of minerals and market analysis of the northern region of Italy as input data, to recognise, decide and predict the output of an immersive modular installation. The public will have the opportunity to interact by creating new objects starting from the recycling of others and thanks to sustainable energy sources. The AI model reacts to requests, identifying different solutions, including recycling critical materials from unused e-waste or alternative design decisions. During computation, the digital experience in space is reorganised, leading to a new immersive environment. “Our Regenerative Symphony project focuses on critical materials, various artificial intelligence systems and e-waste recycling. – explain Daria Jelonek and Perry-James Sugden – We are particularly interested in using a variety of artificial intelligence tools useful for identifying new materials or new ways of recycling electronic waste, an issue that currently represents a major problem. Ours will be an audiovisual installation made up of a computational system and a variety of 3D-generated elements that we will create, with the idea of working on different minerals or critical materials, imagining how they can be reorganised and reused. What will be of key importance is sound, which is why we called the project Regenerative Symphony, creating a special soundscape. The visit to the laboratories of the Area Science Park will help us learn more about innovative materials and the different types of databases that can help us become familiar with innovative materials, thanks to discussions with scientists and researchers”. Area Science Park, as co-host institution of the residency, has the task of inspiring artists through access to resources, open data and technological platforms focused on material, data and life sciences. In the first two days of live residency, Daria Jelonek and Perry-James Sugden visited the laboratories and had discussions with researchers working as part of the Innovative Materials Platform, which includes the Electron Microscopy Laboratory and the Data Engineering Laboratory, and with expert technologists who deal with research and innovation projects in the field of the circular economy and the enhancement of research. The discussion with the artists was then also extended to researchers from other entities in the Area Science Park system, such as Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, where the artists had the opportunity to visit and learn about the main ongoing research on the topics of “critical materials” and their importance for the green and digital transformation we are facing nowadays. The artists will have 9 months to create the work which will be exhibited at Sonar in Barcelona and by Ars Electronica in Linz.

The selected enterprises work on everything from mixed reality to simplify work during space walks, through to mouldable solid-state supercapacitors for high-performance electric vehicles, as well as the space “sunflower” that will enable orbiting structures to accumulate more energy with solar panels. Eleven Italian startups have been selected to participate on 4 December at the World Trade Centre in Seattle, in the US, in the Primo.Innovare. summit, an internationalisation programme created by Area Science Park and Serena–private operating foundation, giving Italian startups the opportunity to engage with some of the most important players in the US market. After the first edition in Seattle in 2022, and the following events in New York and Boston in 2023, this new event takes place in the state of Washington. The goal is to introduce 11 young, innovative Italian enterprises active in the sectors of artificial intelligence and aerospace to one of the most vibrant areas for these sectors in the US and in the world. The programme The event on 4 December will begin with a visit to the Boeing factory in Renton, in the metropolitan area of Seattle. The startups will be taken to the manufacturing heart of the aircraft giant, discussing their innovative solutions. In the afternoon, the main part of the event will take place at Seattle’s World Trade Centre. The summit will be introduced by the Deputy Consul General of Italy in San Francisco, Davide Corriero, before handing over to the startups, which will present to an audience of around one hundred investors and big companies from the area, including members of the Greater Seattle Partners, which numbers 900 local businesses in the aerospace sector alone (including the aforementioned Boeing and Blue Origin). Some of the most important will take part in the round-table session to be held during the event, with executives from Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon (Project Kuiper) and Google (NASA Project), as well as Umbra Group, an Italian industrial enterprise that is already a supplier of Boeing with operations in the state of Washington. The event will also see the participation of Eviation Aircraft – manufacturer of the first twin-engine electric plane, Alice – and analyst AIR-Aerospace Intelligence. Primo. Innovare. goes beyond the physical event. The pitches made by startups will be uploaded and remain available in the virtual expo created on the website primoinnovare.org, providing a further opportunity to cultivate business remotely over the coming months. Organisation The varied delegation of Italian startups was selected by the national research institution Area Science Park, which organised the event together with Serena. “With Primo. Innovare. we are creating an exclusive networking opportunity for innovative startups from various regions of Italy, offering them a unique platform to present their businesses to investors, venture-capital funds and leaders of some of the biggest US companies. Once again, innovation is a bridge between Italy and the US, common ground on which to strengthen relations between our countries and build new relationships”, stated Fabrizio Rovatti, technological director at Area Science Park.  “Historically, Italy has always been at the forefront of the aviation industry. Primo. Innovare. now introduces a delegation of new entrepreneurs to Seattle, with their innovative enterprises demonstrating recent advances in the aerospace sector. This acceleration is made even more exciting by the development of artificial intelligence systems, included as another central theme of this year’s summit. Following the excellent results of the 2022 edition, we continue to focus on synergies between Italy and the Pacific Northwest of the US, an area boasting 900 companies working in the sector offering employment to over 99,000 people in the Seattle area alone”, declared Davide Viganò cofounder and President of Serena Corp, a non-profit foundation focused on promoting all that is beautiful about Italy and its entrepreneurial culture, and, above all, generating value, collaborations and opportunities for innovation between Italy and the Pacific Northwest. The project is also supported by Innovit, the Italian Innovation and Culture Hub in San Francisco, a physical space combining activity fostering technological, scientific and innovative Italian ecosystems – through its Innovation Centre – with that of the Italian Institute of Culture, opened in 2022. The Centre has enhanced the range of innovation solutions offered by Primo. Innovare. bringing innovative enterprises to Seattle that participated in the Call4Innovit-Space Economy acceleration initiative in 2023. The selected startups Arca Dynamics | www.arcadynamics.space | Rome B4 Group | www.b4-group.it | Milan Blacks | www.blacks-composites.it | Ravenna Delta Space Leonis | www.deltaspaceleonis.com | Rome Geckoway | www.geckoway.com | Rome Involve Space | www.involvespace.it | Como Miprons | www.miprons.com | Rome Nano-Tech | www.italnanotech.com | Ascoli Piceno Nabu | www.nabu.ag | Turin Novac | www.novacsupercap.com | Modena Revolv Space | www.revolvspace.com | Turin

Area Science Park has joined the network of ELIXIR, an intergovernmental organisation pooling life-sciences resources from across Europe. This includes databases, software tools, training materials, cloud storage and supercomputers. ELIXIR’s aim is to coordinate these resources to form a unified infrastructure. ELIXIR makes it easier for scientists to find and share data, exchange expertise and agree on best practices, helping them to acquire knowledge on how living organisms function. Through the Technological Innovation Research Institute Area Science Park manages cutting-edge research infrastructure and performs pioneering research in the fields of life sciences, materials science and data science, with the use of its three pioneering laboratories: Genomics and Epigenomics Laboratory (LAGE), Electron Microscopy Laboratory (LAME) and Data Engineering Laboratory (LADE). The Italian Hub of ELIXIR, coordinated by the Italian National Research Council, currently includes 28 partners, including research institutes, universities and technology institutions. ELIXIR-IT aims to unite all Italian researchers in the field of bioinformatics, promoting sharing and development of expertise, integrating the various Italian bioinformatics resources recognised at international level and contributing to their integration into European infrastructure. The Technological Innovation Research Institute hosts and coordinates various laboratories dedicated to life sciences, including through the PRP@CERIC project, and the services of ORFEO, a datacentre optimised to handle computational biology workflows. Specifically, the ELIXIR-IT platform will see integration of DPCfam, a machine-learning method for automatically identifying protein families from large datasets, developed and managed by the Data Engineering Laboratory.

An automated, zero-emissions chemical reactor that will enable digitalisation of chemical processes, transforming them into files. This is the innovative technology from Katakem, a startup from Catanzaro, in Southern Italy, which won first place in Startup Marathon 2023. The contest run by Area Science Park, UniCredit and Fondazione Comunica ended on Tuesday 14 November, with an event hosted at the UniCredit offices in Verona. Ten finalists were selected by a panel of judges made up of entrepreneurs, investors and industry experts, from an initial pool of 61 innovative companies who entered the contest from 34 different incubators, accelerators and university research centres. Working in the sectors of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, agritech, robotics and life sciences, the ten startups competed for access to the UniCredit Start Lab acceleration programme. The company that came out victorious was Katakem – put forward by the Calabrian innovation hub Entopan – which has developed technology capable of accelerating the development of new molecules and their time-to-market. The new technology is called OnePot, an automated, zero-emissions chemical reactor that digitalises a chemical process, transforming it into a file that can be sent anywhere in the world and instantaneously replicated. Also on the podium were Enphos from Verona, put forward by the INSTM consortium, and Rozes, a spin-off from the University of Padua. Enphos develops solutions for producing green and white hydrogen, which include high-efficiency electrolyzers to generate green hydrogen and artificial-photosynthesis materials and systems to produce white hydrogen and e-fuels. It is working on developing a system for long-term energy storage. Rozes is an innovative startup specialising in artificial intelligence that helps economic operators to anticipate the risk of entering business relationships with potentially dangerous and financially unstable companies. It has developed an index for measuring a company’s risk level by analysing accounting anomalies deriving from fraud, money laundering, false invoicing and fraudulent bankruptcy. The final of the 2023 edition was the first live event since the contest was first launched in 2020. For all the startups that reached the final stage, the event was an opportunity to meet and network with entrepreneurs and investors, participating as the audience for pitch sessions and then in one-to-one sessions with the finalist companies. The final also saw the participation of the best female-led startup of Startup Marathon 2023, already recognised during the Digital Day on 27 October – the online event during which the finalists were selected from the 35 shortlisted companies. This was Bioverse, which produces electromedical equipment designed for use in emergency settings and low-resource contexts. The company has developed Corax, a low-cost, transportable device capable of reproducing the characteristics of an intensive-care room for burns patients, enabling safe transport to hospital structures. Thanks to this success, the startup joined the shortlist for the international acceleration programme Prospera Women. Bioverse was nominated for the initiative, in its role as business accelerator, by Almacube, the innovation hub of Confindustria Emilia Area Centro and the University of Bologna. The event concluded with a presentation from the team Enacuts Polimi of the Politecnico di Milano University, winner of the Enacuts national competition. “We can confirm that the fourth edition of Startup Marathon has been a great success”, declared Roberto Pillon, Head of the Business Generation Unit at Area Science Park. “Not only from a quantitative perspective, with this edition having the highest ever number of participants, but above all in qualitative terms. The startups that took part are in fact a representative sample of the innovation potential of our country – potential that Startup Marathon is working to optimise”. “The final confirmed the value of the startups selected by a panel of judges that are highly competent in the area of innovation”, commented Renzo Chervatin, Head of Regional Development at UniCredit – North-East. “Here at UniCredit, we are very satisfied with the result of this fourth edition of Startup Marathon, which has held an in-person event for the first time at our offices in Verona, for the final. The project demonstrates how open innovation can be the key to generating value for the entire economic and social system: for businesses with clear goals for growth and positioning in the market, for startups on their own path to growth, and for the innovation ecosystem supporting these startups. At UniCredit, we want to play an active role in this process and we believe that participation as a partner of Startup Marathon clearly demonstrates this. Having established an ecosystem of such great value is very exciting.” “There are many startups competing, many businesses and investors participating and many different interests: a challenging but winning formula for those wishing to invest in innovation,” said Gianni Potti, Chair of Fondazione Comunica and founder of DIGITALmeet. “This was an unmissable occasion that has made Startup Marathon one of the leading Italian events in the sector, perfectly integrated with the places we find innovation: incubators, science and technology parks and universities, to promote and further the best Italian entrepreneurial ideas, and to strengthen and support many projects that would otherwise risk being lost without the support of solid innovation organisations.” Launched in 2020, over the years Startup Marathon has selected and recognised innovative companies operating in sectors such as artificial intelligence, diagnostics, IoT and sustainability. Winners of past editions include CAEmate, an enterprise that developed software for the predictive maintenance of infrastructure; Aisent, which provides services based on AI, machine learning and computer vision; and M2Test, a spin-off from the University of Trieste with an innovative method for diagnosing osteoporosis. Partners In addition to the three promoters, Startup Marathon is supported by a range of partners. These are: Unicorn Trainers Club, Elis Innovation Hub, Italian Angels for Growth, Italian Business Angel Network, Giordano Controls, Fastweb, Venture Factory, Start Tech Ventures, Liftt, Carel, Eatable Adventures, Chiesi, Manni Group, Maxfone, Dba Group, Angel for Women, Eurotherm and HiRef. The startups competing The ten startups in the final were: Agreen Biosolutions, Audio Innova, Biomeye, Cyber Evolution, Cyberneid, Enphos, Katakem, Lightscience, Robotizr and Rozes. Startup Marathon is a contest for innovative enterprises open to startups, innovative SMEs and university spin-offs put forward by incubators and business accelerators. Run by Area Science Park, UniCredit and Fondazione Comunica, since 2020, it has selected the most important innovative companies in Italy and accelerated their go-to-market strategy.

Generative AI startup Aindo, which has developed and patented synthetic data generation technology, announces a €6 million Series A round led by United Ventures, with a participation from existing investor Vertis SGR through the fund Vertis Venture 3 Technology Transfer. This new funding will allow Aindo to grow the team by 10 more employees, and continue developing solutions that facilitate the use of artificial intelligence in strategic sectors such as healthcare, finance, and public administration. Synthetic data is data that is created artificially as opposed to generated by real-world events. It’s manufactured algorithmically and is used as a substitute for testing purposes and to train machine learning (ML) models. Aindo’s team aims not only to consolidate its position as a leader in synthetic data but also to revolutionize the concept of data mobility, understood as the secure exchange of information, with particular attention to privacy protection. United Ventures, a venture capital company focused on investments in high-tech companies, leads the investment round, a testimony to the growing role of synthetic data in promoting secure information exchange. Vertis, which invests in innovative Made in Italy projects, is betting on the strategic dimension of the technology. According to Gartner, synthetic data is among the emerging trends in AI. By 2024, 60% of the data used in AI projects will be synthetically generated compared to only 1% in 2021. A study by Grand View Research forecasts that the global synthetic data market will be valued at €1.79 billion by 2030. The technology is in high demand from sectors ranging from healthcare and finance, to banking, and insurance. Notably, in the healthcare sector, Aindo’s synthetic data generation technology is already widely applied, from improving predictive analysis of pharmacological therapies in rare diseases to optimizing patient care in a hospital setting, to monitoring remote healthcare by anticipating potential risk situations. “We’re thrilled to announce this new funding round, which will fuel our growth at a crucial phase of the company’s development.” says Daniele Panfilo, co-founder and CEO of Aindo. “When we launched Aindo, Generative AI was barely known outside academic environments. In record time, it’s grown into the next billion dollar category in tech, thanks to its mind blowing capabilities that have captivated the world’s imagination. Our goal is to make data-driven innovation increasingly secure and ethically responsible for entire industries. Most organizations possess valuable structured information stored within their databases that cannot be used due to privacy protection. Creating synthetic data with generative AI solves that: the data Aindo regenerates behaves similarly to real data while fully protecting individuals’ privacy.” Giulia Giovannini, partner at United Ventures, comments, ” The AI revolution still faces many obstacles, including data inaccessibility, long processing times, privacy concerns, and ethical issues related to data collection. Synthetic data is an answer to these problems, offering companies a tool of great importance to fully exploit the potential of artificial intelligence while ensuring the necessary privacy in data anagement. We believe that Daniele and his team have the right ambition to scale the platform internationally in the field of synthetic data, and we are excited to contribute to this round, as our very first investment from UV3, United Ventures recently launched fund.” Roberto Della Marina, operating partner of Vertis SGR and managing partner of Venture Factory, adds, “Synthetic data tech is undeniably one of the most promising emerging trends in AI. It’s what we call a horizontal innovation. In the coming years, the demand for synthetic data will be ubiquitous for all sectors relying heavily on data, particularly in healthcare, finance, and insurance. Aindo’s technology has the potential to impact millions of people’s lives.” Aindo was born from the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste. Aindo’s Synthetic Data Aindo’s synthetic data is not collected empirically but generated artificially through machine learning models. These models can create artificial data that faithfully reproduces the characteristics and behaviors of real data. The synthetic data generated by Aindo thus maintains the statistical utility of the original data. Being artificial, they are devoid of sensitive information and can be safely exchanged and analyzed. Applications of Synthetic Data Synthetic data enables the application of Artificial Intelligence in high-impact social and business areas, such as healthcare research or developing technologies for financial markets. Healthcare Sector – Synthetic data finds application in training artificial intelligence models necessary for developing prognostic and predictive tools in the healthcare field, aimed at improving diagnostics and treatment of numerous diseases. Patient health data is highly confidential and generally cannot be shared; however, their analysis can lead to new diagnostic and pharmacological knowledge for treating specific pathologies or identifying risk factors. Aindo’s synthetic data aligns with GDPR, allowing the use, mobility, and exchange of synthetic health data. Financial Sector – Synthetic data is critical in developing personalized solutions and services in the financial world. For example, a bank could use synthetic data to build accurate risk prediction models to identify patterns and behaviors typical of companies likely to encounter financial difficulties. Additionally, synthetic data can be successfully employed to improve anti-fraud systems through data augmentation possibilities. Infrastructure and Energy – In the infrastructure and energy sectors, synthetic data is instrumental in data sharing between the public and private sectors. This facilitates the combination of supply and demand in infrastructure and network management optimization. Think of smart cities, smart buildings, and physical infrastructure monitoring such as bridges, viaducts, and road networks to assess wear and tear, traffic management, and structural monitoring. Properly calibrated synthetic data would enable the evaluation of multi-risk scenarios, such as static, seismic, and hydrogeological risks, by simulating different damage or optimal management scenarios.

The European project POSIDON PCP (POlluted SIte DecontaminatiON Pre-Commercial Procurement) has led to development and testing of two new technologies for soil decontamination in polluted disused industrial areas. The results of experiments in the final phase of the competitive procedure, aimed at the procurement of research and development services, were presented during the final project event on 9 October in Bilbao, Spain. POSIDON, financed by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme and coordinated by Area Science Park, has the goal of driving development of new solutions currently unavailable on the market, from the public demand side. The project gathers five European procurers, owners and/or managers of polluted sites, with the common need to identify new soil-treatment technology (potentially also for groundwater treatment), preferably in situ, capable of decontaminating heterogeneous anthropic soils on brownfields with a mixture of industrial waste (such as soils polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals) and soils consisting of clays and sands, highly polluted by petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs and PAHs) and heavy metals (arsenic and lead). During the project, various suppliers (mixed research/enterprise consortiums) were invited to develop innovative solutions, in the context of a competition procedure. This included all steps from concept and design of new solutions through to prototyping, laboratory validation and original development of two prototypes for parallel testing in the field on two different sites in Trieste, Italy and Bilbao, Spain. The two technologies that reached the field experiment and comparison phase were those of the consortiums headed by companies TESECO BONIFICHE and HPC Italia. TESECO has developed the technology Soil-Omic® which uses integrated biological and chemical-physical processes aimed to decontaminate soils and groundwater from organic and inorganic pollutants, with biological formulations based on the integration of metagenomics and environmental engineering. The solution uses BIOflushing®, an in-situ decontamination technology that uses specialised hydraulic systems for bio-stimulation, bio-amplification and chemical washing of saturated and unsaturated soils. The results have confirmed the efficacy of the process and the system dedicated to breaking down oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as removing heavy metals from saturated and unsaturated soils. Specifically, in Bilbao, in around five months of operation of the system, a significant reduction in average inorganic contamination of unsaturated soil* was recorded, as well as in organic contamination**. Soil-Omic® is under commercialisation and will go to market at the end of 2023. Meanwhile, HPC ITALIA in cooperation with the Politecnico di Milano University, has developed the “Erase” (ElectRode-Aided Soil rEmediation) solution, a flexible, modular, in-situ platform that involves positioning of electrodes to reduce contamination both with organic and inorganic pollutants, through the transport inducted by the electrical field of the soil, in addition to chemical and biological treatment actions through injection of chemical products and nutrients. The modular nature of the technology enables use on contaminated water sources of various sizes and depths. The solution is still in the development phase, but Phase 3 testing has already provided evidence of an increase in the mobility of metals, with a reduction in the concentration of some of these in the soil, while monitoring data has also confirmed a decrease in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and hydrocarbons.   *Reduction in average inorganic contamination of unsaturated soil: Arsenic -97%, Cadmium -82%, Chromium -31%, Nickel -56%, Lead -95%, Copper -96% and Zinc -94%. **Reduction in organic contamination: Hydrocarbons (TPH) -85%, Dibenzo(a.h)anthracene -97%, Benzo(a)pyrene -97%, Indeno(1.2. 3-cd)pyrene -97%, Pyrene -97%, Benzo(a)anthracene -99%, Chrysene -97%, Benzo(b)fluoranthene -99%, Benzo(k)fluoranthene -96% and Sum PAH (EPA 16) -97%.   The POSIDON PCP project involves Area Science Park (coordinator and technical project partner), the group of five managers of polluted sites to be decontaminated: Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic (Lead procurer of the joint pre-commercial contract) (IT), Bilbao City Council (ES) SpaQue (BE), CEA – Vitoria Gasteiz City Council (ES) and Baja do Tejo (PT), joined by the technical partners: Sara Bedin, expert in innovation contracts and pre-commercial procurement (IT); TECNALIA, Basque research centre (ES); IHOBE, Basque environment agency (ES) and MAS communications manager (ES). POSIDON has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, in the context of Grant Agreement No. 776838. The information contained in this press release reflects the authors’ views. The European Research Executive Agency (REA) is not responsible for any use made of the information contained herein.

Three days of exchange of good practices and networking as part of the “EU for Economic Growth” (EU4EG) project: this is the objective of the works taking place from 16 to 18 October at Area Science Park’s Congress Center, where business support organizations, institutional stakeholders and businesses talk about economic development opportunities in the Republic of North Macedonia. Opening the proceedings this morning were Caterina Petrillo, President of Area Science Park, Roberto Antonione, Secretary General of the Central European Initiative (CEI), and Vesel Memedi, Ambassador to Italy of the Republic of North Macedonia. EU4EG, which started in 2021 and has a duration of 48 months, aims to strengthen the economic system of North Macedonia in the context of the country’s accession to the EU. The project aims to achieve greater competitiveness of the production system combined with sustainability and decarbonization, placing a focus on the primary role of industrial ecosystems and innovation, and implementing initiatives oriented towards the digital and green transition, aiming for higher environmental and social standards. Partners of the project, with an overall funding of approximately €9.5 million, are the German Federal International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) (coordinator), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate (BMWK), the Initiative Central Europe (CEI) and Area Science Park. “Area Science Park’s contribution to the project is based on the organization’s consolidated skills in promoting and supporting innovation and its ability to dialogue with businesses and the world of research – explains President Caterina Petrillo -. To this, Area combines the added value of knowing how to produce cutting-edge research in the sectors currently affecting the digital and green transition. This project is very important for us and represents an element of a broader strategy of relations with the Balkans and Central-Eastern Europe that the organization intends to strengthen and relaunch with a view to supporting growth based on research and innovation”. EU4EG is based on three interconnected components. The first involves the mapping of entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional value chains, the identification of the availability of business support services (BSS) in the territories and the creation of a capacity building program aimed at business support organizations (BSOs) to enable them to provide new services to Macedonian SMEs and start-ups. The second component involves the launch of four business acceleration programs to support the growth of selected groups of start-ups. The third component includes a grant scheme for innovation and renewal projects, carried out jointly by SMEs and BSOs on the themes of the Green Deal and the New EU Industrial Strategy. To date, the main results achieved by the project are a capacity building program on 14 topics, 49 methodologies and tools for providing business support services (BSS), 271 hours of training, 170 representatives of business support organizations (BSOs) involved . Furthermore, thanks to EU4EG, 27 joint projects involving Macedonian SMEs and BSOs have been financed, whereby €4.5 million were disbursed by the project, with an additional €5 million co-financed by involved companies.