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Area Science Park has been granted €2 million to boost research in omics sciences — the study of interactions between genes, proteins and metabolites — aimed at gaining a more detailed understanding of the mechanisms underlying diseases. These resources have been allocated by the Ministry of University and Research (MUR) to the National Research Institute with headquarters in Trieste and will strengthen the laboratory hosted on the campus of the University of Salerno, an institution with which Area Science Park maintains a well-established and long-standing collaboration. Minister Anna Maria Bernini has signed the decree distributing the new annual allocation of the Fund for construction and research infrastructures. For 2025, the Fund has a total budget of €94 million. The omics sciences laboratory in Salerno will operate in an integrated manner with Area Science Park’s life sciences research infrastructure (genomics, structural biology and data science), which represents a node within the national and international network of the Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CERIC) and functions on an open access basis. The project has an overall value of €3.5 million, of which €2 million is the 2025 funding provided by MUR. “Our Research Institutes are jewels, a source of pride for Italy and an international scientific reference”, explains Minister Anna Maria Bernini. “It is our responsibility to ensure that these centres of excellence can grow and continue on their path. It is necessary to guarantee resources for new projects, finance increasingly complex infrastructures and support the most advanced technologies”, adds the Minister. “The new €94 million funding from the Fund for construction and the modernisation of the research infrastructure moves in this direction. It enables scientific institutions to boost their study activities and open new research frontiers capable of generating concrete and positive impacts for improving quality of life. We want to give continuity to an already excellent effort, a flagship of our country. We believe in it. And results come from believing”. “The MUR funding is highly significant in the development strategy of the Institute’s activities as it allows us to upgrade the southern laboratory, thereby laying the foundations for the construction a new Institute of Integrated Omics Sciences”, says Caterina Petrillo, President of Area Science Park. “The idea is that, through collaboration with the University of Salerno and other important scientific institutions, the Institute can become a thematic reference point for the South and a magnet for young researchers”. The €94 million from the Fund for construction and research infrastructures have been allocated taking into account requests and projects formulated by each institute for building works and modernisation of scientific infrastructures. For each institute, the resources allocated will be monitored while keeping in mind the timetable of activities to be carried out based on the funding granted.

Giorgio Marrapodi, the Italian Ambassador to Turkey, visited Area Science Park accompanied by a delegation composed of Turkish and Italian entrepreneurs, professors, and dignitaries who live and work in the Republic of Turkey. Welcoming the delegation were the Director General, Dr. Anna Sirica, and the President of Area Science Park, Professor Caterina Petrillo, who presented the national research institution, the key milestones in its history, and its strategic priorities for the coming years: from the development and implementation of the institution’s research infrastructures to the management of the Trieste science and technology park, as well as projects related to green hydrogen. A brief focus was dedicated to the research activities of the Laboratory of Genomics and Epigenomics, presented by its facility Manager, Danilo Licastro. The Turkish delegation also had the opportunity to visit the laboratories of Dr. Schär, a leading company in the production of gluten-free and specialty dietary foods, which has a research and development laboratory within Area Science Park. Finally, the Ambassador and the delegation met with Valentino Pediroda, CEO of Modefinance, and Pinar Dilek, Rating Process Manager at the company, which is Europe’s first Credit Rating Fintech Agency, born from a university spin-off incubated at Area Science Park.

The European LIFE IN-PLAN project’s efforts to develop territorial plans integrating energy, climate, and mobility aspects are beginning to bear fruit by encouraging virtuous planning practices among municipalities aimed at achieving climate neutrality. A notable example is the municipality of San Vito al Tagliamento (PN), with which IN-PLAN is actively collaborating, supporting its team of experts alongside local officials in the integrated drafting of the Municipal General Urban Plan, the General Urban Traffic Plan, the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, the Green Masterplan, and the Plan for the Removal of Architectural Barriers. “We warmly welcomed the IN-PLAN project because, as a municipality belonging to the Sustainable Municipalities Network, we recognise the importance of integrated and systemic planning involving multiple stakeholders with diverse sensitivities and expertise. This approach ensures a comprehensive vision and coherence that can only be achieved through dialogue, comparison, and collaboration, as we have already experienced during an initial meeting with all the planners supporting us in drafting the various plans,” states Federica Del Frè, delegated councillor for the municipality of San Vito al Tagliamento. Very useful tools in this direction include the IN-PLAN Practice, the IN-PLAN Checklist, and the Guidelines for a Data Management Plan, which provide concrete support for public administrations and sector operators in implementing multilevel governance. “The IN-PLAN Practice offers a comprehensive guide with examples of good practices and a step-by-step approach to effectively integrate energy, climate, and territorial planning policies,” explains Fabrizia Salvi of Area Science Park. “The IN-PLAN Checklist provides a structured reference framework in the form of guiding questions to improve existing or developing plans by assessing the coherence of measures envisaged in various plans, as demonstrated by the ongoing work with the municipality of San Vito al Tagliamento. The checklist is designed to foster reflection on developing integrated measures that also consider the effects—both positive and negative—that these may have on sectors other than the primary focus. It can also be used in a preliminary phase of plan drafting to consider different aspects of an issue and choose to address them in a multidisciplinary way”. The importance of these tools, with a particular focus on the “data-driven” approach, alongside experiences of various local authorities, universities, and research centres, was central to the event held on 2 April 2025 in Padua, within the framework of the Forum Duezerocinquezero, in collaboration with the LIFE NECPlatform project and the Coordination of Italian Local Agenda 21. The event, attended by experts and stakeholders, was not only an opportunity to present the IN-PLAN methodologies and tools but also a chance to discuss the challenges of integrated planning within the National Coalition Group (NCG) of IN-PLAN. This national discussion platform offers various stakeholders the chance to exchange views and formulate proposals and recommendations on integrated planning to be subsequently shared with national policymakers. The group involves several entities, including Area Science Park, the Coordination of Italian Local Agenda 21, and the municipalities of Padua, Prato, and Narni. During the event, proposals for the NCG were presented, focusing on the importance of “data-driven” integrated territorial planning and addressing barriers to integrated design, data management, and governance forms. The LIFE IN-PLAN project, co-financed by the European Union, will continue its work until March 2026. There is still an opportunity for municipalities and provinces to join as pilots and receive support from Area Science Park experts in integrating plans by testing the methodology and tools developed by the project.