Position/Role

Full professor of Early Modern History at the University of Catania.

Professional career

Lina Scalisi graduated in Political Science at the University of Catania in 1992 and obtained a PhD in early Modern History in 1998 also at the University of Catania. Researcher since 2003, in 2006 becomes Associate Professor and in 2016, Full Professor at the Department of Human Sciences of Catania.

During her career, she has held various institutional and governance roles, and she has been the Coordinator of Human Sciences at the Scuola Superiore of Catania. From 1008 to 2010, she has directed the Istituto Meridionale di storia e scienze sociali - Sicilia. Since 2013 she is Académica correspondiente of the Real Academia de la Historia di Madrid. She is member of the board of professors of the PhD in History of the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa and member of various scientific boards of national and European journals. She is President of the Accademia of Belle Arti of Catania and VP of the Teatro Stabile of Catania.   

Scientific results

Her researches have been focused on histories of communities and socio-religious history, with specific attention on the changes of the civic and religious institutions of European societies after the Council of Trent and on the relationship between political power and religious authorities. Moreover, she has widely studied urban history and the history of aristocracy in Early Modern Europe. Other fields of interest have been development studies, the environment, contemporary migrations and history of historiography.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored many papers and monographies:

[2020] Curatela del II volume in II Tomi de La storiografia della Nuova Italia, Edizioni di storia e letteratura, Roma: 1056 ISBN 9788893593939.

[2020] Regolate cure e disordinati mali, in Arianna Rotondo, Memoria, storie e metafore della malattia. La narrazione come metodo, Algra Editore, Viagrande: 17-34 ISBN 97888934413749.

[2019] (con Carlos Hernando Sanchez) Fra le mura della modernità: le rappresentazioni del limite dal Cinquecento ad oggi, Viella, Roma, 2019: 428 ISBN 9788833132587.

[2019] “Da Palermo a Colonia”. Carlo Aragona Tagliavia e la questione delle Fiandre (1577-1580), Viella, Roma: 156 ISBN: 9788833132297.

[2019] Un Secolo di fuoco. Il Seicento e l’Etna nel Compendio di Natale di Pace, Domenico Sanfilippo Editore, Catania: 175 ISBN 9788885127630.

[2018] Carlo d’Aragona e Antonio del Nobile. Difese militari, imprese economiche,vocazioni territoriali, in A. Camara Munoz – M. A. Vasquez, «Ser hechura de»: ingeniería, fidelidades y redes de poder en los siglos XVI y XVII, Ediciones del Umbral y laFundación Juanelo Turriano, Madrid. 135-146 ISBN 8494892525.

[2018] Curatela del I volume de La Storiografia della Nuova Italia: Introduzione alla storia della storiografia italiana, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, Roma: 272 ISBN 9788893592390.

[2018] La restaurazione in Italia, in «Moderna. Semestrale di teoria e critica della letteratura», XX, 1-2:15-22 ISSN. 

[2018] “Que pueda llegar a corte”. Il duca di Terranova tra Lepanto e il futuro, in J.A.G. Berrendero, J. Hernandez Franco, E. Alegra Carvajal, Ruy Gómez deSilva, principe de Eboli. Su tiempo y su contexto, Iberoamericana Vervuert, Madrid: 285-303 ISBN 9788416922758.

[2017] La Sicilia del Rinascimento. Susanna Gonzaga, contessa di Collesano, in A.Carrasco Martinez (a cura di), La nobleza y los reinos. Anatomia del poder en la Monarquia de Espana (siglos XVI-XVII), Iberoabericana Vervuert, Madrid: 151-177 ISBN 9788416922093.

[2017] Le catene della gloria. L’uso politico della genealogia di Luigi Guglielmo Moncada, «Magallanica», 3/6: 64-85 ISSN 2422-779X.

[2017] Il Dapifero di Antonino Collurafi. Storia di un’opera perduta (1639-1644),  «Mediterranea. Ricerche storiche», 40: 295-314 ISSN 1824-3010.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Financial Markets and Institution at the University of Parma, where she teaches Risk Management. Deputy Chair of the Board of the Graduate program in Finance and Risk Management. Affiliate Professor at SDA Bocconi School of Management, Banking and Insurance Department, where she is manager and teacher of training programs for executives and boards of directors on corporate governance, internal controls and compliance.

President of Nedcommunity, the  Italian Association of non-executive and independent directors. Member of the board of directors of ecoDa, The European Confederation of Directors’ Associations in Brussels. Member of ECGI, European Corporate Governance Network. Member of the board of directors of several companies.

Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Management and Governance. Member of the Faculty Committee of the PhD Course in Economics and Management of Innovation and Sustainability, Universities of Parma and Ferrara. Member of the Scientific Committee of the PhD School in Economics and Law at the University of Parma.

Professional career

Degree in Management at Bocconi University, in Milan. Researcher at the same University from 1994 to 1998. Since 1998 Associate Professor. Since 2000 Full Professor at the University of Salento and, from 2003, at the University of Parma.   

Scientific results

Paola Schwizer's research activity is focused on financial markets and institutions, and particularly on risk management, corporate governance and internal governance. She studied the assessment of governance systems, publishing a model, based on an alternative approach to measuring corporate governance quality using a fuzzy expert system, able to overcome the conceptual and methodological limits of the previous rating systems of corporate governance quality and to support people who make decisions.

She also carried out research on risk culture in banking, contributing to a model of risk assessment based on 92 indicators, which are already applied by several major Italian banks.

She took part to a study on the remuneration provisions applicable to credit institutions and investment firms,  prepared for the European Commission aimed at investigating the impact of EU regulation on risk management.

Editorial work and publications

(2017) Carretta A, Fiordelisi F, Schwizer P (eds). Risk Culture in Banking. Palgrave Macmillan. Series: Palgrave Macmillan Studies in Banking and Financial Institutions. ISBN 978-3-319-57591-9 (eBook ISBN 978-3-319-57592-6).

(2017) Cosma S, Mastroleo S, Schwizer P. Assessing corporate governance quality: substance over form. Journal of Management and Governance, DOI 10.1007/s10997-017-9395-3.

(2015) Carretta A, Farina V, Fiordelisi F, Schwizer P, Stentella Lopes SF. Don’t Stand So Close to Me: The role of supervisory style in banking stability, Journal of Banking and Finance, 52: 180–188.

(2015) Fiordelisi F, Soana MG, Schwizer P. Reputational losses and operational risk in banking. The European Journal of Finance, 20, 2:105–124.

(2015) Schwizer P, Carretta A, Soana MG. Can high quality independent directors reduce ceo overconfidence?, in Bracchi G, Masciandaro D, Filotto U. (a cura di) “European Banking 3.0. Bank Industry and Supervision in the Behavioural Finance Revolution”, 20th Report on the Italian Financial System, EDIBANK, Bancaria Editrice, Roma, ISBN 978-88-449-1058-7, pp. 139-151.

Awards and prizes

SDA Bocconi, Award “Best Innovative Custom Programs 2016”. 

Award “2015 Ambrogio Lorenzetti” for excellence in board membership.

Award “Excellence in Innovation 2012”. 

Award “Best Case & Best Seller 2011”. 

Award “Excellence in Innovation and Creativity 2011”. 

Award  “Excellence in Innovation 2008”.

Position/Role

Assistant Research Fellow at the Italian Institute for Political Research (ISPI)

Professional career

Giulia Sciorati is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Humanities of the University of Trento, Italy, where she works on an inter-departmental project on the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Covid-19 pandemic on China’s foreign policy (BRIICoPIC), led by Professor Sofia Graziani. Giulia Sciorati also serves as a non-resident Research Fellow for the China Programme of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). She earned a PhD in International Studies from the School of International Studies of the University of Trento in September 2020. Her dissertation investigated the drivers of China’s counterterrorism policy in Xinjiang from 1996 to 2017 via a neoclassical realist approach. During her doctoral studies, she was a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford, Nottingham and the European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS). Her research interests include China’s foreign and security policy, China’s relations with Central Asia and soft power theory.

Scientific results

She deals with security issues with particular reference to counterterrorism policies and the factors that influence decision-making processes in China at the level of the country’s political elite. Her second line of research focuses on the regional projection of Chinese foreign policy with particular attention to the New Silk Road and its impact on China’s relations with Central Asia.

Editorial work and publications

[2021, forthcoming] Looking East? An Analysis of Kazakhstan’s Geopolitical Code after Participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Eurasiatica: Studies on the Balkans, Anatolia, Iran, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

[2021] Post-Pandemic Asia: A New Normal for Regional Security?, with A. Berkofsky, Milan, Ledizioni.

[2020] Mapping China’s Global Future: Playing Ball or Rocking the Boat?, with A. Berkofsky, Milan, Ledizioni.

[2020] Pandemic Trust: China-Italy Relations During Covid-19, Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs, 22(2): 39-50.

Position/Role

President Global Thinking Foundation. Board Member and Responsible Publications ASSIOM Forex. Honorary Member ACI Forex International

Professional career

Since 2016 she has been President of Global Thinking Foundation, a non-profit foundation dedicated to the dissemination of Financial Education for adults and women, to combating economic violence and to supporting the right to study for deserving and underprivileged young people.

Founding member of ASSIOM FOREX, former Vice President of ASSIOM and active in the Association since 1993. She was Secretary General of ASSIOM FOREX from 2009 to 2016 and is currently Director of Publications and Member of the Board of Directors.

She was Chairman Board of Education of ACI FX International from 2012 to 2015, now Honorary Member ACI International. Member of Consulta Esperti , VI Commissione Finanze Camera dei Deputati.

She has collaborated with several Italian Universities, she is currently a lecturer at ASSIOM FOREX association for Advanced Trading, Islamic Finance, Basel3 and Sovereign/Corporates Risk at Master Eraclito 2000. Regular speaker for PFEXPO, ITalian Trading FORUM, Salone del Risparmio and TOL Expo. Lecturer for Feduf, Economix for the Financial Education weeks.  

Scientific results

She has dedicated her career of over 30 years to the activity of Trader and then Manager in primary Italian banks on international markets, to the in-depth study of global geopolitical dynamics and the related economic-financial correlations, covering roles of responsibility in the operations room and managerial roles in the Unicredit Group, Gruppo Intesa and Credito Emiliano.

Her involvement in International Market Trading and Strategic Analysis led her to a natural involvement and managerial commitment in Debt Capital Market, Credit Analysis and International Relations and also in Rome as Head of International Relations with EU, Central Banks, Multilaterals & Authorities, consolidating her passion for Geopolitics and International Markets.

Editorial work and publications

Claudia Segre wrote the introduction of Parole di Economia e Finanza. Glossary of Financial Education, Global Thinking Foundation in collaboration with Maurizio Bernardo, Giunti, 2016.

Author of articles on financial and geopolitical issues, she has been collaborating for years with her own column with: ITForum NewLetter, First on Line (Blog), Wall Street Italia, Donna Moderna, La Verità and other newspapers. She is often featured on Italian and foreign media: RaiNew24, CFN CNBC, Rai 3, Le Fonti TV and Radio24 Investire Informati.

Awards and prizes

2017 : Best 100 CV Excellent Women against Stereotypes, for Economy & Finance,  Fondazione Bracco supported by EU Commission

2016 : ASSIOM FOREX Cavanna Lifetime Achievement Award

2011 : 1000 CV Excellent Fondazione Bellisario

2005 Best Dealer Hungarian Market – MTS NewEurope

1999 Best Political Format “Geopolitics Atlas” RaiNews24

Position/Role

Research Fellow in Political Philosophy at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Milano-Bicocca.

Professional career

After graduating in Philosophy at the University of Turin, she obtained a Master's degree in Sociology of Migration at the University "La Sapienza" in Rome and a PhD in Cultural Studies at the University of Palermo. She has worked as a researcher at Associazione Parsec in Rome, and as a research consultant for national and international organisations such as Save the Children, Open Society Foundations, Action Aid, Consorzio Nova, Room to Read. Since 2012 she has been affiliated to the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Milano-Bicocca, first as a research assistant, then as a post-doc researcher and, since 2019, as a research fellow in Political Philosophy. She is currently lecturer in "Politics and Policies"; lecturer and member of the coordination committee of the postgraduate course "Violence against women and minors: knowing and countering the phenomenon" and co-coordinator of the course "Training social workers for countering gender-based violence". 

Scientific results

She is involved in the research and training activities of the ADV - Against Domestic Violence - Research Centre -. 

She is active in the creation of the UN.I.RE network - UNiversità In REte contro la violenza di genere - a project funded with the contribution of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers - Department for Equal Opportunities. 

Editorial work and publications

Serughetti Giorgia is a columnist for the daily newspaper Domani and writes for magazines and newspapers such as InGenere, Leggendaria, il Mulino, il Manifesto. 

[2020] Serughetti G, Who are « the people » in Italy’s multiple populisms?. REVUE TUNISIENNE DE SCIENCE POLITIQUE, vol. 2 (4): 71-95.

[2020] Serughetti G, Donne vulnerabili, soggetti resilienti: le vittime di tratta richiedenti asilo, tra bisogni di protezione e domande di riconoscimento. In I. Fanlo Cortés, & D. Ferrari (a cura di), I soggetti vulnerabili nei processi migratori. Giappichelli: 17-48.

[2020] Serughetti G, The #MeToo Movement in Italy: Chronicle of a Death Foretold?. In A.M. Noel, & D.B. Oppenheimer (a cura di), The Global #MeToo Movement : How Social Media propelled a Historic Movement and the Law responded. Full Court Press: 143-156. 

[2020] Serughetti G, Democratizzare la cura / Curare la democrazia, Nottetempo.

[2020] Belliti D, Serughetti G, L'educazione per prevenire la violenza di genere e promuovere l'agency delle donne: lo stato delle politiche pubbliche in Italia. SICUREZZA E SCIENZE SOCIALI, 3: 33-48.

[2019] Serughetti G, Prostituzione: violenza o lavoro? Riflessioni su volontarietà, costrizione e danno nel dibattito sulle alternative politico-normative. AG-ABOUT GENDER, vol. 8 (15): 164-195. 

[2019] Serughetti G, La violenza contro le donne e il problema dell’identità collettiva nel femminismo. POLITICA & SOCIETÀ, vol. 8 (3): 383-405.

[2019] Serughetti G, Uomini che pagano le donne. Dalla strada al web, i clienti nel mercato del sesso contemporaneo, 2. ed. Ediesse.

[2019] Serughetti G,  “Superare la Merlin”: prostituzione, discorso pubblico e azione legislativa. NOTIZIE DI POLITEIA, vol. 35 (133): 198-216.

[2018] Serughetti G, Smuggled or Trafficked? Refugee or job seeker? Deconstructing rigid classifications by rethinking women’s vulnerability. ANTI TRAFFICKING REVIEW, 11: 16-35.

[2017] Cecilia D’Elia, Serughetti G, Libere tutte. Dall’aborto al velo, donne nel nuovo millennio, Minimum fax.

[2016] Serughetti G, Prostitution and surrogacy: Theoretical and practical issues of (neo) prohibitionism. STUDI SULLA QUESTIONE CRIMINALE, 11(2): 43-63.

Position/Role

Group Leader, Synthetic and Systems Biology for Biomedicine Laboratory of Italian Insitute of Technology, Naple, University Federico II.

Professional career

Velia Siciliano graduated cum Laudein Medical Biotechnology, BSc and MSc degree at the University of Naples Federico II.  In 2012 she obtained a PhD in Human Genetics from the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine Naples supervised by Prof. di Bernardo (Systems and Synthetic Biology lab) 

 then moved to Boston as a Postdoctoral fellow in the Biological Engineering Department and Synthetic Biology Centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2015 she won a fellowship for Junior Independent Investigator from Imperial College London. Here, in the Department of Medicine she started to build her independent research line in mammalian synthetic biology. 

In September 2017 she was appointed as Principal Investigator at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia-IIT after passing an international scientific committee evaluation through the Tenure Track program of IIT. She established a new Research Line in Synthetic and Systems Biology. She is also honorary fellow of Imperial College London where she still supervises research activities.

Scientific results

Velia Siciliano’s research is published in high impact journals including Nature Communications, Nature Biotechnology etc. She is a co-inventor of a patent with MIT.

She was recently awarded with the most prestigious research grant in Europe, the ERC Starting Grant, receiving funding for 1.5M euro from EU. She is also partner in other grants, including an ERC Advanced (coordinated by Prof. Di Leonardo, Università la Sapienza, Roma) and the Cosy-Bio  (FET-grant, from EU coordinated by Prof. Di Bernardo).

Velia Siciliano attended more than 10 conferences and meetings as invited speaker, and she is member of scientific committee of the Synthetic and Systems Biology summer school, Member of scientific committee ofMammalian Synthetic Biology workshop, and chair of the Cell Therapies + Bioengineering Conference. She was recognized as one of 10  most promising scientists under 40 in Italy by Fortune (https://www.fortuneita.com/2019/07/14/40-under-40-i-10-giovani-ricercatori-da-tenere-docchio/), and one of 1000 women with most impact in Italy for science and innovation (https://startupitalia.eu/unstoppablewomen). Velia was among the 20 women in the final selection of women of 2019 by DonnaD (La Repubblica). 

Editorial work and publications

Velia Siciliano is Review Editor in Nanobiotechnology,  Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, Bioengineering and Biotechnology and Materials) and she was invited to join the editorial board of BioDesign Research, an international, peer-reviewed, open-access journal, part of the Science Partner Journal (SPJ) family; she is ad-hocreviewer for multiple journals.  

She is an author/coauthor in several important scientific papers, including:

[2020] Tedeschi F, Siciliano V., Mammalian synbio sensors, in Hanbook of Cell Biosensor, Springer.

[2019] Dipalo M, Caprettini V, Bruno G, Caliendo F, Garma L,  Melle G, Dukinova M,  Siciliano V,  Santoro F,  De Angelis F. Membrane Poration Mechanisms at the Cell–Nanostructure Interface, Advanced Biosystems, 3(12): 1900148.

[2019] Pennacchio FA, Caliendo F, Iaccarino G, Langella A, Siciliano V, Santoro F. 3D-patterned scaffolds modulate the biointerface at the nanoscale, Nano Letters, 19 (8), 5118-5123.

[2019] Cella F. Siciliano V., Protein-based parts and devices that respond to intracellular and extracellular signals in mammalian cells, Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 52, 47-53.

[2019] Caliendo F., Dukhinova M., Siciliano V., Engineered cell-based therapeutics: synthetic biology meets immunology, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

[2018] Cella F., Wroblewska L., Weiss R, Siciliano V. Engineering of protease sensitive RNA-Binding protein in mammalian cells, Nature Communications, 7, 43.

[2018] Siciliano V., Di Andreth B., Monel B., Beal J., Huh J.,Clayton K.,Wroblewska L.,McKeon Am., Walker BD.,Weiss R. Engineering modular intracellular protein sensor-actuator devices. Nature Communications, 9(1):1881.

[2015] Wroblewska L, Endo K, Kitada T, Siciliano V, Saito H, Weiss R. Engineering mammalian cells with RNA-encoded synthetic translational circuits. Nature Biotechnology, 33(8):839-41.

[2014] Stanton B, Siciliano V, Ghodasara A, Wroblewska L, Clancy K, Trefzer A, Chesnut J, Weiss R, Voigt C. Systematic transfer of prokaryotic sensors and circuits to mammalian cells. ACS Synthetic BiologyDec 19;3(12):880-91.

[2013] Siciliano V, Garzilli I, Fracassi C, Ventre S, Criscuolo S, di Bernardo D. miRNAs confer phenotypic robustness to gene networks by suppressing biological noise: a synthetic biology approach. Nature Communications, 4:2364.

[2012] Menolascina F, Siciliano V, di Bernardo D. Engineering and Control of Biological Systems: A New Way to Tackle Complex Diseases and Biotechnological Innovation. FEBS Letter, 586(15):2122-8.

Awards and prizes

2014 Prize for scientific innovation in synthetic biology. Synberc fall retreat

2016 Proof-of concept grant, Synbicite (UK)

2018 Award Young Innovator  MIT Italy 

2018 Award Galilei, 2032 Rotary International

2019 Mortari Award, Merck

In September 2021 she is named among the 50 most inspiring Italian women in the world of technology with the award InspiringFifty for Italy.

Position/Role

Full professor of  Contemporary History at University of Pavia

Professional career

Elisa Signori graduated with honours in Literature in 1976 at the University of Pavia. She was a student and postgraduate student at the Ghislieri College, a scholarship holder of the Einaudi Foundation in Turin, of the Accademia dei Lincei, a trainee at the Study and Research Office of the Department of Public Education of the Canton of Ticino (Switzerland), a CNR scholarship holder at the Historische Seminar of the University of Basel, and a researcher at the University of Pavia since 1981. She has worked there up to the present day, at all levels of her career, from associate to full professor. Between 2013 and 2020 she will also be teaching Contemporary History at the University of Lugano.  

Scientific results

Signori has devoted most of his studies to the study of fascism and anti-fascism, both in Italy and abroad, in France, Switzerland and the United States.  She has studied the history of Switzerland in its relations with Italy between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism in Italy and Europe, the flow of intellectual migration and the formation of elites in Europe in the twentieth century. 

She has also worked on the history of contemporary Lombardy and the history of the University. 

Editorial work and publications

Elisa Signori is the author of numerous publications, a complete list of which can be found at https://iris.unipv.it/.

See below a selection of the most relevant ones:

Signori (2020). Anni di svolta. L’Università di Pavia, i progetti postbellici e il piano De Carlo, in Costruire le Università. Aspetti architettonici e urbanistici tra ragioni economiche e scelte politiche, a  cura di M.A.Romani, A.Monti, O.Selvafolta e  Andrea Silvestri, Bologna Il Mulino, pp.181-206.

Signori (2019), Contro gli studenti ebrei stranieri di Pisa. Un ostracismo in anticipo, in Vite sospese. 1938: Università e ebrei a Pisa, a cura di M. Emdin, B. Henry , I. Pavan, UPI University Press Italiane, Pisa, pp. 89-106 

Signori (2018), Svizzera e Italia allo specchio: lo sguardo dei rifugiati italiani  durante la seconda guerra mondiale in Lugano città aperta, collana Pagine storiche Luganesi, Edizioni Città di Lugano, Lugano,  pp.203-219 

Signori (2017), L’Ateneo di Pavia nel sistema universitario del Regno d’Italia (1860-1913) in Almum Studium Papiense, Vol.2,  Dall’età austriaca alla nuova Italia. II. Dalla Restaurazione alla Grande guerra,  Milano, Cisalpino, 2017, pp. 1043-1080. 

Signori (2017), University  students after Italian Unification. Riots, organizations and political engagement (1860-1885) in Pieter Dhondt (ed.), Student Revolt, City and Society in Europe – From the Middle Ages to the Present, New-York, London, Routledge, pp.152-169.

Signori (2017), Perchè la guerra? Voci e argomenti della  comunità accademica italiana 1914-1918 in Minerva armata. Le università e la Grande guerra, a cura di G.P.Brizzi e E.Signori, Bologna, Clueb, pp.19-38.

Signori (2017), Guglielmo Ferrero: l’interventismo, la federazione latina, la tragedia della pace, in  La Grande guerra e l'idea di Europa,  a cura di C. Lacaita, Milano, Angeli, pp. 81-110.

Signori (2016), El fascismo italiano y la universidad: el caso de Pavia, in La universidad europea bajo las dictaturas, “Ayer” , n. 101, pp.23-50.

Signori (2009) , Fra le righe. Carteggio fra Carlo Rosselli e Gaetano Salvemini, FrancoAngeli, Milano, pp.334.

Signori (2006)   Frammenti di vita e d’esilio. Giulia Bondanini, una scelta antifascista, L’Avvenire dei lavoratori ed., Zürich, pp.176.

Signori (2002), Minerva a Pavia. L'ateneo e la città tra guerre e fascismo, Pavia, Milano-Bologna, Cisalpino ed., pp.342.

Signori (1996) , G. Salvemini, A. Tasca, Il dovere di testimoniare .Carteggio, a cura e con introduzione di E.Signori, Roma-Napoli, Bibliopolis ed., pp.344.

Awards and prizes

 Elisa Signori was awarded the 'Nuova Antologia' and 'Angelini' prizes.

Position/Role

Full professor at Sapienza University of Rome

Member of various associations, including SIE, Storep, EAEPE, IWPLMS, and expert counsellor at CNEL.

Professional career

She teaches History of Economic Analysis and Advanced Macroeconomics at Sapienza University of Rome. She has directed or participated in various national and European research projects in the areas of economic policy, labor and social policies, welfare and gender economics and she has attended many national and international conferences as invited speaker.

Scientific results

Current research topics: the economics of the European Monetary Union, industrial and innovation policy; industrial relations and income distribution; gender economics.

In the field of economic policy, she has addressed problems concerning the competitiveness of the Italian economy and he Italian position in the EMU. Her recent contributions relate to the issue of the Monetary Union and the difficult relations between core and periphery countries of the euro area. Related to these issues is the problem of industrial policy and the analysis of the processes of innovation and development.

As regards labor policies and industrial relations, the analysis highlights the costs deriving from relying solely on reforms aimed at increasing the flexibility of the labor market to boost employment and growth. The interaction between labor reforms, austerity policies and structural reforms in the areas of taxation, pensions and welfare in exacerbating precariousness, inequality and poverty has been addressed in several essays. It is concluded that resumption of social dialogue and abandonment of austerity policies in favor of an effective industrial policy can provide a better recipe for overcoming the crisis and addressing the challenges of technological innovation and global competition.

The results of these analyses have been reported in several publications.

Editorial work and publications

Referee for national and international journals. Editor in chief of Economia & Lavoro; Member of the Editorial Committee of Labour and of the Editorial Board of the newsletter www.inGenere.it.

Recent publications:

(2019) Developmental industrial policies for convergence within the European Monetary Union in H. Herr, J. Priewe and A. Watt (eds.) Still Time to Save the Euro, Social Europe Publishing, Berlin (with G. Celi and D. Guarascio).

 (2018) Engines of growth and development paths in the Euro-area, in A. Rosselli, E. Sanfilippo and N. Naldi (eds.) Money, Finance and Crises in Economic History: The long-­‐term impact of economic ideas, Routledge, London.

(2018) Crisis in the European Monetary Union: A Core-Periphery Perspective, Routledge, London (with G. Celi, A. Ginzburg, D. Guarascio).

(2017) Italy: Industrial Relations and Inequality in a Recessionary Environment, in D. Vaughan-Whitehead (ed.) Inequalities and the World of Work: What Role for Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue?, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (UK)-Northampton (USA) (with G. Fiorani).

 (2017) Out of the crisis. A radical change of strategy for the euro zone. European Journal of Comparative Economics, 14, 1:13-37 (with A. Ginzburg).

(2016) Europe at a crossroads: what kind of structural reforms? in G. Bäcker, S. Lehndorff, C. Weinkopf (eds) Den Arbeitsmarkt verstehen, um ihn zu gestalten, Springer VS, Berlin (with P. Villa).

Position/Role

Associate Professor of History and Institutions of Asia, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice.

Professional career

Marcella Simoni graduated in Italian Literature at the University of Florence, specializing in contemporary history. She then continued her studies in London, where she obtained her Ph.D in 2004 at the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London. Upon her return to Italy, she started to cooperate with the Department of Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari University, as a contract professor first, as a junior researcher, and since 2011 in a permanent position as a Senior Researcher. As a post-doc and/or visiting scholar she has been hosted in various universities and research centres, in the US (Brown University, American Jewish University), in the UK (Oxford), in France (INALCO), Israel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Centre de Recherche Francais à Jérusalem), China (University of Nanjing). Since 2004 she has been teaching at the Florence campus of New York University. 

Scientific results

She has worked on various themes and research topics in the social history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and maintains a very active research agenda. Her interests include the history of medicine and public health in Palestine of the British Mandate, Israeli cinema, non-violence and civil resistance in Israel and Palestine and military conscientious objection in Israel.

Editorial work and publications

Among her works published during the last 10 years:

Books

[2018] Simoni M, Miccoli D, Foscarini G, Homelands and Diasporas: Perspectives on Jewish Culture in the Mediterranean and Beyond, Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle upon Tyne.

[2010] Simoni M, A Healthy Nation. Zionist Health Policies in British Palestine (1930-1939), Cafoscarina, Venezia.

[2010] Simoni M, At the Margins of Conflict. Social Perspectives on Arabs and Jews in British Palestine (1922-1948), Cafoscarina, Venezia.

Edited books and special issues

[2013] Simoni M, Israelis and Palestinians Seeking, Building and Representing Peace, “Quest. Issues inContemporary Jewish History, 5. 

Chapters in books

[2018] Simoni M, Young Italian Jews in Israel, and back. Voices from a generation (1945-1953), pp. 173-200, in “Italian Jewish Networks between Europe and the Mediterranean”, Schwarz G, Ferrara C, Bregoli F (eds.), Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Articles in Peer-Reviewed scientific journals

[2017] Simoni M, (ed.) Narcotics and global history (Narcotici e storia globale), in Simoni, M, “Passato e Presente”, vol. 101, pp. 167-90. 

[2016] Simoni M, A history of missed relations. Giorgio La Pira and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Una storia di relazioni mancate. Giorgio La Pira e il conflitto israelo-palestinese), in Humanitas, vol. 71/5, pp. 724-32. 

[2013] Simoni M, «Hello Pacifist». War resisters in Israel’s first decade, in Simoni M (ed.), “Israelis and Palestinians Seeking, Building and Representing Peace” “Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History” 5, pp. 73-100.

[2013] Simoni M, «Shoot and Pray!» Israeli cinema thirty years after the Lebanon War («Spara e Prega!» Il cinema israeliano a trenta anni dalla guerra del Libano), in, Passato e Presente, vol. 31/88, pp. 111-30. 

[2013] Simoni M, Youth, education and democracy in Israel. The perspective from “New Outlook” in the 1960s [Imparare a separarsi. L’educazione di arabi e ebrei nella Palestina britannica (1922-1948)], in “Qualestoria”, 40/2: 61-84.

[2012] Simoni M, Giovani, educazione e democrazia in Israele. La prospettiva di «New Outlook» negli anni Sessanta, in SMP Società Mutamento Politica, vol. 3/5, pp. 121-33. 

[2012] Simoni M, Legrenzi M, Di Peri R, Mazzuccotelli F, Meier D, Lebanon before and after 1982 (Il Libano prima e dopo il 1982), in Passato e Presente, vol. 87, pp. 19-37 e 249-62. 

Awards and prizes

2009-10 Accademia dei Lincei (Rome, Italy) Prize “Alessandro Vaciago” for the political and social sciences

Position/Role

Chair, Department of Arabic Language and Cultures, the University of Sydney.

Professional career

Graduated in Arabic Language and Cultures at the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice (2000). She has a Master in Migration Studies (Venice, 2001) and a Master in Intercultural Studies (Padova University, 2001). She was awarded a PhD in Arabic, Islamic and Middle East Studies in2006 (Venice), with a thesis on Egyptian Feminism. Between 2000 and 2011 she paralleled her academic studies with her professional activity in the field of intercultural education and she has been teaching as an adjunct professor in the Universities of Milan, Macerata and Verona. She moved to Sydney in 2011, where she is the Chair of the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures and where she teaches in the programs of Arabic Language and Cultures, International and Global Studies, European Studies and International and Comparative Literary and Translation Studies. Since 2016 she curates with Paola Caridi the program Arab Souls, a focus on Arabic Literature and Arab Cultures at the Torino Book Fair. 

Scientific results

Her research in the field of women's history focuses on the study of Egyptian feminism. She has also published on Arab women's autobiography, Arab women's political leadership, and contemporary Iraqi cinema.

Editorial work and publications

Books

[2013] Sorbera L. (with Lorenzo Casini e Maria Elena Paniconi), Modernità arabe. Nazione, narrazione e nuovi soggetti nel romanzo egiziano, Mesogea, Messina.

Edited books

[2018] Sorbera L. (with Bronwyn Winter), Contending Legitimacy in World Politics, Taylor and Francis, London.

Papers

[2016] Sorbera L. (with Bronwyn Winter), "Legitimacy". Special issue of Global Discourse: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Current Affairs and Applied Contemporary Thought, 6(3). 

[2014] Sorbera L. (with Maurizio Marinelli), "Imagining Revolution". Special issue of Post-Colonial Studies, 17(1). 

[2013] Sorbera L. (with Leila El Houssi), "Femminismi nel Mediterraneo". Special Issue of Genesis. The Journal of the Italian Society of Women Historians, 12(1).

Papers in scientific journals (peer-reviewed)

[2017] Sorbera L., "The Debate about Veiling and Unveiling. A transnational History?", Contemporanea, 20(4): 681-699.

[2016] Sorbera L., "Body Politics and Legitimacy: Towards a feminist epistemology of the Egyptian revolution", Global Discourse: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Current Affairs and Applied Contemporary Thought, 6(3): 493-612.

[2014] Sorbera L., "Challenges of thinking feminism and revolution in Egypt between 2011 and 2014", Postcolonial Studies, 17 (1): 74-86.

[2014] Sorbera L.,  "Writing Revolution: New Inspirations, new questions", Postcolonial Studies, 17(1): 104-108.

[2013] Sorbera L., "Femminismo e rivoluzione in Egitto e Tunisia, in Linee di Conflitto. Il mondo arabo in trasformazione". Dossier, Afriche e Orientied (by Massimiliano Trentin) 15(1-2): 38-52.

[2013] Sorbera L. (con Leila El Houssi), "Femminismi nel Mediterraneo", Genesis. The Journal of the Italian Society of Women’s Historians, 12(1): 5-12.

[2013] Sorbera L., "Early Reflections of an Historian on Feminism in Egypt in Times of Revolution", Genesis. The Journal of the Italian Society of Women’s Historians, X12(1): 13-42.

Awards and prizes

Franca Pieroni Bortolotti Award for the best PhD thesis on women and gender history, awarded by the italian Society of Women Historians (2007).

Position/Role

Professor Emerita of Agricultural Microbiology, University of Milan.

Professional career

Graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan, Claudia Sorlini  developed   her career up to full professor of Agriculture, Food and Environment Microbiology.  Besides her tenure at the University of Milan, she taught at the University of Molise (1990-1993) and Politecnico di  Milano (1975-1988) . She has held several assignments in the university governance: Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture  ( 2014-2010), member of the  Equal Opportunity Committee of the University of Milan, coordinator of the session Gender & Equality in Research and Science (2006 - 2013). During her tenure as dean, she has been coordinator of the  scientific committeee founding the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone. Among the several external posts she has been member of the Steering Committee of the EU Scientific Programme for Expo(2014-15),vice-president of Italian Touring Club and president of the association Casa dell'Agricoltura that promotes the sustainable agriculture and the role of women farmers and researchers  in agriculture.

Scientific results

She is expert in  the field of microbial biotechnologies applied to the bioremediation of polluted sites,  bio-energy production (methane, hydrogen and fertilizers) and biofertilizers. Along with her team she set up a viable bacterial cells-based system to recover ancient stone statues and frescoes; an image of these investigations gained the cover of the American Society for Microbiology Journal. She got a specific experience in the xenobiotic pollutants biodegradation such as plastics, pesticides, solvents etc. and has been involved in the promotion of  women scientists by welcoming young female students in her scientific European  projects, and participating, as a scientific referent, to the projects, such as Stages (Structural Transformation to Achieve Gender Equality in Science, 2012-2013), which support equal gender opportunity in science.

Editorial work and publications

Claudia Sorlini is author and co-author of more than 300 publications on international and national journals and  books chapters. Among the more recents: 

(2018) Vigani G., Rolli E., Dell'Orto M, Michoud G, Soussi A., Raffafu N., Borin S., Sorlini C., Zocchi G., Daffonchio D. Root bacterial endophytes confer drought resistance and enhance expression and activity of a vacuolar H⁺ -pumping pyrophosphatase in pepper plants. Environmental Microbiology.

(2018) Sorlini C. Agricoltura e alimentazione: quale futuro? Notiziario della Banca Popolare di Sondrio, 137: 14-17.

(2016) Sorlini C. "Cambiamento climatico, una sfida da vincere". In Clima, il pianeta che cambia. Touring Club Italiano Milano,  7-9.

(2015) Expo 2015 EU Scientific Steering Committee. Fischler F., Wilkinson D., Benton T., Daniel H., Darcy-Vrillon B. Hefferman P., Kok E., Saarela M., Jakubczyc E., Sorlini C., Swinnen J., von Brown J. New ways of providing knowledge to tackle food and nutrition security: what should the EU do? European Union.

(2015) Sorlini C., Dendena B., Grassi S. "The mutifaceted nature of the agrifood world". In The many faces of sustainability, edited by Veca S., Feltrinelli, Milano, 3-29.

Awards and prizes

In 2015 she received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic from the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, to "reward merits acquired for the nation in the fields of literature, the arts, economics and in the performance of public duties and activities carried out for social, philanthropic and humanitarian purposes, as well as for long and distinguished service in civil and military careers".

In the same year, she was awarded the Ambrogino D'Oro, a civic merit of the Municipality of Milan. She has also received the Beijing "Women who have made it" Award, 20 - Making women world congress for her commitment to art, science, culture and social issues and the Technovisionary Award: women who see the future of EXPO Women Global Forum - Women & Tech for having made a significant academic contribution and coordinated European and national projects on environmental, agricultural and bioenergy issues. For her commitment also to international cooperation, with a master's degree and a research project on agriculture in arid areas and the supervision of the Faculty of Agriculture in Makeni (Sierra Leone), which she helped set up.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Medical Statistics  at the University of Genoa, Italy

Professional career

After graduating in Physics with Biophysical specialization at the University of Genoa in 1992, she continued her education through a specialisation in Medical Physics, Statistical Analysis of Medical Data and Biomedical Imaging at the University of Pisa. In 1998 she obtained a specialisation in Medical Statistics at the University of Milan. In 1998 she joined the Clinical Epidemiology group of the National Institute for Cancer Research (IST) in Genoa as a research fellow, where she worked on clinical trials in oncology. For 10 years she collaborated as a statistical consultant with the Neuroimaging Research Unit of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan and devoted herself to research on Multiple Sclerosis. Since 2005, she has been Professor of Medical Statistics at the University of Genoa.

Scientific results

Maria Pia Sormani's research work focuses on the study of methodological issues related to the use of magnetic resonance imaging in multiple sclerosis, which she has been investigating for the past ten years while collaborating with the Neuroimaging Research Unit at the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, and on the definition of the study design for testing new drugs in this pathology. Recently, she has been involved in studies on the efficacy of autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation in cases of aggressive multiple sclerosis. On this topic, she presented a meta-analysis at the European Multiple Sclerosis Congress (ECTRIMS), which should form the basis for planning and conducting a randomised trial of this therapy. She is also participating in the MESEMS study, the first worldwide study evaluating stem cell transplantation in multiple sclerosis, directed by Prof. Uccelli of the Neurological Clinic of the University of Genoa. Other research areas concern bone marrow transplantation in leukaemia, endpoint definition in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and the study of surrogate endpoints in breast cancer studies, in collaboration with the San Martino-IST of Genoa.

Editorial work and publications

She is in the editorial Board of Multiple Sclerosis Journal and Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. She published more than 350 papers on peer reviewed journals.

Awards and prizes

In 2016 whe was recognised one of the 38 Top Italian Scientist italiane by ONDA (Osservatorio Nazionale sulla Salute della Donna).

Position/Role

Associate professor of Business Organization at the University of Milan.

Professional career

Graduate in Political Science, she began her academic career in Milan, first at the Catholic University, then at "La Statale". Until April 2022 she was president of the interdepartmental teaching board of the degree course in 'Public and Healthcare Management', based at the Faculty of Political, Economic and Social Sciences.

She is a member of the College of the PhD programme in 'Law and Economics of the Digital Society' at the Uninettuno University in Rome and is a member of the Ordering Committee of the Master's Degree Course in Cybersecurity (University of Milan).

She is co-founder and director of the ICONA Research Centre, established at the University of Milan, where she is responsible for consulting and training projects on organisational change issues.

She is a member of the Jean Monnet Laboratory, a research centre directed by Prof. Massimo Florio. 

She is a member of the Scientific Commission "Public Enterprises / Public Services", established within CIRIEC (Centre International de Recherches et d'Information sur l'Economie Publique, Sociale et Coopérative), in Brussels.

President and member of adjudication commissions in the context of tenders organised by public administrations, she is also a publicist enrolled in the Professional Register of Journalists of Lombardy.

Scientific results

The research activity of Maddalena Sorrentino focuses on phenomena related to organizational change, the implications deriving from the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICT) and information systems. She has participated in numerous networks and research projects in Italy and abroad. Her scientific contributions are published in international journals, book chapters and conference proceedings.

Editorial work and publications

Maddalena Sorrentino is on the editorial board of several international journals, such as: Government Information Quarterly, Information Polity, Transforming Government, Information Systems and e-Business Management.

She is the author of over 200 essays, including:

(2021) Castelnovo W, SorrentinoM. “The Nodality Disconnect of Data-Driven Government”. Administration & Society53 (9): 1418-1442. 

(2020) Sorrentino M. “Public enterprises and the public mission. A multidimensional lens” In: L. Bernier, M. Florio, P. Bance (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of State-Owned Enterprises, London: Routledge, pp. 73-90. 

(2018) Castelnovo W, Sorrentino M. “Engaging with complexity in a public programme implementation”. Public Management Review 20(7):1013-1031.

(2018) Castelnovo W, Sorrentino M. “The digital government imperative: a context-aware perspective”. Public Management Review 20(5): 709-725. 

(2018) Sorrentino M, Sicilia M, Howlett M. "Understanding co-production as a new public governance tool”. Policy and Society 37(3): 277-293. 

(2017) Sorrentino M, Guglielmetti C, Gilardi S, Marsilio M. “Health Care Services and the Coproduction Puzzle. Filling in the Blanks”. Administration & Society 49 (10): 1424-1449.

(2013) Sorrentino M, De Marco M. “Implementing e-government in hard times: when the past is wildly at variance with the future”. Information Polity 18(4): 331-342. 

(2013) Sorrentino M, Simonetta M. “Incentivising inter-municipal collaboration: the Lombard experience”. Journal of Management and Governance 17(4):887–906. 

(2012) Sorrentino M, Passerini K. “Evaluating e–government initiatives: the role of formative assessment during implementation”. Electronic Government, an International Journal 9(2): 128-141. 

(2010) Ferro E, Sorrentino M. “Can intermunicipal collaboration help the diffusion of E-Government in peripheral areas? Evidence from Italy”. Government Information Quarterly 27(1): 17-25. 

(2007) De Marco M, Sorrentino M. “Sowing the seeds of IS cultivation in public sector organisations”. Journal of Information Technology 22(2):184-194. 

(2005)Sorrentino M. “Taking care of invisible technology”. European Journal of Information Systems 14 (5): 507-509. 

Position/Role

Full professor of operations research and President of International Federation of Operational Research Societies, University of Brescia

Professional career

After graduating in Mathematics in 1980 from the University of Milan, she continued her education by attending the Scuola di Perfezionamento in Matematica. In 1983 she graduated, becoming an operational researcher. From 1983 to 1987 she was an associate professor in the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences at the University of Udine. She then held a collaborative position at the Institute for Applications of Mathematics and Informatics of the CNR, from 1986 to 1987. Since 1994 she has been full professor of Operational Research at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Brescia. From 2002 to 2008 she is Dean of the same faculty. Since 1 November 2016 she has been Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Brescia.

Scientific results

The research activity of Maria Grazia Speranza is oriented to the study of mixed integer mathematical programming models, that is optimization models where a function is minimized or maximized subject to constraints and the variables must take integer values. Such models have been applied to several problems, in particular in the area of finance, where the decision concerns the investment of a capital in securities with the objective of  minimizing the risk while guaranteeing a given average rate of return, and to the area of transportation and logistics where location or distribution decisions must be taken with the objective of minimizing the costs while guaranteeing a given service level. Most recent research concerns the value of collaboration and shared mobility.

Editorial work and publications

Maria Grazia Speranza is editor of international scientific journals such as  Transportation Science and  EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics. She is author of more than 150 publications among which: 

(2018) Archetti C, Christiansen, M, Speranza MG. Inventory routing with pickups and deliveries,  European Journal of Operational Research,  268:314–324.

(2018) Speranza MG. Trends in transportation and logistics,  European Journal of Operational Research, 264: 830–836.

(2017) Guastaroba G, Savelsbergh M,  Speranza MG.Adaptive kernel search: A heuristic for solving mixed integer linear programs,   European Journal of Operational Research, 263: 789-804.

(2017) Archetti C, Boland N, Speranza MG. A matheuristic for the multi-vehicle inventory routing problem,  Informs Journal on Computing, 29:377-387.

(2016) Guastaroba G, Vigo D, Speranza MG.Intermediate facilities in freight transportation planning: a survey, Transportation Science, 50:763-789. 

She has also written two books:

S. Martello, M.G. Speranza, Ricerca operativa per l'economia e l'impresa, Esculapio, 2012. 
R. Mansini, W. Ogryczak, M. G. Speranza, Linear and Mixed Integer Programming for Portfolio Optimization, EURO Advanced Tutorials on Operational Research, Springer, 2015.

Awards and prizes

In  2008-2009 she was Vice-President of IFORS (International Federation of Operation Research Societies). In  2011-2012 she was President of the EURO (Association of European Operational Research Societies). In 2014 she was President of the Transportation Science and Logistic Society of INFORMS (The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Science). From 2019 to 2021 she is President of IFORS. She is member of scientific committees of the major conferences in the area of transportation and logistics. She has been chair of the  program committee of the IFORS conference in Quebec City in  2017. She was plenary speaker at several international conferences and in particular at Optimization days 2005 in Montréal  (together with John Nash) and at the 27th European Conference on Operational Research in Glasgow in 2015.

Position/Role

Professor of Political Theory at New York University in Florence, currently Visiting Assistant Professor Faculty Fellow of Liberal Studies at the New York University Shanghai

Professional career

Spini graduated in Political Philosophy from the University of Florence in 1991. In 1995 she specialised in the History of Political Thought at the Scuola di Studi Superiori "Sant'Anna" in Pisa. Since 1998 she has taught Political Theory at Syracuse University in Florence and at New York University in Florence. Between 2003 and 2019 she is Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Florence in Social Philosophy, in the Degree Course in Sociology and Social Research, where she teaches Social Philosophy from 2007 to 2011, and Philosophies of the Public Sphere from 2003 to 2007.

She is currently Visintg Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Liberal Studies at New York University in Shanghai.

Spini is a member of the Centro Studi "Confronti" (https://confronti.net), of the Study Commission of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy (https://www.fcei.it/chiese-e-societa/) and on the board of the Forum for Problems of Peace and War. (https://www.facebook.com/firenzeonlineforum/).

She is President of the Protestant Cultural Centre Pietro Martire Vermigli in Florence (https://www.facebook.com/CentroCulturaleProtestanteVermigli/) and a member of the Italian Society of Critical Theory and the Italian Society of Political Philosophy.

Scientific results

Debora Spini's early research focused on Protestant theology and contractualist political thought in early modernity: the interaction between theology and politics is a line of research still present in her work.  Later, his interests focused on the transformations of the public sphere in the age of globalisation, including an important work on Civil society in the European Union and the GARNET project Identity and Legitimacy coordinated by F. Cerutti and S. Lucarelli.

Her current research concerns the role of religious groups in the public sphere, secularisation and post-secularisation, monotheism and violence, and the rise of xenophobic populism, with particular attention to gender issues. Spini has also worked on gender-based violence; he has organised several conferences on this topic for New York University in Florence, giving rise to a large network of scholars* and activists*. She is currently working on the relationship between gender-based violence and migration, in the framework of the Women and Migration project coordinated by D. Willis and E. Toscano (New York University). Toscano (New York University).

She has also developed a specific interest in Indian politics as an especially significant testing ground for many contradictions of modernity; she is often a guest lecturer at various academic institutions in India. 

Editorial work and publications

2021]Civil religion, uncivil society. A reflection on Baba Sahib Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s conception of a ‘religion for civil society’ in   B.R. Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice edited by A. Rathore Singh, OUP. 

[2020] Decolonizing Postsecularization, in «Annali  di Studi Religiosi», 21, , pp. 167-179.

[2020] Post – secolarizzazione e regressione politica. Cosa possiamo imparare dal caso del populismo di destra, in «Iride», Gennaio 2020, pp. 369-381; Populismo e religione, in B. Henry, A. Loretoni,  A. Pirni, M. Solinas, a cura di, Manuale di Filosofia politica, Milano, Mondadori, pp. 332-342.

[2019] Religion in the European Public Spheres, in L. Leonardi, G. Scalise, Social Challenges for Europe, pp. 127-141.

[2019] Unveiling Violence: Gender and Migration in the Discourse of Right Wing Populism in Women and Migration: Responses in Art and History, D. Willis, E. Toscano and K. Brooks Nelson (Openbook publishers, pp.135-154.

[2018] «Reformatio» and «Renovatio». A Relation between Sources and Future, in «Annali di Studi Religiosi», 19, pp. 95-111.

[2018] Elective Affinities and liaisons dangereuses. Luther’s Heritage and the New Spirit of Capitalism in «Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas», vol. 7, n. 13 https://doi.org/10.13135/2280-8574/2836.

[2018] Dio del popolo o popolo di Dio. Appunti per un’analisi del rapporto fra populismo e religione in N. Urbinati,  P. Blokker, M. Anselmi, a c.d,  Populismo di Lotta e di Governo, Milano, Feltrinelli.

[2017] A call to loyalty. Women bodies, Playground and Battlefields, in «Soft Power. Revista Euro-americana de teoria y historia de la politica y del derecho».

[2016] La coscienza protestante, Claudiana, a c.d., (con Bein Ricco E.), Claudiana.

[2010] Civil society and international governance, a c.d., con Armstrong D, Bello V, Gilson J, Routledge.

[2006]  La società civile post nazionale. Meltemi.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Statistics at the Università degli Studi di Perugia.

Professional career

Elena Stanghellini graduated in Economics at the Università degli Studi di Firenze in 1991, where she also completed in 1995 the Ph.D. in Applied Statistics. After a position as Research Fellow at the Open University in Milton Keynes (U.K.), in 1996 she awards a permanent position as Researcher in Statistics at the Università degli Studi di Perugia, where she became full professor in 2005.

In 2005 she is consultant to the Regional Institute of Economic Planning of Tuscany (I.R.P.E.T.) for a research about the analysis and forecasts of the regional tourist flows.

In 2007 she is Visiting Professor at the Center of Research in Statistical Methodology of the University of Warwick (U.K.). 

In 2007 she is consultant to the World Bank for a survey about the environmental perceptions and behaviours of the Teheran residents.

In 2008 consultant to IRPET for the analysis of competitiveness of the European Regions.

 In 2009 consultant to the Ministry of Treasure (Department UVAL) for the development of a methodology for the definition of urban and rural areas, based on socioeconomic variables.

From 2010 to 2012 she is a member of the Research Group for the Sustainable Investment Research Program (SIRP), funded by the Swedish Foundation MISTRA.

From 2011 to 2013 she participates in the research group “Identification of Graphical Markov Models with latent variables”, with annual meetings at the American Institute of Mathematics, Palo Alto.

From 2011 to 2014, she is a member of the Swedish research group SIMSAM, to study the long term effects on health of the exposure to risk factors during childhood. 

From 2013 to 2016 she is Director of the Ph.D. program in Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Economic and Social Sciences. 

From 2014 to 2019 she is appointed Deputy Rector for International Relationships. In this position, she was responsible of the relations with foreign Universities, Italian Ministries and the National University Council (CUN). Several missions abroad.

From 2015 to 2019 she is Affiliated Professor at the Umeå University (SE).  

In 2020 she is in the Advisory Board of the national Italian Bureau of Statistics (ISTAT) for the design and implementation of sample surveys to measure and monitor epidemiological parameters of COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, she is involved in two projects, in Lombardy and Tuscany, for the analysis of COVID-19 individual data.

In 2020 and 2021 she partecipates several times at the SKY TV program “The numbers of pandemic”. In 2020 she joined the Rotary E-Club “Due Mondi”, with meetings mainly online. Presently she teaches “Statistics” and “Statistical models for Credit Scoring” and “Graphical Markov Models”.

Scientific results

Her main scientific achievements concern (a) the extension of graphical models for continuous random variables to asymmetrically distributed random variables (b) the analysis of point or interval identifiability of statistical models with missing information and (c) causal inference. 

With reference to (a) she has derived the first extension of graphical models to include Extended Skew-Normal variates. With reference to point (b) she has derived condition of identifiability of graphical models for both Gaussian and discrete random variables with one dimensional confounding factor and condition for interval identification of continuous or binary response models under informative missingness of the outcome. With reference to point (c) she has derived the parametric decomposition of the total effect with binary mediators. 

All results have been derived in cooperation with researchers from Italian and foreign universities.  From the applied viewpoint, she has worked on micro econometric data to forecast the default event in SME, to study the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and profitability. In epidemiology, she has been involved in the evaluation of the efficacy of a treatment in a case-control study and in the estimate of the unknown numbers of individual of an elusive population via capture-recapture methods. 

Editorial work and publications

Since 2011, she participates in the Editorial Board of the International Journal “Statistical Papers”.

She has published numerous scientific contributions, including the following.

[2021] Raggi M., Stanghellini E., Doretti M. Path Analysis for Binary Random Variables. Sociological Methods and Research. Forthcoming.

[2019] Stanghellini E., Doretti M.. On marginal and conditional parameters in logistic regression models. Biometrika, 106(3):732-739. 

[2018] Doretti M., Geneletti S., Stanghellini E. Missing Data: A Unified Taxonomy Guided by Conditional Independence. International Statistical Review, 86: 189-204.

[2014] Genbäck, M., Stanghellini E., De Luna X. Uncertainty Intervals for regression parameters with non-ignorable missingness in the outcome. Statistical Papers, 56(3): 829-847.

[2014] Nicolosi M., Grassi S., Stanghellini E. Item Response Models to Measure Corporate Social Responsibility. Applied Financial Economics, 24(22):1449-1464.

[2013] Stanghellini E., Vantaggi B. On the identification of discrete concentration graph models with one hidden binary variable. Bernoulli, 19(5A): 1920-1937.

[2011]. Hutton J.L., Stanghellini E. Modelling bounded health scores with censored skew-normal distributions. Statistics in Medicine, 30: 368–376. 

[2009] Stanghellini E. Introduzione ai metodi statistici per il Credit Scoring. Springer Verlag Italia. Monografia.

[2005] Stanghellini E., Wermuth N. On the identification of path analysis models with one hidden variable. Biometrika, 92(2):337-350.

[2004] Stanghellini E., Van der Heijden P.G.M. A multiple-record systems estimation method that takes observed and unobserved heterogeneity into account. Biometrics, 60: 510-516. 

[2003] Capitanio A., Azzalini A., Stanghellini E. Graphical Models for skew-normal variates. Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 30: 129-144.

[1997] Stanghellini E. Identification of a single-factor model using graphical Gaussian rules. Biometrika 84: 241-244.

Awards and prizes

1997: Ex-aequo winner of the Prize for the best PhD Thesis in Statistics (VII Cycle) by the Italian Statistical Society.

1999: Recipient of the Jemolo Fellowship at the Nuffield College of the University of Oxford. 

2010 to date: Elected Member of the International Statistical Institute.

2011: Winner of the Square Grant by the American Institute of Mathematics.

Position/Role

Director at Private Equity Partners SGR Spa, management company of Italian regulated closed-end funds entirely subscribed by international institutional investors with high financial and professional profiles.

Professional career

After the honours Degree in Economic and Social Disciplines accomplished in 1999 at Luigi Bocconi University of Milan, Alessandra Stea developed her education through a period of training abroad attending the Chase Manhattan Bank Analyst Training Program in New York. Later she worked as Analyst and Investment Manager in the Italian Private Equity industry.

She currently serves as member of the Board of Directors of the following companies: Private Equity Partners SGR Spa, Investindesign Spa, Italian Design Brands Spa, Gervasoni Spa, IFA Spa, Davide Groppi Srl, Saba Italia Srl.

Scientific results

Alessandra Stea today works as Director at Private Equity Partners SGR Spa, with specialization in M&A and divestment transactions in the mid-corporate market segment. In this framework she acquired significant skills in the reorganization and development of participated companies, in the structuring and execution of leveraged buy out and expansion financingtransactions and in the divestment of the participated companies in the capital markets. Her professional experience has been developed in particular in the management of the closed-end funds JP Morgan Italian Fund III and Private Equity Partners Fund IV.

She has been involved in different investment transactions, among which: Da Sistemi Spa, Wire Industries Spa, Trevisan Spa, Icos Impianti Group Spa, Tecnowind Spa, Impresa Costruzioni G. Maltauro Spa, Alessandro Rosso Incentive Spa, Mecaer Aviation Group Spa, Manutencoop Facility Management Spa, Euticals Spa, Italian Design Brands Spa, Gervasoni Spa, Meridiani Srl, Cenacchi International Srl, Davide Groppi Srl, Saba Italia Srl.

From May 2015 Alessandra Stea manages for Private Equity Partners Spa the Italian Design Brands (IDB) project - which aims at the promotion of an Italian Design district in the sector of High Quality Furniture - participating in the realization of several synergic transactions in the industry.

Position/Role

Contract professor at the School of Political Science of the University of Bologna, senior fellow at Chatham House, London and non-executive director of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Professional career

After graduating in Political Economics at Bocconi University, she continued her education with a Masters degree from the University of Oxford and a PhD in economic history at Bocconi University. After a period of post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge and Bocconi University, in 1996 she began working in the City of London as an economist. From 2004 to 2017 she directed the international economics department of Chatham House in London. She was a visiting fellow at Harvard University and the University of Toronto, at the Institute of Monetary Research, Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo.

Scientific results

The research activity of Paola Subacchi focuses on the international monetary system and the governance of international financial institutions. One area of this activity is the internationalization of the Chinese currency - the renminbi or yuan - and its recent inclusion in the international monetary system. This research deals with the question of the limits of Chinese finance and their impact on the renminbi which remains a currency with limited international circulation and liquidity and which fails to counter the dollar's hegemony.

Editorial work and publications

The main (recent) publications by Paola Subacchi are:

(2017) Subacchi P. The People’s Money. How China is building a global currency. New York, NY: Columbia University Press

(2017) Pickford S, Subacchi P. The G7’s Task for Restoring Growth and Stability. Istituto Affari Internazionali, Roma

(2017) Subacchi P, Dongmin L, Haihong  G, Qiyuan  X, Yuanfang  L, Shuan  S, Oxenford  M. The ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative and the London Market - the Next Steps. Renminbi Internationalisation, London: Chatham House.

(2017) Bayoumi  T, Pickford  S, Subacchi P. Managing Complexity: Economic Policy Cooperation after the Crisis, Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press.

(2016) Colagrossi M, Subacchi P. The productivity puzzle: why improving labor productivity is critical for Europe. Nomura Foundation, Tokyo.

(2016) Van den Noord P, Subacchi P. Increasingly Apart: Post-Crisis Growth Trajectories in the UK and Eurozone.Chatham House Briefing Paper, London, Chatham House.

Awards and prizes

Paola Subacchi is a member of the Advisory Board of Wilton Park, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and of the executive committee of W (omen) 20, one of the G20 groups. She is a consultant for the internalization of Queen Mary, University of London. In 2016 she received the honor of Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy.

Position/Role

Research Fellow at ISPI

Professional career

Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti is a Research Fellow at the Russia, Caucasus and Central Asia Centre at ISPI. Prior to that, she was a Marie Curie Fellow based at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, where she has also pursued her PhD in International Relations. She has worked as a junior researcher at the Brussels office of the Foundation for International Relations and Foreign Dialogue (FRIDE) and as a research assistant at the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB). She holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Salento, an MA in European Studies from the University of Roma Tre, and an MRes in International Relations from the Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI). She is a member of WIIS (Women in International Security), an international network dedicated to increasing the influence of women in the field of foreign and defence policy.

Scientific results

Eleonora Tafuro Ambrosetti  is an expert of Regional powers (Russia and Turkey and their relations with the EU) e non-Western readings of international relations and soft power.

Editorial work and publications

[2020] Lovotti C., Tafuro Ambrosetti E. and C. A. Hartwell, Russia in the Middle East and North Africa. Continuuity and Change, Routledge. Europa Regional Perspectives Book Series.

[2019] Cherif Y., Lovotti C. and E. Tafuro Ambrosetti, The Role of Russia in the Middle East and North Africa Region. Strategy or Opportunism?, EuroMeSco Joint Policy Study

[2019] Lovotti C. and E. Tafuro Ambrosetti, "How does the European Union perceive Russia's role in the MENA region?", EuroMeSco Joint Policy Study, 12.

[2018] Pishchivoka K. and E. Tafuro Ambrosetti   Tensione Russia-Ucraina: cause e conseguenze dellincidente di Kerch, ISPI Analysis

[2017] Tafuro Ambrosetti E. “Linking Status with Soft Power: Call for a joint research agenda”, All Azimuth: a Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace, 7(1): 143-152.

Awards and prizes

Turkey-EU Future Fellow 2018, Stiftung Mercator

Young Leader, Meeting Russia fellowship 2018, Picreadi Moscow

Marie Curie fellow, 2014-2017, European Commission

Position/Role

Full professor of Economic Policy at Politecnico di Milano

Professional career

She graduated in Economics at Bocconi University in 1988, received her Diploma in Advanced International Economic Policy Research at the Institute of World Economics in Kiel (Germany) in 1991, and received her Ph.D. in Economics in 1994.

She is Professor of Economic Policy at the Department of Management Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. She is also a member of the Board of the same Department, with responsibility for international accreditations, and she is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Digital Export Observatory of Politecnico. She teaches courses in Economics, International Economics and International Markets and European Institutions at Politecnico di Milano in undergraduate, postgraduate and postgraduate courses (MBA, EMBA and PhD). She has held teaching positions in International Economics at Bocconi University and at Sant'Anna School in Pisa, and she has been visiting scholar and visiting professor a number of times at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy, Ann Arbor (USA ).

Until July 2019 shi was member of the scientific committee of the Italian Trade Study Group. She is a senior research fellow at the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) in Milan, she is a member of the scientific committee of the Italian Trade Agency (ex-ICE), of the scientific committee of the Masi Foundation, and the European Trade Study Group. He is a member of the Regency Committee of the Milan branch of the Bank of Italy. 

Scientific results

She has been research coordinator of research projects of relevant national interest (PRIN) on European integration and the Italian competitive position, on international trade and on multilateral trade policies. Her research activity focuses on theoretical and empirical issues related to international trade and economic integration between countries, in particular through the fragmentation of international production and participation in global value chains.

Recent research projects carried out or underway include: "The use of trade data to understand the market penetration of climate technologies", research project funded by EBRD; “Non-tariff measures, standards and certifications in international trade of the 21st century,  project funded by Accredia; "Digital exports of Italian companies", report of the Digital Export Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano with the cooperation of Italian Trade Agency; "The role of international fragmentation of production in global imbalances during the international financial crisis", a basic research project funded by the Politecnico di Milano; "International trade and network analysis", a research project of national interest funded by MIUR.

Editorial work and publications

Lucia Tajoli has over 100 publications to her credit. Here are the most recent ones:

[2021] Stephenson M., Faiz Shaul Hamid M., Peter A., Sauvant K.P., Seric A., Tajoli, L. "More and better investment now! How unlocking sustainable and digital investment flows can help achieve the SDGs", Journal of International business policy, 4(1): 152-165.

[2021] Tajoli L. e C. Piccardi, "The network of international trade in services", Applied network science, 1(68): 1-25.

[2021] Felice G. e L. Tajoli, "Trade balances and global value chains: Is there a link?", Structural change and economic dynamics, 59: 228-246.

[2020] Tajoli L., "Trasformazioni digitali e competitività internazionale delle imprese italiane", Rivista di politica economica, 1: 107-122.

[2020]  Tajoli L., "Il mondo economico-finanziario: globale o frammentato?", in Lavori in corso. La fine di un mondo, atto II, edited byA. Colombo e P. Magri, Ledizioni Ledipublishing, Milano, 51-79.

[2020] Stephenson M., Faiz Shaul Hamid M., Peter A., Sauvant K.P., Seric A., Tajoli L. How the G20 Can Advance Sustainable and Digital Investment, T20 Task Force 1.

[2019] Tantardini M., Ieva F., Tajoli L., Piccardi C., "Comparing methods for comparing networks", Scientific reports, 9(1):1-19.

[2019] Tajoli L.,  "Le guerre dei dazi: verso la fine della WTO?", in La fine di un mondo. La deriva dell'ordine liberale, edited by A. Colombo e P. Magri, Ledizioni LediPublishing, Milano, 65-76.

[2018] Tajoli L., "La centralità dei paesi nelle catene globali del valore", in L'Italia nell'economia internazionale. Rapporto ICE 2017-2018. Italian Trade Agency ICE, Roma, 34-41.

[2018] Tajoli, L., De Lombaerde P., Iapadre P., McCranie A.,  "Using Network Analysis to Study Globalization, Regionalization and Multi-Polarity", Introduction to Special Section, Network Science, 6(4): 517-544.

[2018] Tajoli, L., Piccardi C., "Complexity, centralization, and fragility in economic networks", PLoS ONE, 13 (11): e0208265. 

[2018] Tajoli, L., Felice, G., "Global value chains participation and knowledge spillovers in developed and developing countries: An empirical investigation", European Journal of Development Research, 30 (3): 505-532. 

Position/Role

Senior Research Fellow, Co-head Middle East and North Africa Centre, ISPI (the Italian Istitute of International Political Studies)

Professional career

Valeria Talbot is a Senior Research Fellow and Co-Head of the Middle East and North Africa Centre of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI). She is also a lecturer at the Master in Middle Eastern Studies (MIMES) of the Alta Scuola of Economics and International Relations (ASERI) of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart where she teaches Euro-Mediterranean Relations. From 2015 to 2017 she was Lecturer of History and Institutions of the Middle East at the IULM University of Milan. For several years she has been coordinating ISPI’s short courses on "Europe and the Mediterranean" and "The Gulf countries: crises, challenges and economic diversification", where she also teaches. Furthermore, she has lectured at the Doing Business Master in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East of the New Institute of International Business (NIBI) of the Chamber of Commerce of Milan and in other training courses.

She is invited to conferences and seminars in Italy and abroad on the issues of her competence, on which she is also interviewed by Italian and foreign media.

After graduating in Political Science at the University of Catania, she earned a Master of Philosophy in International Relations at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

Scientific results

Her main researches areas focus on political and security dynamics in the enlarged Mediterranean area, with a particular focus on the role of external actors, on socio-political transformations triggered by the so-called Arab Spring of 2011, on Turkey's policy in the Middle East and towards Asia, on the monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and on the intra-Gulf crisis.

Since 2015, she has worked on the organization the Rome MED Dialogues annual conference that ISPI organizes in collaboration with the Italian Foreign Ministry. Among other things, she is scientific coordination of the MED Report, which collects the analyses of Italian and international experts on the issues of the Mediterranean area and the Middle East.

Since 2016, Valeria Talbot has been responsible for the quarterly report "Focus Mediterranean in a broader context" created by the ISPI for the International Political Observatory of the Italian Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, for which over the years it has also contributed with ad hoc work on Turkey and on Euro-Mediterranean relations.

From 2013 to 2016, she was scientific coordinator for ISPI’s Arab Trans project, a three-year project funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Program. The project, which involved a consortium of twelve members between European and Arab universities and research centers, analyzed socio-political transformations in seven Arab countries based on survey data conducted in such countries (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia). Since 2013, she has collaborated in the realization of the Treccani-ISPI geopolitical Atlas. From 2010 to 2016, she was the scientific coordinator of the Med & Gulf Executive Briefings project, carried out in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo and Promos Chamber of Commerce of Milan, for Italian companies and organizations interested in business opportunities in the enlarged Mediterranean area.

Editorial work and publications

Valeria Talbot has coordinated and edited various research projects. She writes commentary and articles in Italian and English for ISPI and online and printed magazines.

From 2007 to 2011, she was editorial coordinator of the ISPI’s review "Quaderni di Relazioni Internazionali".

Among its main publications:

[forthcoming] Abbot P., Maggiolini P., Talbot V., Teti A., The EU’s Southern Neighbourhood Policy after the Arab Uprisings - A Failure Foretold, Palgrave.

[2019] Talbot, V., Lovotti, C. (eds.), The Role of Russia in the Middle East and North Africa Region. Strategy or Opportunism?, EuroMeSCo Joint Policy Study n. 12 

[2018] Talbot, V., Torelli, S. M. (eds.), Building Trust: the Challenge of Peace and Stability in the Mediterranean, ISPI MED Report.

[2018] Talbot, V. (ed.), Turkey: Towards a Eurasian Shift?, ISPI Report.

[2017] Talbot, V., Torelli S. M. (eds.), Looking Ahead: Charting New Path for the Mediterranean, ISPI MED Report.

[2017] Talbot, V., Fasulo F., "The MENA Region: Where the Belt Joins the Road", in Amighini A. (ed.), China’s Belt and Road: a Game Changer?,  ISPI Report.

[2017] Talbot, V., Frappi C., La politica estera della Turchia, Report for the Italian Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

[2017] Teti, A., Maggiolini, P., Talbot, V. and Abbot, P., "MENA Populations' Perceptions of Key Challenges, International context, and the Role of the European Union", Arab Transformations, Working Paper n. 9.

[2016] Talbot, V., Torelli, S. M. (eds.), Leaving the Storm Behind: Ideas for a New Mediterranean. ISPI MED Report.

[2015] Talbot, V., Lovotti, C., Il rilancio della cooperazione euro-mediterranea, Report for the Italian Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

[2015] Talbot, V.  (ed.), The Rising Gulf. The New Ambitions of the Gulf Monarchies, ISPI Report.

[2015] Talbot, V.  (ed.), The Uncertain Path of the New Turkey, ISPI Report. 

Position/Role

Full Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark 

Professional career

Irene Tamborra studied Physics at the University of Bari in Italy. She was awarded a Bachelor's of Science in Physics in 2005 and a Master of Science in Theoretical Physics in 2007. She graduated from the University of Bari in 2011 with a Ph.D. thesis in Astroparticle Physics. She was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich from 2011 to 2013 and research associate at the GRAPPA Centre of Excellence of the University of Amsterdam from 2013 to 2015. She joined the University of Copenhagen as Knud Højgaard Assistant Professor in 2016, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017 and Full Professor in 2021. 

Scientific results

Tamborra’s research focuses on the interface between astrophysics and particle physics. She has proposed a number of ideas concerning the exploration of a wide range of astrophysical objects by using neutrinos as probes. She has played a pioneering role in connecting the theoretical modeling of the microphysics of astrophysical sources to observations within a multi-messenger framework. Irene Tamborra's work has also provided fundamental contributions to our understanding of neutrino flavor conversion in compact astrophysical sources (such as core-collapse supernovae and neutron star merger) as well as in the early universe, the modeling of physics beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics, and the nucleosynthesis of the heavy elements. In 2014, she discovered a new phenomenon occurring in core-collapse supernovae just before their explosion: LESA. LESA consists of an astonishingly large asymmetric emission of electron neutrinos with respect to electron antineutrinos.

Editorial work and publications

Irene Tamborra is author of numerous international scientific publications. The full list is available online on Google Scholar.

Awards and prizes

In 2009, she receive the “Antonio Stanghellini” award from the Italian Physics Society. In 2011 she received the honorable mention for the “Fubini” award from the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN); during the same year, she became an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. In 2019, she was elected the Carlsberg Distinguished Associate Professor, received the MERAC Prize from the European Astronomical Society, and the S.P. Duggal award from the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. In 2020, she received the Kvinder i Fisik Prize for being a role model from the Danish Network for Women in Physics. She is member of the International Astronomical Union, the European Astronomical Society, and plays a leading role in a number of international boards.

Position/Role

Full professor at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari and President of the School of Specialisation in Food Inspection.

Professional career

After graduating in Pharmacy from the University of Bari in 1984, he began teaching and researching at various Italian and foreign universities: University of Teramo, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Rome, University of Tirana and University of Western Brittany (France). In the three-year period 2003/2006 he held the position of president of the degree course in Animal Science and Food Health at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Bari and, at the same faculty, in the three-year period 2007/2010 he was president of the master degree course in Hygiene and Quality of Food of Animal Origin. From 2008 to 2014, she was President of the School of Specialisation in Hygiene and Technology of Milk and Milk Products and coordinator of the PhD course in Production, Quality and Safety of Food of Animal Origin from cycle XX to XXVI. She is currently President of the School of Specialisation in Inspection of Food of Animal Origin and is a member of the board of teachers of the PhD School in Animal Health and Zoonoses. In 2014 he was appointed to collaborate with the Department of Agri-food Resources, Agriculture, Food, Land Reform, Hunting and Fishing, Forestry of the Apulia Region for the drafting of the Regional Law on Beekeeping. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Regional Coordination and Monitoring Board for the Coordination and Cooperation between Administrations and Bodies involved in food safety and veterinary public health under the Regional Prevention Plan 2014-2018 (TCM) at the Department for Health Promotion, Social Wellbeing and Sport for All (Apulia Region).

Scientific results

Professor Tantillo is scientifically responsible for numerous national and international research projects, aimed at food hygiene control, ascertaining the nutritional and functional quality of food, developing technological innovations for food preservation, and uncovering health and commercial fraud using biomolecular techniques. Among its research activities are the control of the presence of pathogenic microorganisms in food matrices, chemical-physical analysis for the determination and assessment of chemical risk in food, DNA-based analysis for the identification of species in prepared or processed foods. 

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of the book La produzione igienica della carne. Gli stabilimenti di macellazione e i laboratori di sezionamento (Edagricole 2001), of 3 chapters of the text Igiene e tecnologia  degli alimenti di origine animale (edited by Giampaolo Colavita, Le Point Veterinaire Italie, 2012) and of the popular volume Carta d'identità dei prodotti tradizionali pugliesi (Infosei, 2007).

She is also author/co-author of numerous scientific publications, including:

[2018] Terio, Valentina, Bottaro, Marilisa, Di Pinto, Angela, Fusco, Giovanna, Barresi, Teodosio, Tantillo, Giuseppina, Martella, Vito (2018). Occurrence of Aichi virus in retail shellfish in Italy. FOOD MICROBIOLOGY, 74: 120-124.

[2017 ] Terio V, Bottaro M, Pavoni E, Losio M N, Serraino A, Giacometti F, Martella V, Mottola A, Di Pinto A, Tantillo G. Occurrence of hepatitis A and E and norovirus GI and GII in ready-to-eat vegetables in Italy. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 249:61-65, ISSN: 0168-1605, doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro. 2017.03.008.

[2017] Di Pinto A, Terio V, Marchetti P, Bottaro M, Mottola A, Bozzo G, Bonerba E, Ceci E, Tantillo G. DNA-based approach for species identification of goat-milk products, Food Chemistry, 229:93-97, ISSN: 0308-8146, doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem. 2017.02.067.

[2016] Sportelli M C, Picca R A, Ronco R, Bonerba E, Tantillo G, Pollini M, Sannino A, Valentini A, Cataldi T, Cioffi N. Investigation of industrial polyurethane foams modified with antimicrobial copper nanoparticles, Materials, 9, ISSN: 1996-1944, doi: 10.3390/ma9070544.

[2016] Calvano C D, Picca R A, Bonerba E, Tantillo G, Cioffi N, Palmisano F. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry analysis of proteins and lipids in Escherichia coli exposed to copper ions and nanoparticles, Journal of Mass Spectometry. 828-840, ISSN: 1076-5174, doi: 10.1002/jms.3823.

[2016] Mottola A, Bonerba E, Bozzo G, Marchetti P, Celano G V, Colao V, Terio V, Tantillo G, Figueras M J, Di Pinto A. Occurrence of emerging food-borne pathogenic Arcobacter spp. isolated from pre-cut (ready-to-eat) vegetables. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 236:33-37, ISSN: 0168-1605, doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro. 2016.07.012.

[2016] Mottola A, Bonerba E, Figueras M J, Pérez-Cataluña A, Marchetti P, Serraino A, Bozzo G, Terio V, Tantillo G, Di Pinto A. Occurrence of potentially pathogenic arcobacters in shellfish, Food Microbiology, 57:23-27, ISSN: 0740-0020, doi: 10.1016/j.fm.2015.12.010.

[2015] Ditaranto N, Van der Werf I D, Picca R A, Sportelli M C, Giannossa L.C., Bonerba E, Tantillo G, Sabbatini L. Characterization and behaviour of ZnO-based nanocomposites designed for the control of biodeterioration of patrimonial stoneworks. New Journal of Chemistry, 39:6836-6843, ISSN: 1144-0546, doi: 10.1039/c5nj00527b.

[2015] Di Pinto A, Bottaro M, Bonerba E, Bozzo G, Ceci E., Marchetti P, Mottola A, Tantillo G. Occurrence of mislabeling in meat products using DNA-based assay, Journal of Food Science and Tecnology, 52:2479-2484, ISSN: 0022-1155, doi: 10.1007/s13197-014-1552-Y.

[2014] Bonerba E, Ceci E, Montemurro N, Tantillo G, Di Pinto A, Celano G, Bozzo G. Determinazione quantitativa in HPLC Uv-Vis di fitofarmaci nel miele mediante procedura estrattiva QuEChERS. Italian Journal of Food Safety, 3:85-91, ISSN: 2239-7132, doi: 10.4081/ijfs.2014.1647.

[2014] Di Pinto A, Bonerba E, Bozzo G, Ceci E, Terio V, Tantillo G. Occurence of potentially enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus in infant milk powder. European Food Research and Technoogy, ISSN: 1438-2377, doi: Doi: 10.1007/s00217-013-1988-8.

Awards and prizes

The research group coordinated by Professor Tantillo of the Food Safety Section of the Department of Veterinary Medicine in Bari was ranked first in the national ranking of "Evaluation of Research Quality" in the period 2004/2010 (SSD VET/04). Giuseppina Tantillo is a member of the AIVI National Scientific Committee and, since 2013, as an external expert, of the RINA S.p.A. Certification Technical Committee. (Fisheries Sector, Ge).

Professional career

Renata Lenti (conjugated Targetti), born in Milan on August 20, 1941, graduated with honors in Economics and Commerce from the Bocconi University in 1965. She obtained the title of Master of Arts in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1967. Extraordinary and then Professor of Political Economics at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Pavia from 1987 to 2008. In the Faculty Renata Lenti Targetti has taught as a professor in numerous courses in Economics. During the 1990s, the organization of the "Erasmus system" was actively employed on behalf of the Faculty. He also directed - from 2005 to 2008 - the Study Center for Extra-European People Cesare Bonacossa of the University of Pavia. In parallel with the teaching and research activities carried out at the Faculty of Political Science of Pavia, Renata Lenti Targetti held courses at the Bocconi University in Milan until October 2012. She also regularly collaborated with teaching activities at the International Master in "Cooperation and Development" (European School of Advanced Studies) of Pavia and the Master in "International Affairs" organized by the ISPI of Milan. She has also been a member of the teaching staff of the Doctoral School in Economic Policy of the Università Cattolica del S.Cuore, based in Piacenza, entitled "Quantitative methods for economic policy". From December 8th 2009 she is Corresponding Member of the Lombard Institute-Academy of Sciences and Letters. Since September 2013 she is professor emeritus of theUniversity of Pavia.

Scientific results

The research activity of Renata Targetti Lenti has resulted in the publication of numerous essays (64) and three monographs on the themes of development and underdevelopment, on the market structure of natural resources and raw materials, on the functional and personal distribution of income, on poverty, on theories of distributive justice, on the construction and use of Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) and Computable General Equilibrium Models (CGE) based on SAMs.

Scientific activity has followed mainly four directions:

Renata Lenti has prepared and coordinated numerous research projects aimed at deepening the knowledge of different aspects of inequality and poverty by abandoning the usual aggregated setting that hides within it controversial points in favor of a disaggregated vision in order to better explore the relationship between inequality and growth and to assess the impact of public policies on income distribution. Particular attention has been dedicated to analyzing the factors at the root of inequality and poverty, and policies aimed at fighting them. These issues were anlysed both from a theoretical and applied point of view with particular reference to the links between income distribution and the features of the economic system. The work of an applied nature has had as its object the Italian reality.

A second line of research has been the analysis of the problems related to the construction and use of Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) as simulation models of alternative public policies. Numerous recent works have also been dedicated to the search for an innovative analysis scheme that explains the links between functional and personal income distribution. Many theoretical and applied essays can be included in this line of research.

A third line of research has been to analyze some of the main problems of development with particular reference to the relations between democracy and development and to the structural characteristics of some countries such as China or India.

A fourth line of research has been to analyze the thinking of some political philosophers on economic analysis. The works were dedicated in particular to retracing the thoughts of J. Rawls, Amartya K. Sen with reference to the construction of a theory of justice. The contribution of Van Parijs has been analyzed with reference to his proposal for a citizenship income.

Editorial work and publications

Renata Lenti's research activity has resulted in the publication of numerous essays and three monographs on the topics of development and underdevelopment, market forms of natural resources and raw materials, functional and personal income distribution, poverty, theories of distributive justice, the construction and use of Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs) and SAM-based Computable General Economic Equilibrium Models (CGEs). 

Her writings include 2 books: Economia delle materie prime. Forme di mercato e politiche di controllo, Milano, Giuffrè, 1979; Struttura produttiva e distribuzione personale dei redditi. Una verifica del caso italiano, Milano, Giuffrè, 1984;

Among the essays we would like to mention:

[1977] Risorse naturali, rendite e distribuzione dei redditi, Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia. Nuova Serie, Anno 36, No. 7/8 (Luglio-Agosto 1977), pp. 419-457.

[1980]  Relazioni tra distribuzione personale e distribuzione funzionale dei redditi: uno schema d'analisi(con M. Bottiroli Civardi). Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia, Nuova Serie, Anno 39, No. 11/12 (Novembre-Dicembre 1980), pp. 705-737.

[1988]  The Distribution of Personal Income at the Sectoral Level in Italy: A SAM Model(con M. Bottiroli Civardi), Journal of Policy Modeling, n. 10, pp. 453-468.

[1989] I modelli di equilibrio economico generale calcolabili (CGE) e la metodologia SAM. Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia, n. 7-8, pp.pp. 309-345.;

[1992] CGE Models Based on SAM's Approach: Simulations for the Italian Economic System (con M. Bottiroli Civardi). Economic Notes, n. 3, pp. pp. 526-565.

[2002]  Profili reddituali, livello d'istruzione e diseguaglianza nella distribuzione personale dei redditi in Italia(con M. Bottiroli Civardi). Tecnologia Società, Atti dei Convegni Lincei, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Roma 5-6 aprile 2001. 

[2004]  Social capital, individual social capital and sustainable growth in the industrial districts(con Lodigiani E. e Missaglia M.). RISEC, n.2.

[2010] Extensions to the Multiplier Decomposition Approach in a SAM Framework: An Application to Vietnam(con Bottiroli Civardi M., Vega Pansini R.). Economic Systems Research, Vol.22, No 2, pp.111-128. 

[2011]  Sviluppo e declino del sistema economico italiano, “Il Politico”, anno LXXVI, n. 3, 2011,  pp. 72-107.

[2017] Can the link between functional and personal income distribution enhance the analysis of inequality?(con Civardi M.). International Review of Economics, Springer; Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(2), pages 137-156, June.

Position/Role

LEO Spacecraft Operations Engineer in EUMETSAT, the European Meteorological Satellite Organization

Professional career

Stefania Tarquini graduated from Politecnico di Milano in Aerospace Engineering in 2010 and in 2012 she obtained a Master of Science is Space Engineering, including a study experience abroad to develop her Master thesis in the United States at the Pennsylvania State University.

During her studies, she worked in her free time for an extra-curricular project, the European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO). The spacecraft ESMO was a project of the European Space Agency, managed in cooperation with the English company Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), the first lunar spacecraft to be designed, built and operated by students across ESA Member States and ESA Cooperating States. Stefania Tarquini worked for one year as a technical engineer for the propulsion subsystem, before becoming in charge of the whole team of Politecnico di Milano, leading more than 10 students with engineering tasks for the propulsion sub-system and coordinating the activities with the industry.

Only four months after graduation, Stefania Tarquini is hired by Telespazio Vega Deutschland (Finmeccanica group) as Spacecraft Controller in Darmstadt, Germany, where she was executing routine and contingency operations for the GEO satellites Meteosat 7, 8, 9 and 10 and their relative ground stations.

During the two years as Spacecraft Controller, Stefania Tarquini was noticed for her technical and managerial skils and in 2015 she was hired directly by EUMETSAT as Spacecraft Operations Engineer for the Metop series of satellites, part of the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) program, which provides direct observations about ocean, land and atmospheric parameters to be used for weather forecast and climate monitoring.

In 2018 she had a leading role for the launch of Metop-C, the last satellite of the series. Stefania Tarquini was acting as Customer Representive and interface between EUMETSAT and the European Space Agency, which was in charge of the Launch and Early Operation Phase (LEOP) activities. She was also coordinating the activities of the team for the Spacecraft In-Orbit Verification (SIOV) phase, when all the satellite instruments are switched on, tested and operated for the first time.

After the Metop-C launch in November 2018, Stefania Tarquini now follows the routine operations of the Metop series of satellites as platform expert and she leads an End-Of-Life Technological Test project on the Metop-A satellite, which includes as well finding stable solutions to de-orbit the satellite in a “clean” way with no space debris.

In the following years Stefania Tarquini will participate as well to the operations preparation of the EPS-SG constellation, the second generation of more modern Metop satellites to be launched in 2023.

Scientific results

During the research experience in the United States to develop her Master thesis, Stefania Tarquini worked for the selection of a new superhydrophobic material with anti-icing properites to be used on helicopter rotor blades. The work included design of aerodynamic profiles and testing of the specimens on real rotor blades in an icing chamber at the “Penn State Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence”, developing afterwards several publications on the topic.

Throuought the ESMO project she acquired an extensive knowledge of satellite propulsion subsystems, focusing especially on liquid propellants but not forgetting as well solid and hybrid combustion materials, the latter the main focus of the research for her Bachelor thesis about new materials for innovative hybrid propellants.

Nowadays ’s main area of expertise is in the field of Spacecraft Operations for a Low Earth Orbit satellite, with three-axis stabilization and with focus on Earth Observation. She specializes in satellite platforms, with focus on attitude and orbit control, power and thermal subsystems.

As Spacecraft Operations engineer, her strengths are also about quick problem solving and spacecraft anomaly handling: the Metop satellites have short windows of commandability and the team has to be able to react quickly in case of need.

As Metop Platfrom Team Leader for EUMETSAT, She is also in charge of coordination with the Industry Spacecraft Provider Airbus and aftr additional studies to obtain the PRINCE2 certification in Project Management, she is now the Project Manager for Metop-A End of Life. 

Editorial work and publications

[2018] S. Tarquini,”Planning an End-Of-Life Technology Test Campaign for the Metop-A satellite”, Proceeding of SpaceOps Conference 2018, Marseille.

[2014] S. Tarquini, C. Antonini, A. Amirfazli, M. Marengo & J. Palacios, “Investigation of Ice Shedding Properties of Superhydrophobic Coatings on Helicopter Blades”, Cold Regions Science&Technology, 100, 50–58.

[2013] S. Tarquini, Carlo Antonini, A. Amirfazli, J. Palacios, M. Marengo, “Assessing Icephobicity Of Superhydrophobic Surfaces As Passive Coating Icing Mitigation Strategy On Helicopter Blades”, Proceeding of ILASS 2013, Chania, Crete, 1-4 September 2013. 

[2012] S. Tarquini, L. Ferrario, A. Devereaux, L. Rossettini, “Design and Development of a Dual Mode Bipropellant Propulsion System for the European Student Moon Orbiter”, Proceeding of 3AF-ESA-CNES Space Propulsion 2012, Bordeaux, 7-10 May 2012.

Awards and prizes

Prize "PoMiLIA-61" for the most outstanding dissertation of 2012 in the topic of innovative solutions to save energy in the aerospace sector (Jul 2013).

Position/Role

Head of European and International Affairs, Istituto Luigi Sturzo; Research Associate, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies

Professional career

After graduating in International Relations - European Union Policies and Institutions, she obtained a PhD in Political Science-European and International Studies at the University of Roma Tre, focusing her research on the link between internal politics and external action of the European Union in the migration field.

She has been working at Luigi Sturzo Institute since 2011 first as research project manager and then, from 2018, as Head of European and International affairs, developing, coordinating and managing numerous research projects and starting and consolidating external relations and partnerships.

After a visiting  fellowship of almost two years in Brussels at the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, she was appointed Research Associate, developing research and analysis mainly on EU immigration policies. She collaborates with the chair of EU law and institutions and the Altiero Spinelli Center of excellence (CeAS) of Roma Tre University. She participates in the activities of the Fundamental Rights Platform of the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and the Consultative Forum of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), as CeAS delegate. She worked for the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the Italian EU Presidency, mainly dealing with diplomatic relations between Italy and Romania.

Specialized in European policies and migration policies, with many years of experience in the development, management and coordination of research initiatives and projects, in policy analysis and in external and institutional relations, she collaborates with numerous think tanks and public and private institutions.

In Febrary 2020 she was appointed segretary of Women in International Security Italy.

Scientific results

She mainly deals with European affairs and international relations, and has a specific expertise in the European Union's migration policy (internal to the EU and external cooperation with third countries).

Her areas of interest include EU's foreign, neighbourhood and cooperation policy; EU governance and integration; EU politics and policies; security and borders; human rights; gender issues.

On these issues she develops and coordinates research projects, holds university lectures and participate in working groups and debates within institutions, universities, think tanks and non-governmental organizations, and writes articles and analysis.

Editorial work and publications

Author of numerous analyses and briefings produced as part of research projects promoted by Luigi Sturzo Institute, Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies and Altiero Spinelli Center of Excellence of Roma Tre University.

Her publications include:

[2020] Teorodescu L. (ed.), Riflessioni sul futuro dell'Europa. Un confronto generazionale per rilanciare l'UE, Editoriale Scientifica.

[2019] Teorodescu L., "Women as key players for mediation, peace and security", Quaderns de la Mediterrània 28/29.

[2019] Teorodescu L., Giorgi G. (eds.), Culture della Repubblica per l’Europa (curatela, con Luigi Giorgi), Editoriale scientifica.

[2018] Teorodescu L., "Politica esterna di immigrazione dell’Unione europea e suoi legami con la dimensione interna", La Cittadinanza europea, 16(2): 73-99.

[2018] Teorodescu L., "Beyond emergency measures: the need for a holistic and truly European approach to migration", European View, 17(2): 163-171.

[2017] Teorodescu L., "Ambition versus reality: partnering on migration with the neighbours", European View, 16(1): 121-130.

[2016] Teorodescu L., "Security and Migration: Balancing the Security of External Borders and the Responsibility to Protect" (con Vít Novotný), in Tungul L. (a cura di), Solutions to the Political Challenges of 2017, WMCES-KAS-TOPAZ.

[2013] Teorodescu L., "Un' Europa più attraente per i migranti altamente qualificati: considerazioni sulla Carta Blu UE", La Cittadinanza europea, 1: 95-104.

[2011] Teorodescu L., "Lo sviluppo di una politica di immigrazione dell'Unione europea", Working paper, Centro Altiero Spinelli-Polo di eccellenza Jean Monnet, Università degli Studi Roma Tre.

Awards and prizes

In 2015 she was appointed member of the Italian-German Group of Young Leaders promoted by the Adenauer Foundation, Rome and Berlin offices.

In 2017 she was selected to participate in the Brussels Forum's Young Professional Summit promoted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Since 2017 she is a member of the Network of European Policy Experts promoted by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Berlin office (2017)

Since 2018 she is a member of the Expert Network on Migration promoted by the Regional Programme for Political Dialogue in the Southern Mediterranean of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Tunis office.

Since 2019 she has been a member of the WIIS Italy (Women in international security) Committee and a member of the European network Brussels Binder Beyond created to foster greater participation of women in public debates.

Position/Role

Associate professor of Social Psychology and Director of the Master in Death Studies & The End of Life at University of Padua

Professional career

After graduating in Applied Psychology at University of Padua in 1989, she continued her studies for a Specialization in "Clinic and Theory of Systemic Therapy" at the "Gregory Bateson Center", Niguarda Ca' Granda Hospital in Milan. In 1995 she graduated in Theoretical Philosophy with Professor Emanuele Severino at Ca' Foscari University, in Venice. In 1996 she obtained the specialization in "Cultural and Social Anthropology" at the University of Padua. In 1991 she was appointed as assistant under command from the Ministry of Education to the chair of Social Psychology at University of Padua, where she became a researcher in 1999 and associate professor in 2003. In 2017 she obtained the national qualification as full professor.

During her activity she leaded countless national and international projects, among which two European ones. She was Visiting Professor at the Universidade De Caxias do Sul (UCS), at the Semmelweiss University of Budapest (Hungary).

At University of Padova, she has been teaching at the Doctoral School in "Social Sciences. Interactions, Communication, Cultural Constructions"; teaches "Psychology of group and system relations" and "Fundamentals of Social Psychology" at the SPGI Department, and "Psychology of end-of-life relationships, bereavement, loss and death" at the FISPPA department, where she created and has been leading the Master in “Death Studies and the End of Life”, continually since 2008. Since 2018 she has been a research fellow at the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa (Israel).

Scientific results

She is affiliated to numerous research organizations among which: the Italian Society of Palliative Care (SICP) and of the parallel European Association of Palliative Care (EACP), she is part of the Steering Group of the Bereavement Network in Europe (BNE); International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA); Federation of European Psychodrama Training Organizations (FEPTO). Furthermore, she is a member of the National Conference of Masters in Palliative Care and Pain Therapy, established by the Ministry of University and Research (MIUR), and has been scientific director of about ten international conferences on the topics of death, dying and palliation.

Her research is centred on Severin's concept of "nihilism", in particular on the representations of death as annihilation, on which her fundamental themes are pivoted among which: psycho-thanatology, Death Education, grief processing and treatment, human death attitudes/behavior and pathological suffering (suicide, drug addiction, anorexia and suicide, gender-based violence); loss, grief and mourning; social construction of bio-political and bio-ethical management of death; Dignity Therapy; Informed consent; Mind-brain conceptualization and social representation of death; Self-determination and biological will; Death/spirituality/religiousness; Coping with death and dying; Terror Management Theory; Counselling and therapy;  Professional training; Psychodrama and photo-voice/photo-therapy for mourners; Death and "sociatry" in social violence (gender based violence and discrimination; mafia dynamics).

Editorial work and publications

Ines Testoni is the author of about ten volumes and curator of about as many texts, about a hundred articles and contributions to collective works of national and international importance, including:

(2019) Testoni, I., Piscitello, M., Ronconi, L., Zsák, É., Iacona, E., Zamperini, A. Death Education and the Management of Fear of Death Via Photo-Voice: An Experience Among Undergraduate Students, Journal of Loss and Trauma, doi: 10.1080/15325024.2018.1507469

(2019) Testoni, I., Ronconi, L. Noppe Cupit, I., et al.  The effect of death education on fear of death amongst Italian adolescents: A nonrandomized controlled study, Death Studies, doi: 10.1080/07481187.2018.1528056

(2018) Testoni I, Bisceglie D, Ronconi L, Pergher V, Facco E. Ambivalent trust and ontological representations of death as latent factors of religiosity. Cogent Psychology, 5(1). doi: 10.1080/23311908.

(2018)  Testoni I., Mariani C., Zamperini A. . Domestic Violence Between Childhood Incest and Re-victimization: A Study Among Anti-violence Centers in Italy, Frontiers in Psychology,  doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02377

(2018) Testoni, I., Ronconi, L., Palazzo, L., Galgani, M., Stizzi, A., Kirk, K. Psychodrama and moviemaking in a death education course to work through a case of suicide among high school students in Italy. Frontiers in Psychology, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00441

(2017) Testoni I, Facco E, Perelda F. Toward A New Eternalist Paradigm for Afterlife Studies: The Case of the Near-Death Experiences Argument. World Futures, 73(7):442-456. doi:10.1080/02604027.2017.1357935.

(2017) Solomon S, Testoni I, Bianco S. Clash of civilizations? Terror Management Theory and the role of the ontological representations of death in contemporary global crisis. TPM Testing Psychometric Methodology in Applied Psychology, 24(3):379-398. doi: 10.4473/TPM24.3.5.

(2017) Testoni I, De Cataldo L, Ronconi L, & Zamperini A.  Pet loss and representations of death, attachment, depression, and euthanasia.Anthrozoös, 30(1):135-148. doi:10.1080/08927936.2017.1270599.

(2017) Testoni I, Ghellar T, Rodelli M, De Cataldo L, Zamperini A. Representations of death among Italian vegetarians: An ethnographic research on environment, disgust and transcendence. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 13(3):378-395. doi:10.5964/ejop.v13i3.1301.

(2017) Testoni I, Milo V, Ronconi L, Feltrin A, Zamperini A, Rodelli M, Cillo U, Germani G. Courage and representations of death in patients who are waiting for a liver transplantation. Cogent Psychology, eprint, 4(1). http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311908.2017.1294333.

(2016) Testoni I, Parise, G, Visintin EP, Zamperini A, Ronconi L. Literary plastination: From body's objectification to the ontological representation of death, differences between sick-literature and tales by amateur writers. TPM - Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 23(2):247-263. doi: 10.4473/TPM23.2.8.

(2016) Testoni I, Visintin EP, Capozza D, Carlucci MC. & Shams M. The implicit image of God: God as reality and psychological well-being. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 55(1):174-184. doi:10.1111/jssr.12252.

Position/Role

Full professor of Chemistry at the University of Bari (Italy) and adjunct professor at the Abo Academy University in Finland.

Professional career

She holds a degree in Physics and a PhD in Chemistry from UNIBA and was a post-doctoral fellow at Bell Labs in the USA. In 2010 Torsi was awarded the H.E. Merck Prize by the well-known multinational company, and to date she is still the only woman to have received this prestigious international award. In 2019, she was awarded the Distinguished Women Award by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry - IUPAC. She was also the only woman president of the European Material Research Society which, with more than 4000 members, is the largest of its kind in Europe. Torsi is the author of more than 200 papers, some of which have been published in high impact journals such as Science and Nature. Her work has garnered almost 13,000 citations, contributing to an h-index of 54 (google scholar). Research funding of more than €26 million includes several national and European projects, of which Torsi is often the coordinator. Luisa Torsi is also highly engaged as a role model for young female scientists. In a recent Bracco Foundation campaign, she starred in a TOPOLINO story as Louise Torduck, a successful scientist from the Calisota Valley.

Scientific results

Luisa Torsi's research focuses on bio-electronic transistor systems capable of detecting a single protein marker or a single virus in a real, non-pretreated sample of blood or saliva (10 zeptomolar concentration). The interface of the device, which responds in a few minutes and can be manufactured at low cost, is orders of magnitude larger than the single protein to be detected. This is a world record based on the Single-Molecule with a large Transistor -SiMoT technology patented by Torsi and his group in 2018. The prospect is the development of ultra-sensitive, fast, low-cost and high-reliability diagnostics for ultra-early screening of progressive diseases such as cancers and both viral and bacterial infections.

Editorial work and publications

Torsi has authored almost 200 ISI papers, including papers published in Science, Nature Materi-als, Nature Communications, PNAS and is co-inventor of several awarded international patents. Her works gathered almost 11.000 Google scholar citations resulting in an h-index of 50 (ISI h-index: 43).

(2020) Macchia E., Picca R.A., Manoli, K., Di Franco, C., Blasi, B., Sarcina, L., Ditaranto, N., Cioffi, N., Österbacka, R., Scamarcio, G., Torricelli, F., Torsi L.* About the amplification factors in organic bioelectronic sensors. Materials Horizons, 7, 999 – 1013. 2020 Materials Horizons most popular article.

(2019) Macchia, E., Tiwari, A., Manoli, K., Holzer, B., Ditaranto, N., Picca, R.A., Cioffi, N., Di Franco, C., Scamarcio, G., Palazzo, G., Torsi, L.*Label-free and selective single-molecule bioelectronic sensing with a millimeter-wide self-assembled monolayer of anti-immunoglobulins. Chemistry of Materials, 31, 6476-6483.

(2018) Macchia, E., Manoli, K., Holzer, B., Di Franco, C., Ghittorelli, M., Torricelli, F., Alberga, D., Mangiatordi, G.F., Palazzo, G., Scamarcio, G., Torsi, L.* Single mo-lecule detection with a millimetre-sized transistor. Nature Communications, 9, 3223; Highlighted in Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05950-z

(2017) Holzer., B., Manoli, K., Ditaranto, N., Macchia, E., Tiwari, A., Di Franco, C., Scamarcio, G., Palazzo, G., Torsi, L. Characterization of Covalently Bound Anti-human Immunoglobulins on Self-assembled Monolayer Modified Gold Elec-trodes. Advanced Biosystem, 1, 1700055.

(2016) Macchia E, Alberga D, Manoli K, Torsi L, et al. Organic bioelectronics probing conformational changes in surface confined proteins. Scientific Reports, 6, 28085

(2015) Macchia E, Giordano F, Magliulo M, Torsi L, et al. An analytical model for bio-electronic organic field-effect transistor sensors.Applied Physics Letters, 106(2). 

(2015) Afzal A, Di Franco C, Mesto E, Torsi L, et al. Au/In2O3 and Au/ZrO2 composite nanoparticles via in situ sacrificial gold electrolysis.  Materials Express, 5(3):171-179

(2015) Mulla M Y, Tuccori E, Magliulo M, Torsi L, et al. Capacitance-modulated transistor detects odorant binding protein chiral interactions, Nature Communications, 6,6010

(2015) Palazzo G, De Tullio D, Magliulo M, Torsi L, et al. Detection Beyond Debye's Length with an Electrolyte-Gated Organic Field-Effect Transistor. Advanced Materials, 27(5):911-916. 

(2013) Torsi L et al. Organic field-effect transistor sensors: a tutorial review. Chemical Society Reviews, 42(22):8612-8628. 

(2008) Torsi L, et al. A sensitivity-enhanced field-effect chiral sensor. Nature Materials, 7(5): 412-417. 

(1995) Dodabalapur A, Katz EH, Torsi L, et al. Organic Heterostructure Filed-Effect Transistors.Science, 269 (5230):1560-1562. 

(1995) Dodabalapur A, Torsi L, Katz EH. Organic Transistors - 2 dimensional transport and improved electrical characteristics. Science, 268 (5208):270-271.

Awards and prizes

In 2010, she was the first Italian and the first woman to win the Henrick Emmanuel Merck Prize for Analytical Sciences, an international award given to scientists who have invented a method of analysis capable of improving the quality of life of citizens. She received it for the invention of the bio-electronic sensor that can be printed on plastic or paper.

In 2013 she was awarded the itwiin prize as "Best Italian inventor of 2013" by the Italian Association of Women Inventors and Innovators.

In 2015 Euwiin International 2015 (European Union WomenInventors&Innovators Awards) awarded her the title of Best European Inventor in the "Inventor" section (first place overall).

In 2015 she was the President of the European Material Research Society, the first woman to hold this position.

In 2021, it was awarded the Wilhelm Exner Medal, a prestigious award conferred since 1921 in the presence of the Austrian President by the Austrian Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to celebrate excellence in research and science.

Position/Role

Chief of the Operative Unit Invasive Cardiology and Director of the "Monzino Women"  at the Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Milan 

Professional career

Graduation in Medicine at the University of Milan in 1992; board in Cardiology at the University of Milan in 1997.

Visiting fellow in the Intravascular Ultrasound Laboratory, Catheterization Lab, Washington Hospital Center (1997-1998).

In 1998 she becomes staff member of the Cath Lab at the Centro Cardiologico Monzino and Assistant Director in 2014. She is elected Chief of the Invasive Cardiology Unit at the same Institute in October 2017 and Director of the Women Heart Center, she founded in 2017, focused on cardiovascular prevention in women. 

Teaching clinical cardiology at the postgraduate cardiology school, University of Milan.

She is elected committee member of the National Superior Institute of Health (ISS) for cardiovascular devices evaluation in 2011 and member of the ISS committee for a ministerial consensus document on gender-based medicine.

Scientific results

Daniela Trabattoni focuses her research interests in interventional cardiology section, evaluating factors possibly affecting PCI outcomes, according to different coronary devices use. She has studied cardioprotective tools adopted during primary angioplasty as adjunctive therapy for a faster left ventricle function recovery, after acute myocardial infarction. She has studied potential correlations between patent foramen ovale and migraine and compared different occluder devices in PFO closure. She actively contributed to the writing of the national consensus document on antiplatelet treatment management in patients with previous coronary stenting addressed to any surgery, by the GISE (Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology). She has studied safety and efficacy of short-term antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting and drug-coated stents in high-bleeding risk patients.

Editorial work and publications

Daniela Trabattoni is reviewer for several international and national cardiology journals: Giornale italiano di Cardiologia, Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, International Jorunal of Cardiology, Catheterization & Cardiovascular Interventions, Cephalalgia, Circulation Cardiovasc Interventions.

She has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Endovascular Therapy (2010-2013) and is currently on the editorial board of the Journal of Hypertension and Immunotherapy.

She has signed numerous scientific publications.

Awards and prizes

Since 1995 he has been a member of the Italian Society of Cardiology.

Since 2001 she has been a member of the European Society of Cardiology and a member of the Italian Group of Invasive Cardiology.

Since 2005 she is a member of the American College of Cardiology.

Since 2007s he is a member of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI).

In 2007 she received the "Rosa Camuna" award from the Lombardy Region.

Position/Role

Associate Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics "Ettore Bocconi" of Bocconi University

Professional career

After graduating in Economics and Business at Bocconi University in 1998, she continued her education with a PhD in Economics from New York University. From 2003 to 2009 she was Assistant Professor at Bocconi University, and from 2009 Associate Professor. Since 2016 she has been Council Member of the European Economic Association (EEA). She was a Research Fellow of CEPR, IGIER and Baffi Carefin Center. She won several international grants for her research. She was a consultant for the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Bank of England. She made visiting periods at numerous universities and central banks including New York University, the University of Southern California, the Bank of England, the New York Fed, the Norges Bank, and the Riksbank.

Editorial work and publications

She was Associate Editor of the Journal of Monetary Economics from 2009 to 2016. From 2015 she is Panel Member of Economic Policy. She has published in prestigious international scientific journals such as the Journal of Political Economy and the Journal of Monetary Economics.

Below is a selection of the most relevant publications:

(2016) Gertler M, Huckfeldt C, Trigari A. New Hires Wage Cyclicality, Match Quality and Unemployment Fluctuations. NBER Working Paper No. 22341.

(2015) Trigari A. Comment on Long-Term Nonemployment and Job Displacement. 2014 Jackson Hole Symposiumon Re-evaluating Labor Market Dynamics, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pp. 389-409.

(2013) Sala L, Soderstrom U, Trigari A. Structural and Cyclical Forces in the Labor Market during the Great Recession: Cross-Country Evidence. NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2012, The University of Chicago Press.

(2012) Monacelli T, Perotti R, Trigari A. Taxes and the Labor Market, in (Céspedes L. and Galì J. eds.), “Fiscal Policy and Macroeconomic PerformanceCentral Banking”, Analysis and Economic Policies Series, Central Bank of Chile, vol. 17, ch. 2, pp. 27-58.

(2011) Monacelli T, Quadrini V, Trigari A. Financial Markets and Unemployment. NBER Working Paper No. 17389.

(2010) Sala L, Soderstrom U, Trigari A. The Output Gap, the Labor Wedge, and the Dynamic Behavior of Hours. CEPR DP No. 8005.

(2010) Monacelli T, Perotti R, Trigari A. Unemployment Fiscal Multipliers. Journal of Monetary Economics, 57(5):531-553.

(2009) Gertler M, Trigari A. Unemployment Fluctuations with Staggered Nash Wage Bargaining. Journal of Political Economy, 117(1): 38-86.

(2009) Trigari A. Equilibrium Unemployment, Job Flows and Inflation Dynamics. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 41 (1):1-33.

(2008) Gertler M, Sala L, Trigari A.  An Estimated Monetary DSGE Model with Unemployment and Staggered Nominal Wage Bargaining. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 40(8):1713-1764.

(2008)  Sala L, Soderstrom U, Trigari A. Monetary Policy under Uncertainty in an Estimated Model with Labor Market Frictions. Journal of Monetary Economics, 55 (5):983-1006.

(2008) Quadrini V, Trigari A. Public Employment and the Business Cycle. Scandinavian Journal of Economics109 (4):723-742.

Position/Role

Senior researcher at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Milano section.

Professional career

After graduating in Physics at the University of Trieste in 1977 she continued her education first as a Summer Student in 1978 at CERN and then attending the Postgraduate School in Physics in Trieste, as a fellow of the Consortium for the Increase of Studies and Research of the Physics Departments of the University of Trieste. In 1983 she joined the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Trieste section, as a researcher and later the section of Milan. She has been a scientific associate at CERN in Geneva since 1978.

Scientific results

Clara Troncon's two main research strands are the study of elementary particle physics with accelerators and, specifically, measurements of the properties of Heavy Flavours, precision verifications of the Standard Model, including the search for and then discovery of the Higgs boson, and the search for evidence of new physics beyond the Standard Model. The second strand includes the development, design and implementation of microstrip and pixel silicon sensors and the development, design, implementation, commissioning and operation of vertex detectors. Her research activity began at CERN, where from 1979 to 1986 he devoted herself to the study of quark charm with the EHS (European Hybrid Spectrometer) experiments at the SPS (SuperProtoSynchrotron) accelerator. From 1986 to 2000 she took part in the DELPHI experiment at the LEP accelerator at CERN, where she contributed to the precision measurements of the neutral Z0 and W bosons, the verification of the Standard Model and the search for the Higgs boson. Her group collaborated in the construction of the DELPHI silicon vertex detector. In 1997, she began participating in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, where she played an important role in the construction of the pixel detector. After the installation of this detector in 2008, she devoted herself to the search and study of the Higgs boson and the search for supersymmetric particles and signals of a new physics at the TeV(teraelettronvolt) scale. She was also involved from 1996 to 2000 in study activities for future Linear Colliders through the Conceptual Design of the Next Linear Collider and the feasibility study for the search for the Higgs boson. From 2001 to 2006, through the RD50 collaboration, she was involved in the research and development of radiation-resistant semiconductor detectors for very high luminosity colliders.

Editorial work and publications

She has signed over than 1.100 scientific publications, including: 

(2016) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Search for dark matter produced in association with a Higgs boson decaying to two bottom quarks in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector. Physical Review D, 93: 7, 072007.

(2016) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Search for magnetic monopoles and stable particles with high electric charges in 8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector. Physical Review D, 93:5, 05200.

(2013) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Evidence for the spin-0 nature of the Higgs boson using ATLAS data. Physical Review Letters B, 726, 120-144.

(2012) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Search for squarks and gluinos using final states with jets and missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector in √s=7 TeV proton-proton collisions. Physical Letters B, 710, 67-85.

(2012) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Physical Review Letters B, 716, 1-29.

(2011) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Measurement of the top quark-pair production cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at √s=7 TeV. The European Physical Journal A, C71, 1577.

(2010) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. Observation of a Centrality-Dependent Dijet Asymmetry in Lead-Lead Collisions at √s_NN=2.77 TeV with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC. Physical Review Letters, 105, 252303.

(2008) ATLAS Collaboration, Aad G, Troncon C, et al. The ATLAS Experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. JINST 3: S08003.

(1998) Accomando E, Troncon C, et al. Physics with e+ e- colliders. Physics Report C, 299, 1. Amsterdam (Olanda).

(1996) DELPHI Collaboration, Abreu P, Troncon C, et al. Performance of the DELPHI Detector. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A, 378, 57.

Awards and prizes

From 2006 to 2012 she was an elected member of the INFN CSN1 (National Scientific Commission 1, Particle Physics with Accelerators) and referee for the Babar experiment in CSN1. From 2011 to 2014 she was a member of ANVUR (National Agency for the Evaluation of Research Quality), MIUR and coordinator of subGEV02 (Experimental, Particle and Nuclear Physics).

From 2012 to present Clara Troncon is part of the INFN Evaluation Working Group (VQR final phase) and head of the delegation for CSN1. Since 2013, upon designation by the INFN President, she has been appointed by the Director General of CERN as Italian delegate in the CERN ACCU (Advisory Committee of CERN Users), a position subsequently renewed. In 2015 she is designated by ACCU as ACCU Representative in the CERN Scientific Information Policy Board. In the same year she became a member of GEV02 (Expert Group for the Evaluation of Physical Sciences for the VQR (Evaluation of Research Quality 2015-2017, for ANVUR-MIUR and coordinator of subGEV02_I (Experimental, Particle and Nuclear Physics), a position she still holds today.

Position/Role

Co-founder of InGreen. Area Manager great Place to work.

Lecturer and digital advisor at the Master of Economics and Management of the University of Pisa in Florence.

Lecturer at the Master of Public Economics of the Sapienza University of Rome.

Professional career

Graduated in Economics with honors from the University of Calabria, she obtained a Master's degree in Statistics at the University of Bari with merit scholarship and an Independent Phd cum laude in Public Governance at the IASSP (Institute of High Strategic and Political Studies) from Milan.

Ted Speaker for community of Siena Lecce Bari Suzzara.

In recent years Filomena Tucci has been an advisor for numerous companies including University of Pisa, University of Lisbona,University of Alexandria in Egypt,  University of Lecce, Contamination Lab Unicalab, Mecar, Brodolini Foundation for FRA (fundamental Rights agency), Brainsigns, Fablab Catania, Cloud Consulting of Rome, Foneclay Italia, MPS-marketing problem solving, MG.

He has edited over 70 electoral campaigns of politicians including Gentiloni, Spacca, Vendola, Occhiuto, De Filippo, Fratoianni, Marini, Delli Noci, Laricchia, attualmente nei team di supporto per le elezioni a Massafra e Milano.

She has been and is the organizational director of university masters on Marketing and Data management.

During March-April 2019 Invited by State Dep. of United States of American for the important program on leadership “small and medium enterprises as engine of prosperity”.

In his spare time he coordinates the Eskillsforwomen community on women's digital skills on the net.

Scientific results

Together with other engineering professionals, in 2014 he founded InGreen, an integrated environmental engineering design company, monitoring and reducing pollution sources (air, electromagnetic, acoustic) and SMART life.

Editorial work and publications

Filomena Tucci is the author of numerous books including Soft Revolution (published by l'Erudita), and Yes, We Stem (published by Street Lib Writ). 

She has also written the Telecomitalia social book and Holden writer school "We have a dream" and "brothers at school". 

He collaborated in The scientific book Network in 2020 with the essay “The body new object. The Opinion of the Italians", Yearbook 2014 with the essay "More spaces for young innovators, the recipe for "change everything"; at the 2013 edition of the same yearbook with "Italy one country for young people" to that of 2012 with "Research and competitiveness", to that of 2011 with "Social responsibility and youth models".

Digital periodic articles on Mediaduemila, Donne online, Italian digital revolution.

Awards and prizes

2019 “Innovation is Woman” Mediaduemila Chamber of Senate Italy

2019 “IVLP International Visitor Leadership Program” State Dept USA

2017 the "012Factory" Award in Caserta as "Best innovator for entrepreneurship" and the same year won the "Gogol" Award in Cosenza for the book "Soft Revolution", in which he described the first signs of rebirth of the South.

2016 Filomena Tucci received the "FIDAPA Award" in Reggio Calabria as "Excellent Woman in Entrepreneurship".

Position/Role

Full professore of Political Theory at the Columbia University in the City of New York.

Scientific results

Nadia Urbinati's research interests focus on modern and contemporary political thought, with particular attention to liberalism and democratic, theories of political representation and sovereignty, and more recently populism. 

She has contributed to the revival of political representation in democratic theory; she has developed a definition of populism in power as a form of democratic based on direct representation of the leader.

Editorial work and publications

Nadia Urbinati has contributed essays to several books in English on representation, participation and democracy. He has published numerous articles in the academic journals "American Political Science", "Political Theory", "Constellations", "Philosophy and Social Thought", "Micromega", "Iride", "Raison Politique", "Lua Nova", "Rivista di filosofia", "Rivista critica di storia della filosofia". 

Authored books:

[2021] Me the People. How Populism Transforms Democracy, Harvard University Press.

[2020] I pochi contro i molti. Il conflitto politico nel ventunesimo secolo, Laterza.

[2019] Me The People: How Populism Transforms Democracy, Harvard University Press (translated in Italian, Spanish and Arabic).

[2017] Articolo 1, Carocci. 

[2015] The Tyranny of the Moderns, Yale University Press.

[2014]  Democracy Disfigured: Opinion, Truth and The People, Harvard University Press (translated in Italian, Turkiish, Russian) 

[2013] Democrazia in diretta. Le nuove sfide della rappresentanza, Feltrinelli.

[2011] La mutazione antieguaglitaria, Laterza.

[2011] Liberi e uguali. Contro l’ideologia individualista, Laterza.

[2007] Ai confini della democrazia. Oppurtunità e rischi dell’individualismo democratico (Donzelli) 2006. Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy, Chicago University Press (translated in Italian ans Spanish)

[1991] Le civili libertà. Positivismo e liberalismo nell’Italia Unita, Marsilio.

Co-authored books:

[2020](with L. Vandelli), Democrazia e sorteggio, Einaudi (chapters translated in Franch).

[2017] (with) Marzano, La società orizzontale. Liberi senza padri, Feltrinelli.

Edited books:

[2019] Thinking Democracy Now. Annale Feltrinelli, Feltrinell.

[2000] Piero Gobetti, On Liberal Revolution, edited with an introduction, Yale University Press.

1994. Carlo Rosselli, Liberal Socialism, edited with an introduction, Princeton University Press.

Co-edited books:

[2012] (with S. Luke) Condorcet: Political Writings, Cambridge University Press.

[2009] (with G. Recchia) Giuseppe Mazzini on Nation Building, Democracy, and Intervention, Princeton University Press (translated in Italian).

Awards and prizes

1991-92. CNR Prize for the best research in the class of Political Philosophy.

2002. His book Mill on Democracy: From Athenian Polis to Representative Government received the David and Elaine Spitz Prize for the best monograph published that year on democratic and liberal thought. 

2008. Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty for research and teaching. 

2008 the President of the Republic awarded her the honour of Commendatore of the Italian Republic with the following motivation: "Through her academic activity and her publications she has made a significant contribution to the deepening of democratic thought and the promotion of writings in the Italian liberal and democratic tradition abroad".

2020. Capalbio Prize for Political Non-fiction for the book Io, il popolo come il populismo trasform la democrazia. 

Position/Role

Full professor of Pharmacology,Department of Medical Sciences and University Center for Studies on Gender Medicine, University of Ferrara

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences at the University of Ferrara in 1988, she continued her studies obtaining a Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology in 1996. After that, she became Assistant Researcher in Pharmacology and from 2009 to date is Associate Professor in Pharmacology, Department of Medical Sciences, University Center for Studies on Gender Medicine, University of Ferrara.

Scientific results

The research themes of Katia Varani and her group are well represented by the pharmacological, biochemical and molecular study of adenosine receptors that have an important role in the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system and the immune response. The interaction of adenosine receptors is studied in neurodegenerative diseases (Huntington's chorea, Parkinson's disease and Multiple Sclerosis), in chronic and neuropathic pain, in cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension and heart failure, inflammatory diseases and cancer. Some studies show that A₃ adenosine receptors represent a possible therapeutic target for preventing the development of mesothelial pleural tumors after exposure to asbestos. Other studies have shown that stimulated A_2A adenosine receptors have an anti-inflammatory role in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Recently, preclinical studies have shown that allosteric modulators of A₁ adenosine receptors are endowed of analgesic and anxiolytic properties. The development of new potential drugs acting on adenosine receptors could constitute a valid and innovative pharmacological tool that could be very useful in clinical therapy.

Editorial work and publications

Katia Varani has authored more than 200 scientific papers in international journalis, including:

(2018) Borea PA, Gessi S, Merighi S, Vincenzi F, Varani K. Pharmacology of Adenosine Receptors: The State of the Art. Physiology Review, 98(3):1591-1625.

(2017) Borea PA, Gessi S, Merighi S, Vincenzi F, Varani K. Pathologic overproduction: the bad side of adenosine. British J Pharmacology, 174:1945-1960.

(2016) Tabrizi M, Baraldi PG, Borea PA, Varani K (2016). Medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoid CB₂ receptor agonists. Chemical Reviews, 116:519-560.

(2016) Borea PA, Gessi S, Merighi S, Varani K. Adenosine as a multi-signalling guardian angel in human diseases: when, where and how does it exert its protective effects?. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, S0165-6147(16)00041-9. 

(2015) Preti D, Baraldi PG, Moorman AR, Borea PA, Varani K. History and perspectives of A_2A adenosine receptor antagonists as potential therapeutic agents. Medicinal Research Reviews, 35(4):790-848. 

Position/Role

Associate as Emerita Researcher at ISEM-CNR. Professor of PhD "Fino" and Full Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Genoa and Alumna King's College London.

Professional career

Nicla Vassallo graduated at the University of Genoa and specialised in Advanced Philosophy at King's College - University of London. After obtaining a PhD in Philosophy of Science, she worked first as a research fellow and then as a researcher. In 2002 she qualified as Associate Professor in Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of Catania, and in 2004 as Full Professor in Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Bergamo. From 2003 to 2008 she was Visiting Professor at the Psychology Faculty at the University Vita-Salute of Milan, where she lectured Epistemology. Since 2005 she has been a Full Professor at the Department of Philosophy (now Dafist) of the University of Genoa, teaching Philosophical Propaedeutics, Philosophy of Knowledge and Epistemology. She now teaches Theoretical Philosophy and is a member of the teaching staff of the Doctoral Programme in Philosophy called "Fino", a consortium comprising four universities (Genoa, Pavia, Eastern Piedmont, Turin). She is an Associate as Emerita Researcher at ISEM-CNR and Alumna King's College London.

Scientific results

Nicla Vassallo works mainly in the field of Analytic Philosophy. Her primary research and teaching areas are Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Knowledge, Gender Studies.

In recent years she has been responsible for seven research projects for the CNR (National Research Council). She has been a member of the board of directors of SIFA (Italian Society of Analytical Philosophy), of the Urban Studies Centre, of CRESA (Centre for Research in Experimental and Applied Epistemology); of the Scientific Committee of Comitato Permanente di consulenza del Forum per le politiche di genere of the University of Padua, of O.N. DA (National Observatory on Women's Health), of Sapere, of the LGBT Themes Portal (Council of Ministers, Equal Opportunities Department, National Antidiscrimination Office Unar), of the Board of Referees of CIVR (Committee for Research Evaluation) for VTR (the first Italian Research Evaluation Exercise). 

She was also Miur's referee for “Programma per Giovani Ricercatori – Rita Levi Montalcini” 2010, for the VQR (University Research Quality Assessment) and for Futuro in Ricerca from 2011 to 2013. 

Editorial work and publications

Besides regularly contributing to the cultural pages of various newspapers, magazines and blogs, Nicla Vassallo has served and serves as referee for the following publications, and publishers: Carocci, Codice Edizioni, Dialectica: International Journal of Philosophy, Editori Laterza, Epistemologia: Rivista Italiana di Filosofia della Scienza, European Journal of Analytic Philosophy, FrancoAngeli, Giulio Einaudi Editore, il Saggiatore, Iride: Filosofia e discussione pubblica, Iris: European Journal of Philosophy and Public Debate, Mind & Society, Nordicum-Mediterraneum, Rivista di Estetica, Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica, Teoria politica, Ulisse Biblioteca. 

She is a member of Scientific and Editorial Boards of several national and international scientific journals and is the author of more than 150 articles in Italian and English that have appeared in philosophical journals, editions, conference proceedings and encyclopedias; she has published thirty books.

Her latest Authored Books: 

(2019) Non Annegare: Meditazioni sulla conoscenza e sull'ignoranza. Mimesis, Milano.

(2015) Il matrimonio omosessuale è contro natura: falso!. Laterza, Roma-Bari. 

(2015) Breve viaggio tra scienza e tecnologia, con etica e donne. Orthotes, Napoli-Salerno.n(2012) Conversazioni. Mimesis Edizioni, Milano.

(2011) Per sentito dire. Conoscenza e testimonianza. Feltrinelli, Milano.

Her latest Co–authored Books:

(2021) Fatti non foste a viver come bruti. Brevi e imprecise itinerary per la filosofia della conoscenza, Mimesis, Milano.

(2019) Contextualism, Factivity and Clousure". Springer, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London.

(2015) Frege on Thinking and Its Epistemic Significance. Rowman & Littlefield, Lexington.

(2010) Piccolo trattato di epistemologia. Codice Edizioni, Torino. 

Her latest Edited Books: 

(2022) Parla come mangi. Massa e potere. Mimesis, Milano.

(2021) Fatti non foste a viver come bruti. Mimesis, Milano.

(2017) La donna non esiste. E l'Uomo? Sesso, Genere e identità. Codice Edizioni, Torino.

(2009) Donna m'apparve. Codice Edizioni, Torino.

Her most recent co–edited books: 

(2017), “Philosophy of sex and gender in gender-medicine”, Topoi: An International Review of Philosophy, 36 (3), Springer, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London.

(2016) Meta-Philosophical Reflection on Feminist Philosophies of Science. Springer, Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London.

(2012) Reason and Rationality. Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt.

(2011) Terza cultura. il Saggiatore, Milano.

Nicla Vassallo also published two volumes of poems:

(2021) Pandemia amorosa dolorosa. Mimesis, Milano.

(2017) Metafisiche insofferenti per donzelle insolenti. Mimesis, Milano.

(2013) Orlando in ordine sparso. Mimesis, Milano.

Awards and prizes

In 2011 she was awarded the Philosophical Prize 'Viaggio a Siracusa' for her book Per sentito dire. Conoscenza e testimonianza.

As a Full professor in the field of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Genoa, she was ranked first nationally by the VQR (Evaluation of Research Quality) for the years 2004-2010.

Position/Role

Researcher in Political Science at the University of Trieste.

Professional career

Degree in Political Sciences at the University of Trieste (1992); PhD in Political Science at the University of Florence (1998). She was research fellow at the University of Trieste between 1999 and 2002, where she taught Public Policy Analysis and European Union Government. She currently teaches European Public Policies at the University of Trieste.

Scientific results

She studied concertation and tripartism among governments, trade unions and employers’ organisations in a comparative perspective; she investigated the role of interest groups in the democratisation of Central and Eastern European countries; she studied the influence of some policy areas of the European Union. She took part into national and international research projects (PRIN, ‘Young Researchers’). She is member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and of the European Sociological Association (ESA, specifically of its Research Network 17 – Work, Employment and Industrial Relations, of which she was vice-president between 1999 and 2009). Since 2011 she is member of the Standing Group on interest groups of the SISP (Italian Political Science Association).

Editorial work and publications

[2022] Vatta A., The evolution of Italian bilateral bodies and funds in a comparative perspective. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 43(1): 32-51.

[2020] Vatta A., Interessi e conflitti organizzativi nella gestione delle emergenze socio-politiche. Poliarchie/Polyarchies, 3(2): 157-171

[2019] Vatta A., La politica commerciale dell’Unione Europea e le “democrazie difficili”: riflessioni su tre stati del Medio Oriente, in D. Abenante (ed), “Democrazie difficili” in Europa, Asia, Nord Africa e Medio Oriente: competizione partitica, conflitti e democratizzazione, Trieste: EU,: 119-136.

[2018] Vatta A., L’evoluzione organizzativa nella rappresentanza delle piccole e medie imprese: il caso di Rete Imprese Italia, in Aa.Vv., Diritto, economia e società. In ricordo di Luisa Cusina, Trieste: EUT, 273-282.

[2018] Vatta A., The Social Clauses in EU Trade Agreements: contents and prospects. Poliarchie/Polyarchies, 2: 286-306.

[2017] Vatta A., The EU Migration Policy: between Europeanization and Re-Nationalization, in S. Baldin e M. Zago (eds), Europe of Migrations: Policies, Legal Issues and Experiences, Trieste: Biblioteca della Società Aperta, EUT, 13-31.

[2011] Vatta A., I gruppi d’interesse e la rappresentanza politica dei rom, in S. Baldin e M. Zago (eds), Il mosaico rom. Specificità culturali e governance multilivello, Milano: Franco Angeli, 129-142.

[2011] Vatta A., The Reform of Collective Bargaining and the Flexible Work Issue in Italy, in M. Baglioni e B. Brandl (eds) Changing Labour Relations. Between Path Dependency and Global Trends, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 51-69.

[2010] Vatta A., Collective bargaining and the flexibilisation of employment in Italy, in U. Huws, S. Lehndorff e D. Grimshaw (eds), Between a rock and a hard place: the shaping of employment in a global economy, London: Analytica Publications, 193-205.

[2007] Vatta A., Italy, F. Traxler e G. Huemer (eds), Handbook of Business Interest Associations, Firm Size and Governance. A comparative analytical approach, Abingdon: Routledge, 204-229.

[2004] Vatta A., Lo sviluppo della società civile, in L. Mattina (ed), La sfida dell’allargamento. L’Unione europea e la democratizzazione dell’Europa centro-orientale, Bologna: Il Mulino, 215-255.

[2003] Vatta A., L’allargamento dell’Unione Europea e lo sviluppo delle organizzazioni imprenditoriali nei paesi dell’Europa centro-orientale. Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche, 2-3: 175-200.

Position/Role

Chief Diversity Officer, European Space Agency

Professional career

Ersilia Vaudo Scarpetta has a degree in physics from Università La Sapienza in Rome, where she started working at the Department of Cosmology on experiments on the measurement of anisotropy in the cosmic background radiation. Since 1991 she has been working at the European Space Agency, in Paris, and she is currently Chief Diversity Officer. 

During her career at ESA, she held several positions i.a. in international relations, elaboration of high level strategies, preparation of decisions at Member States’ ministerial meetings, network with think tanks. She supported the creation of the European Space Policy Institute in Vienna. She participated to the formulation of the first ESA Exploration programme, worked as coordinator of Science and Human Spaceflight activities and had the responsibility as Executive Secretary of the Science and Technology Advisory Group on Exploration in charge of selecting experiments for exploration missions, including ExoMars. She spent four years at the ESA Washington Office ensuring relations with NASA and US stakeholders, and was Member of the Board of Directors of Women in Aerospace USA. Currently she is member of the International Women’s Forum, of the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society Daring Circle, and of Women in Aerospace – Europe.

Scientific results

Ersilia Vaudo has a long experience in space programmes, in particular in science and explorations, European space strategy, relationships with NASA. In addition, she works to encourage the advancement of girls and women in STEM education and careers and to promote the values of diversity and inclusiveness.

She has given several TEDx Talks, including:

TEDX Bari, 2015: L’Universo e’ resiliente?

TEDX Roncade, 2015: La sfida della conoscenza

TEDX Matera, 2018: Donne, Spazio e Superpoteri

TEDX THBrandenburg: A journey through Space. Stretching the limits

Editorial work and publications

(2019) Piu' donne di scienza per vincere la sfida della competitività, Il Sole 24 Ore 

(2018) Simply into science, how to tear down the STEM gender, Worldcrunch.com 

(2018) La Scienza delle Donne, Wired

(2018) Why women in space are developing science ‘superpowers’, becoming smarter and shooting higher, Womenthology.co.uk

(2017) Lunar glow: what is driving the new space race to the Moon, Worldcrunch.com 

(2016) Space and its Links to Economic Theory and Public Support, in "Theorizing European Space Policy" (a cura di Thomas C. Hoerber e Emmanuel Sigalas), Washington DC: Rowman & Littlefield 

(2016) Il futuro del lavoro ai tempi del determinismo tecnologico, Il Menabo’ di Etica ed Economia 

(2015) The role of space in support of the common objectives of the European Nordic countries, 66th International Astronautical Congress, Jerusalem, Israel

(2014) Rosetta, the comet Hunter, Il Menabo’ di Etica ed Economia 

(2002) Assessing ESA’s Current Voting Rules and Practice and Potential Weighted Voting Systems in the Perspective of Enlargement, ESA Bulletin.

Awards and prizes

Ersilia Vaudo Scarpetta has received numerous prizes and awards.

In 1983, she received the "Enrico Persico" Fellowship from the Accademia dei Lincei

In 1986, the "Amelia Earhart" Fellowship for Distinguished Merit in Astrophysics Studies

In 2016, she won the "Cajeta Prize" in the category "Science and Scientific Research".

In 2019 she was nominated for the "European Diversity Awards" in the "Head of Diversity of the Year " category and included in StartupItalia's "Unstoppable Women" list, which recognises the commitment of women to innovation in Italy. In the same year she was invited to give the Lectio Magistralis for the Inauguration of the 157th Academic Year at the Politecnico di Milano.

In September 2021 she was named one of the 50 most inspiring Italian women in the world of technology with the InspiringFifty for Italy award.

Position/Role

Lecturer at MSc Neuroscience at King’s College, University of London. Resident in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Foggia.

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery in 2007 from the University of Florence, she undertook a scientific training path with a Master of Science in Neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience of the King's College, University of London. In the years 2012-2015 she obtains a PhD in Developmental Medicine and Programming Sciences at the University of Padua and works at the IRCCS "Eugenio Medea" in Conegliano Veneto. In 2019-2020 she completes a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Padua. In 2021 she begin her residency training in Respiratory Medicine at the University of Foggia. Since 2010 she has been a lecturer for the Master of Neuroscience programme at IOPPN of King's College in London.

Scientific results

Since the beginning of her research in the neuroscience field, she has approached the study of the neurological disorders, starting with Multiple Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis with clinical and laboratory approaches. While carrying out a project on SOD-1 toxicity in experimental models and acquiring laboratory technical skills, she also developed a particular interest in movement disorders.

The main research project that she has explored is the study of cerebellar ataxias, and in particular of Friedreich's ataxia. She has explored the clinical aspects and also the brain volume, diffusion and cerebral-cerebellar activation characteristics in this pathology with advanced neuroimaging techniques. This research was followed by an important clinical and neuroradiological follow-up which also generated an international collaboration for rare cerebellar diseases (ENIGMA-Ataxia).

Furthermore, she has been interested into exploring and developing treatment proposals, such as experimental clinical studies and their design, application of neuromodulation and rehabilitation strategies in Friedreich’s Ataxia.

She is engaged in postgraduate teaching and in the supervision of graduate students within health professional areas.

The results of her research have been published in international scientific journals and have been presented as contributions in national and international conferences.

Editorial work and publications

[2020] Vavla M, Arrigoni F, Toschi F, Peruzzo D, Maria Grazia D'angelo MG, Gandossini S, Russo A, Diella E, Tirelli S, Salati R, Rufini A, Condo I, Testi R, Martinuzzi A. Sensitivity of neuroimaging indicators in monitoring the effects of interferon gamma treatment in Friedreich’s Ataxia. Front. Neurosci. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00872.

[2021] Pizzighello S, Vavla M, Minicuci N, Pellegri A, Martinuzzi A. Trends observed in bilateral cerebral palsy during a thirty-year period: A cohort study with an ICF-based overview. Pediatr Neonatol. Feb 5:S1875-9572(21)00018-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pedneo.2021.01.016. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33663988

[2020] Scalco RS, Lucia A, Santalla A, Martinuzzi A, Vavla M, Reni G, Toscano A, Musumeci O, Voermans NC, Kouwenberg CV, Laforêt P, San-Millán B, Vieitez I, Siciliano G, Kühnle E, Trost R, Sacconi S, Stemmerik MG, Durmus H, Kierdaszuk B, Wakelin A, Andreu AL, Pinós T, Marti R, Quinlivan R, Vissing J; EUROMAC Consortium. Data from the European registry for patients with McArdle disease and other muscle glycogenoses (EUROMAC). Orphanet J Rare Dis. Nov 24;15(1):330. doi: 10.1186/s13023-020-01562-x. PMID: 33234167

[2020] Vavla M, Montanaro D, Pizzighello S, Frijia F, Arrigoni F, Baratto A, Piccoli G, Paparella G, Martinuzzi A. Brain Magnetic Spectroscopy Imaging and Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: A focused Systematic Review on Current Landmarks and Future Perspectives. Front Neurol. Jul 14;11:515. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00515. eCollection 2020. PMID: 32765386

[2020] Montanaro D, Vavla M, Frijia F, Aghakhanyan G, Baratto A, Coi A, Stefan C, Girardi G, Paparella G, De Cori S, Totaro P, Lombardo F, Piccoli G, Martinuzzi A. Multimodal MRI longitudinal assessment of White and Grey Matter in different SPG types of Hereditary Spastic Paraparesis Front Neurosci. Jun 4;14:325. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00325. eCollection 2020. PMID: 32581663

[2020] Paparella G, Vavla M, Bernardi L, Girardi G, Stefan C, Martinuzzi A. Efficacy of a combined treatment of botulinum toxin and intensive physiotherapy in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia. Front. Neurosci. Doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00111

[2020] Vavla M, D'Angelo MG, Arrigoni F, Toschi N, Peruzzo D, Gandossini S, Russo A, Diella E, Tirelli S, Salati R, Scarpazza P, Luffarelli R, Fortuni S, Rufini A, Condò I, Testi R, Martinuzzi A. Safety and efficacy of interferon γ in friedreich's ataxia. Mov Disord. 35(2):370-371. doi: 10.1002/mds.27979. Epub 2020 Jan 13. PMID: 31930551

[2020] Vavla M, Paparella G, Papayannis A, Pascuzzo R, Girardi G, Pellegrini F, Capello G, Prosdocimo G, Martinuzzi A. Optical Coherence Tomography in a cohort of genetically defined Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: A brief research report. Front. Neurol. | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.01193

[2019] Vavla M, Paparella G, Merotto V, Comiotto J, Piai J, Martinuzzi A. Combining Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Intensive Physiotherapy in Patients with Friedreich’s Ataxia: A Pilot Study. Acta Scientific Neurology 2.1: 03-10.

[2018] Vavla M, Arrigoni F, Nordio A, De Luca A, Pizzighello S, Petacchi E, Paparella G, D'Angelo MG, Brighina E, Russo E, Fantin M, Colombo P, Martinuzzi A. Functional and Structural Brain Damage in Friedreich's Ataxia. Front Neurol. Sep 6;9:747. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00747. ECollection 2018. PMID: 30237783.

[2016] Martinuzzi A, Montanaro D, Vavla M, Paparella G, Bonanni P, Musumeci O, Brighina E, Hlavata H, Rossi G, Aghakhanyan G, Martino N, Baratto A, D'Angelo MG, Peruch F, Fantin M, Arnoldi A, Citterio A, Vantaggiato C, Rizzo V, Toscano A, Bresolin N, Bassi MT. Clinical and Paraclinical Indicators of Motor System Impairment in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: A Pilot Study. PLoS One. Apr 14;11(4): e0153283. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153283.

[2014] Aghakhanyan G, Martinuzzi A, Frijia F, Vavla M, Hlavata H, Baratto A, Martino N, Paparella G, Montanaro D. Brain White Matter Involvement in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias: Analysis with Multiple Diffusion Tensor Indices.AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. Aug;35(8):1533-8. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A3897.

Awards and prizes

In 2011 Marinela Vavla won a PhD scholarship and in 2019 another Post-Doctoral research scholarship, both at the University of Padua. During 2015-2020 she received research fundings from the Association Ogni Giorno per Emma to carry out research in the field of cerebellar ataxias and Friedreich's Ataxia.

Position/Role

President of the Degree Course and Professor of Computer Science at the “Sapienza” University of Rome.

Professional career

After graduating in Electronic Engineering at the “Sapienza” University of Rome in 1978, she worked as a researcher at the Ugo Bordoni Foundation until 1982. In 1983 she was a visiting scholar at Stanford University and, from 1984 to 1986, was a researcher at the IBM science centre in Rome. From 1986 to 1996 she is associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Ancona. Since 1996 she is a professor at the Computer Science Department of the S.MM.FF.NN faculty of the “Sapienza” University of Rome. In 2001 she won a first class competition and became a full professor at the same university, where from 2011 to 2013 she was President of the Degree Course in Computer Science, a position she took on again in November 2016. Since 2013 she has been responsible for the Master’s degree course in Computer Science, distance learning. She teaches Machine Learning and Web and Social Information Extraction at the Master’s degree in Computer Science (in English), and from 2017, also the Business Intelligence course in Management Master's Degree taught in English. She is involved in gender issues, and she has been coordinating the NERD orientation project for six years in order to increase the number of girls enrolled in computer courses.

Scientific results

In the first years of scientific activity, Paola Velardi was involved in Computer Architecture and Reliability to then address her studies to Artificial Intelligence. Later, her main research interests concerned natural language processing, machine learning, semantic modeling and semantic web, i.e. the transformation of the web into an environment where published documents are associated with information and data which specify the semantic context in a format suitable for interrogation and interpretation (for example, through search engines) and, more generally, for automatic word processing. More recently, she has been involved in the analysis of social networks, applying her studies to user profiling, the detection of trending topics (topics of discussion that become popular among users of social networks), and the study of female leadership in social networks companies, epidemiological surveillance and e-health.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of over 150 national and international publications, including:

(2021) Aragona D, Podo L, Prenkaj B, Velardi P. CoRoNNa: A Deep Sequential Framework to Predict Epidemic Spread. SAC '21 Proceedings of the 36th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing. 3.

(2016) Stilo G, Velardi P. Hashtag Sense Clustering based on Temporal Similarity. Computational Linguistics, 43-1. 

(2016) Stilo G, Velardi P. Efficient Temporal Mining of Micro-blog Texts and its application to Event Discovery. Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 30(2):372-402.

(2015) Faralli S, Stilo G, Velardi P. Recommendation of micro-blog users based on hierarchical interest profiles. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 5, 25. 

(2015) Gesualdo F, Stilo G, D’Ambrosio A, Carloni E, Pandolfi E, Velardi P, et al. Can Twitter be a source of information on allergy? Correlation of pollen counts with tweets reporting symptoms of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and names of antihistamine drugs. PloS One, 10(7):e0133706 

(2015) Faralli S, Stilo G, Velardi P. Large Scale Homophily Analysis in Twitter using a Twixonomy. Proceedings of International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI 2015) Buenos Aires. 

(2015) Faralli S, Stilo G, Velardi P. What Women Like: A Gendered Analysis of Twitter Users' Interests based on a Twixonomy. Ninth International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media Workshop: Wikipedia, a Social Pedia: Research Challenges and Opportunities, Oxford. 

(2015) Di Tommaso G, Stilo G, Velardi P. Women leadership in enterprise social networks: A SNA toolkit to foster the emergence of informal leaders in organizations. International Conference on Information Society (i-Society 2015), IEEE, London. 

(2014) P. Velardi P, G. Stilo G, E. Tozzi E, Gesualdo F. Twitter mining for fine-grained syndromic surveillance. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 61(3):153-63. 

(2013) Velardi P, S. Faralli S, Navigli R. OntoLearn Reloaded: A Graph-based Algorithm for Taxonomy Induction. Computational Linguistics, 39(3), MIT Press.

(2013) Gesualdo F, Stilo G, Agricola E, Gonfiantini MV, Pandolfi E, Velardi P, Tozzi AE. Influenza-like illness surveillance on Twitter through automated learning of naïve language. PLoS One, 8(12):e82489.

Awards and prizes

She participated as a partner, associate partner or coordinator in various national and European projects. Among others, the national projects (MIUR law 297) CHAT, on multimodality topics, and LC3, a public-private research laboratory on the topic of communication of cultural knowledge; the SimiTur 2.0 (POR FESR 2007/2013 - CO-RESEARCH) regional projects on the theme of tourism; PARTICIPATE (Research Projects presented by Research Institutes LR 13/2008) on topics of e-collaboration and participatory interfaces in the tourist / cultural field; HomeCare4All (POR FERS Lazio 2007/2013) on issues of public health and multilingual interaction with users; and finally Fiordaliso (POR FERS Lazio 2007/2013) on the topic of analysis of female leadership in corporate social networks. She was a member of the governing committee of the European INTEROP Network of Excellence (2003-2007), on enterprise interoperability issues and the scientific committee of the "EU Virtual Laboratory for Enterprise Interoperability", an European research institute legally established in Belgium in 2007. She is a reviewer of the European community, reviewer and member of the most important conferences and journals on the topics of interest (ACL, EACL, EMNLP, ESWC, IJCAI, ICWSM, TKDD, TKDE, CL, AIIM, BIBM, WWW, etc.). She is Associate Editor of Knowledge and Information Systems.

Position/Role

Full professor of General Chemistru at University of Bologna

Professional career

After graduating in Chemistry at the University of Bologna in 1971, she continued her education first as a fellow, then a contractor and finally a researcher at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Bologna until 1992. In the same year she became associate professor in the faculty of Mathematical Sciences , Physics and Natural of the same university, and is confirmed again in 1995. Since 2005 she is full professor of General Chemistry of the University of Bologna.

Scientific results

From 1972 to 1991 she worked at National Research Council of Bologna where her main research activity was focused on the field of Radiation Chemistry. In particular, she studied the electron-transfer processes involved in model systems for the conversion of solar energy in chemical energy. Her present research activity is in the field of Supramolecular Photochemistry and Electrochemistry; specifically she is involved in the realization of systems made by two or more molecules capable of performing useful functions. The aims of the research are the following. 1. The desing and construction of chemical systems where the molecular components display changes in their relative positions as a result of some external stimulus, that can be photochemical, chemical and electrochemical in nature. Such systems are called molecular machines and their importance is testified by the fact that this research topic was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016. 2. The design and construction of systems capable of transferring, switching, collecting, storing, and elaborating photochemical, chemical and electrochemical signals. Up to now several systems of this kind have been obtained, like molecular antennae, wires, plug/socket and extension devices. The results of her research are of great importance in the fields of nanosceince and nanotechnology; for example the developed systems can lead to the construction of molecular devices able to convert solar energy in chemical energy and to elaborate information (chemical computer); they can also find applications in the field of medicine, for example, to develop drug delivering systems that can open new perspectives to treat tumors.

Editorial work and publications

Margherita Venturi is author of two books (with Vincenzo Balzani) Chimica! Leggere e scrivere il libro della nature(Scienza Express Edizioni, 2012) and Energia, Risorse, Ambiente (Zanichelli, 2014).

She is co-author of more than 250 scientific papers, including several reviews, published in the most relevant international journals. Five of them are listed below.

(2015) D’Agostino S, Bergamini G, Ceroni P, Comotti A, Sozzani P, Bassanetti I, Grepioni F, Hernandez TM, Silvi S, Venturi M, Credi A. Photoinduced reversible switching of porosity in molecular crystals based on star-shaped azobenzene tetramers. Nature Chemistry, 7:634-640.

(2015) Ragazzon G, Baroncini M, Silvi S, Venturi M, Credi A. Light-powered autonomous and directional molecular motion of a dissipative self-assembling system. Nature Nanotechnology, 10:70-75.

(2008) Balzani V, Credi A, Venturi M. Photochemical conversion of solar Energy. ChemSusChem, 1:26-58.

(2008) Balzani V, Credi A, Venturi M. Molecular Devices and Machines – Concepts and Perspectives for the Nanoworld. Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 1-546.

(2006) Balzani V, Clemente-León M, Credi A, Ferrer B, Venturi M, Flood A H, Stoddart J F. Autonomous artificial nanomotor powered by sunlight. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103:1178-1183.

Awards and prizes

In 2014 she received the Gold Medal Gabriello Illuminati from the Italian Chemical Society because of her contribution and involvement in teaching and spreading Chemistry as author of articles and books, as coordinator and partner of national and European projects, and as organizer of seminars, scientific exhibits, and teacher training courses. In addition, the medal recognized the fact that in 2000 she began to organize at the Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician” a show entitled Sounds, Lights, Colors and Other Special Effectsduring which the attending students (from primary to high schools) and citizens can see chemical demonstrations and understand the importance, utility, and beauty of Chemistry.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Turin, where she is also Head of the Jean Monet Migration in Europe Module and Director of the Diploma in Migration Studies of the University of Turin.

Professional career

She graduated in Economics at the Faculty of Political Sciences of Florence in 1977. In 1978 she carried out an internship at the European Commission in Brussels, D.G. Social Affairs. In 1982 she obtained a PhD in Economics at the European University Institute in Florence with J.P. Fitoussi and E. Tarantelli. She was Visiting Professor at Brown University, Providence, R.I. (USA), the Institute Development Studies, Sussex University of Brighton, the International Institute of Labor Studies, at the ILO, Geneva and at the COMPAS (Center of Migration, Policicy & Society) in Oxford. He has taught in Italy at the Universities of Florence, Bergamo, Padua and Turin and abroad in the USA, Oxford, Belgium.

She has twenty years of research and collaboration experience with the European Commission in Brussels (of which he is a member of the expert group), with OECD and with the World Bank, as well as with other international organizations, including: International Labor Organization, International Organization of Migration, European Training Foundation and numerous international research institutes (CEPR of London, IZA of Bonn, CASE of Warsow, IMI of Washington) and in Italy with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She is currently co-director of the MEDAM project at the Migration Policy Center, Robert Schumann Center for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute of Florence, with responsibility for addressing and research supervisor. He is a member of the Expert Group on Migration of the DG Home of the European Commission. Outgoing member of the General Council of the Compagnia di San Paolo 2014-2016. Member of the Council of the Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti De Martiis. Member of the Scientific Committee of the Master in Management of Development of the University of Law at the ILO Training Center since 2003. She was president of the Master's Degree Course in Law and Economics for public and private companies from 2008 to 2015, member of the Council of the Faculty of Law from 2005 to 2012, member of the Governing Council of the Institute of Higher Studies of the University of Genoa in 2014.

Scientific results

Alessandra Venturini is a scholar of migration dynamics, migration policies and the dynamics of asylum seekers. She is an expert on the causes and consequences of migration in European countries and of social policy interventions that can anticipate and counteract the negative effects with numerous publications in Italian and English. She is an expert in the countries of the Neighborhood of Europe, with an in-depth knowledge of migration, of the labor markets of European countries and of countries bordering with Eastern Europe - Ukraine, Moldavia, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan - and to the South , North Africa and the Middle East, with direct contacts with members of institutions and administrations and the University.

Editorial work and publications

Alessandra Venturini is the author of numerous monographs including:

(2015) Fargues P, Venturini A, Migration from North Africa and the Middlle East. Skilled migrants, Development and Globalization, I.B. TAURIS, London.

(2006) Venturini A. Post-War Migration in Southern Europe. An Economic Approach, Cambridge University Press.

Recent papers:

(2017) Strom S, Piazzalunga D, Venturini A, Villosio C. Wage assimilation of immigrants and internal migrants: the role of linguistic distance, Regional Studies, pp. 1-12.

(2017) Laurentsyeva N, Venturini A. Social Integration of Immigrants and the role of Policy, Intereconomics, 52:285-292.

(2017) Kalantaryan S, Fassio C, Venturini A. High-skilled Immigration and Innovation, in Czaika M, “High Skilled Migration, Drivers and Politics”, Oxford University Press, pp. 151-175.

(2017) Venturini A. Where and when to start the integration process?, in Bauböck R, Tripkovic M (eds), “The integration of migrants and refugees: an EUI forum on migration, citizenship and demography”, p. 109.

(2017) Venturini A. Migrant assimilation in the labour market: what is missing in the economic literature, in Weiner A, Unterrainer A, Fargues P. (eds), “Migrant Integration Between Homeland and Host Society. Volume 1. Where does the country of origin fit,” pp. 21-42. 

(2017) Venturini A, Villosio C. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369183X.2017.1345830, in Finotelli C, Ponzo I (eds), “Integration in times of crisis. Migrant inclusion in Southern European societies: trends and theoretical implications”, 

(2016) Venturini A. Migration in 2017, in Goldstein A, “The World in 2017, Instant book, Nomisma, Agra”.

(2016), From Refugees to Workers, Mapping Labour-Market Integration Support Measure for Asylum Seekers and Refugees in The EU Members States. Vol.I Comparative Analyses and Policy Findings; Vol.II Literature review and country case studies, Italy case study, Bertelmans Stiftung and MPC-EUI. 

(2016) Del Boca D, Venturini A. Migration in Italy is backing the old age welfare, in Zimmermann K, Kaneck M (eds), “Labor Migration, EU Enlargement, and the Great Recession”, Springer Berlin, Heidelberg. 

(2016) Goldstein A, VEnturini A. International Migration Policies: Should they be a new G20 Topic? China & World Economy, 24, 4:93-111. 

(2016) Pirani E, Venturini A, Vignoli D. Female Migration and Native Marital Stability: Insights from Italy. Journal of Family and Economic Issues 05. 

(2016) Venturini A. Migrants and migration policies for innovation in Europe, Migration Policy Practice, VI, 2.

Position/Role

Professor of Economics (with tenure) in the Department of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva (Switzerland)

Professional career

After graduating with a bachelor degree in Economics in the Faculty of Economics at University of Turin in 2002, Professor Viarengo completed her education through a Master in Economics at Northwestern University (USA) in 2003 and a PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) in 2007.  After completing her doctoral studies, she was Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government (USA). She subsequently worked as an economist at the Centre for Economic Performance of the London School of Economics prior to join the Graduate Institute’s faculty. She is currently Professor (with tenure) in the Department of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva (CH). She is Faculty Associate at the Harvard University, Center for International Development, and a Member of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research (NCCR). She is also Senior Research Associate at the Harvard Law School, Labor and Worklife Program. She currently serves as Senior Expert in the European Expert Network on the Economics of Education (EENEE) of the European Commission and as Member of the Evaluation Committee of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Economic Cooperation and Development.

Scientific results

Professor Viarengo is a specialist in public policy, labor economics and economic development. Her research has focused on the economics of public services, education systems and labor markets in an international perspective. Her research has also examined different aspects related to management and human capital within organizations in countries at different stages of development.

Her research has been published in leading international journals.

She is a fellow of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), a member of the European Development Network (EUDN), and a fellow of the Center for Economic Studies (CESifo).

Editorial work and publications

Selected Publication

Books

[2015] Viarengo M. (joint with Kramarz F.), “Neither in Employment nor in Education – Youth Left Behind,”  Paris: Sciences-Po Press   (title in French: Ni en Emploi Ni en Formation - Des Jeunes Laissés pour Compte”)

Publications in Refereed Journals

[2020] Viarengo M. (joint with Ganguli I., R. Hausmann) “Gender Differences in Professional Career Dynamics: New Evidence from a Global Law Firm,” forthcoming in Economica.

[2019] Viarengo M. (joint with Bandiera O., M. Mohnen, I. Rasul), “Nation-Building through Compulsory Schooling during the Age of Mass Migration,” [LSE-Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Paper No. 057], Economic Journal, Vol. 129, No. 617(1), pp. 62–109.

[2018] Viarengo M. (joint with Machin S., S. McNally), “Changing How Literacy is Taught: Evidence on Synthetic Phonics,” [LSE-Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No. 1425; IZA Discussion Paper No. 9955], American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 217-241.

[2018] Viarengo M. (joint with Ganguli I., R. Hausmann), “Career Dynamics and Gender Gaps among Employees in the Microfinance Sector,” UNU-WIDER Working Paper No. 2017/117, chapter published in Anderson S., L. Beaman and J.P. Platteau (eds.), “Towards Gender Equity in Development” published by Oxford University Press. 

[2017] Viarengo M. (joint with Gibbons S., S. McNally), “Does Additional Spending Help Urban Schools? An Evaluation Using Boundary Discontinuities,” [earlier versions of this paper: LSE-Centre for the Economics of Education Discussion Paper No. 128; IZA Discussion Paper No. 6281], Journal of the European Economic Association, November Vol. 16, No. 5(1), pp. 1618–1668.

[2015] Viarengo M. (joint with Pritchett L.), “Does Public Sector Control Reduce Variance in School Quality?” Education Economics, Vol. 23, No. 5, October, pp. 557-576; [Harvard University, Center for Global Development Working Paper No. 178; Harvard University, PEPG Discussion Paper No. 09-03].

[2015] Viarengo M. (joint with Pritchett L.), “The State, Socialization and Private Schooling: When Will Governments Support Alternative Producers?” Journal of Development Studies, (lead article), Vol. 51, No. 7, July, pp. 784-807; [Harvard University, Center for International Development Working Paper No. 272].

[2014] Viarengo M. (joint with Martinez-Fritscher A., A. Musacchio), “Colonial Institutions, Trade Shocks, and the Diffusion of Elementary Education in Brazil, 1889-1930,” Journal of Economic History, Vol. 74, No. 3, pp. 730-766; [NBER Working Paper No. 20029; Harvard Business School Working Paper No. 10-075].

[2014] Viarengo M. (joint with Freeman R.B.), “School and Family Effects on Educational Outcomes across Countries,” Economic Policy, (lead article), Vol. 79, No. 29, July, pp. 395-446.

[2014] Viarengo M. (joint with Ganguli I., R. Hausmann), “Closing the Gender Gap in Education: What is the State of Gaps in Labor Force Participation for Women, Wives and Mothers?” International Labour Review, (lead article), Vol. 153, No. 2, pp. 173-208; [Harvard University, Center for International Development Working Paper No. 220]. 

[2013] Viarengo M. (joint with Bandiera O., I. Rasul), “The Making of Modern America: Migratory Flows in the Age of Mass Migration,” Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 102, May, pp. 23-47; [CEPR Discussion Paper No. 7509].

[2012] Viarengo M. (joint with Pritchett L.), “Why Demographic Suicide? The Puzzles of European Fertility,” Population and Development Review, No. 38, pp. 55-71.

[2010] Viarengo M. (Holmlund H., S. McNally), “Does Money Matter for Schools?” Economics of Education Review, Vol. 29, pp. 1154-1164; [IZA Discussion Paper No. 3769; CEE Discussion Paper No. 105].

Awards and prizes

Professor Viarengo is the recipient of numerous research grants, fellowships and awards. 

She was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and she was named Newton International Fellow by the British Academy, Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2013 she was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. In 2018 Dr. Viarengo was awarded with the Eisenhower Fellowship.

Position/Role

Full Professor of General Pathology at the University of Padua and Scientific Director at Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica (IRP) Foundation

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences at the University of Padua in 1991, prof. Viola continued her education with a PhD in Evolutionary Biology, which she obtained in 1995 at the same university. She then joined the scientific community of the Basel Institute of Immunology (BII), first as visiting scientist and then as BII scientific member. In 2001 she went back to Padua as assistant professor and head of the Immunology Laboratory at the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM). In 2007, she moved to Milan to direct the Adaptive Immunity Laboratory at the Humanitas Research Center. In 2014 she became full professor of General Pathology at the University of Padua and in 2017 scientific director of the Pediatric Research Institute (IRP). She has been a member of the scientific committee of the Italian Association for Cancer Research (AIRC) and a reviewer for the European Commission (FP7 and ERC). She has coordinated international (Prostate Cancer Research Program), European (E-rare) and national projects (AIRC, Telethon, MIUR, Ministry of Health) and has been partner of two ambitious projects of the European community, SYBILLA and MERLIN.

Scientific results

After the studies on T lymphocytes (capable of killing virus-infected cells or helping B cells in the production of antibodies), prof. Viola has expanded her research in the field of tumor immunology and, subsequently, of mesenchymal stromal cells. More recently, she decided to focus on the study of macrophages (cells responsible for phagocytizing pathogens and involved in all inflammatory processes) and she proposed to the European Commission the project “STePS”, which was awarded the ERC Advanced Grant. The results of her research are of great importance in basic research but also in other areas, from cancer immunotherapy (ability to exploit our own immune system to directly and focused treat certain diseases) to autoimmune diseases (diseases caused by improper activation of our immune system).

Editorial work and publications

Author of numerous scientific publications, including:

(2011) Molon B, Ugel S, Del Pozzo F, Soldani C, Zilio S, Avella D, De Palma A, Mauri PL, Monegal A, Rescigno M, Savino B, Colombo P, Jonjic N, Pecanic S, Lazzarato L, Fruttero R, Gasco A, Bronte V, Viola A. Chemokine nitration prevents intratumoral infiltration of antigen-specific T cells. The Journal of Experimental Medicine,208(10):1949-62.

(2010) Contento RL, Campello S, Trovato AE, Magrini E, Anselmi F and Viola A. Adhesion shapes T cells for prompt and sustained T cell receptor signaling. EMBO Journal, 29:4035-47.

(2008) Viola A & Luster AD. Chemokines and Their Receptors: Drug Targets in Immunity and Inflammation. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 48:171-197.

(2007) Viola A & Gupta N. Tether and Trap: Regulation of membrane rafts by actin-binding proteins. Nature Reviews Immunology, 7:889-96.

(2006) Campello S, Lacalle RA, Bettella M, Manes S, Scorrano L & Viola A. Orchestration of leukocyte chemotaxis by mitochondrial dynamycs. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 203:2879-2886.

(2006) Tavano R, Contento RL, Baranda SJ, Soligo M, Tuosto L, Manes S & Viola A. CD28 interaction with filamin-A controls lipid raft accumulation at the T cell immunological synapse. Nature Cell Biology, 8:1270-1276.

(2005) Molon, Gri G, Bettella M, Goumez-Mouton C, Lanzavechia A, Martinez-A C, Manes S & Viola A. T cell costimulation by chemokine receptors. Nature Immunology, 6:465-71.

(2005) Bronte V, Kasic T, Gri G, Gallana K, Borsellino G, Marigo I, Battistini L, Iafrate M, Prayer-Galetti T, Pagano F & Viola A. Boosting anti-tumor responses of T lymphocytes infiltrating human prostate cancers. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 201:1257-68.

(1999) Viola A, Schroeder S, Sakakibara Y & Lanzavecchia A. T lymphocyte costimulation mediated by reorganization of membrane microdomains. Science, 283:680-2.

(1996) Viola A & Lanzavecchia A. T cell activation determined by T cell receptor number and tunable thresholds. Science, 273:104-6.

Awards and prizes

In 2010 she won the Cancer Reseach Institute Investigator Award (CRI, New York) and in 2008 the "Donne Eccellenti" award and the prestigious "Chiara D'Onofrio" award. In 2013 Antonella Viola received the ERC Advanced Grant and a € 2.5 million financing to continue her STEPS project. In 2016 she was elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), a prestigious recognition that was preceded in 2006 by the appointment as EMBO Young Investigator.

Position/Role

Research Director, associate to Frascati National Laboratory of INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare)

Professional career

She graduated in Physics at the University La Sapienza of Rome in 1971, continuing her training at the Frascati National Laboratories of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), where she became a permanent researcher in 1975. During her experimental research in particle physics she also worked at CERN in Geneva and at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg. Since the end of the '80s she has devoted herself mainly to astro-particle physics conducting experiments at the INFN Laboratory of Gran Sasso, the largest and most important underground laboratory dedicated to astro-particle physics in the world in terms of number of experiments and complexity of technological and security infrastructures. In 2009 she became director of the Gran Sasso Laboratory, the first woman to hold this position, until 2012.

Scientific results

Lucia Votano carries out her basic research in the field of experimental physics of high-energy elementary particles and in the field of astro-particle physics, a field that links astrophysics, cosmology and the study of fundamental interactions of elementary particles. His main interests have for many years been in the study of neutrinos, an elementary particle of which there are three types with different "flavours". Along with photons, neutrinos are the most numerous particles in the universe of ordinary matter. They interact very little with ordinary matter and are therefore able to pass through large celestial bodies undisturbed, bringing us information from the far corners of the universe. With the international OPERA project at the Gran Sasso Laboratory, Lucia Votano and her team were able to measure directly for the first time in the world the oscillation (transformation) of muon-flavoured neutrinos into tau-type neutrinos. OPERA used the neutrino beam produced at CERN in Geneva and sent to the Gran Sasso laboratory on a journey 730 km long under the Earth's crust and about 2.4 milliseconds in duration. The oscillation showed that neutrinos have mass, albeit very small: a sign of new physics beyond the Standard Model of elementary particles and fundamental interactions. Since 2015 Lucia Votano has been working with other colleagues on the international JUNO (Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory) experiment, which will be set up in southern China by 2020. This is a gigantic underground detector of the latest generation for neutrinos, which will be used to further investigate their nature through the phenomenon of oscillation, which allows them to change from one type (of flavour) to another.

Editorial work and publications

The research activities have resulted in about 300 papers on international scientific journals and in presentations at international conferences. Among them:

(2018) M. Reguzzoni et al., GIGJ: a crustal gravity model of the Guangdong Province for predicting the geoneutrino signal at the JUNO experiment.
arXiv:1901.01945 [physics.geo-ph].

(2018) N. Agafonova et al. Final Results of the OPERA Experiment on ντ appearance in the CNGS Neutrino Beam. Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 211801.

(2018) N. Agafonova et al. Final results of the search for νμ→νe oscillations with the OPERA detector in the CNGS beam. JHEP 1806, 151.

(2018) N. Agafonova et al. Measurement of the cosmic ray muon flux seasonal variation with the OPERA detector. arXiv:1810.10783 [hep-ex].

(2018) F. Riggi et al. Time and orientation long-distance correlations between extensive air showers detected by the MRPC telescopes of the EEE Project Nuovo Cim. C40, 6, 196.

(2018) M. Grassi et al. Charge reconstruction in large-area photomultipliers
JINST 13 (02): P02008.

(2018) A. Paoloni, A. Mengucci, M. Spinetti, M. Ventura, L. Votano. Streamer studies in Resistive Plate Chambers, arXiv:1806.03443 [physics.ins-det].

(2016) Agafonova A, Aleksandrov A, Votano L, et al. Determination of the muon charge sign with the dipolar spectrometers of the OPERA experiment. Journal of Instrumentation, 11, 07.

(2016) Berra A, Cecchini S, Cindolo F, Votano L, et al. Longitudinally segmented shashlik calorimeters with SiPM readout. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment. 

(2016) Abbrescia M, Avanzini C, Baldini L, Votano L, et al. A study of upward going particles with the Extreme Energy Events telescopes Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment, 816.

Lucia Votano has also published two scientific books for general public: Il fantasma dell’universo. Che cos’è il neutrino (Carocci, 2015) and La via della seta. La fisica da Enrico Fermi alla Cina (Di Renzo, 2017).

Awards and prizes

Lucia Votano was awarded the title of "Commendatore Ordine al Merito" by the Presidency of the Italian Republic in 2010.

She has also received numerous prizes and awards for scientific merit, including the "Guido Dorso" prize, the "Minerva, Roma Capitale delle Donne 2013" prize, the "L'Altra Italia" international prize, the "NordSud" international prize for exact and natural sciences, and the "Life Gates" prize.

Position/Role

Head of Unified Team and trial lawyer at Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court seated in Th Hague, Netherlands.

Professional career

Alice Zago works in the field of human rights and international criminal law.Her work experience includes investigations and prosecutions in several countries in Africa, Central and Latin America, and Asia. After a master degree in International and European Human Rights Law, in 2000 she startes working as an international cooperation adviser with the NGO 'No Peace Without Justice', then joines the United Nations’ Mission in Guatemala to investigate and report on human rights violations and, after a spell as an international legal adviser to the Mission of Timor-Leste before the United Nations in New York, in late 2004 she becomes an investigator in the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court. Since then, she works in different capacities within the OTP ranging from investigation Team Leader to Trial Lawyer to Head of a Unified Team. She graduates from Harvard Law School in 2013 with a dissertation on Transnational Organized Crime. 

She often participates in academic activities, in particular of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, such as the annual Moot Court, a co-curricular activity in which participants take part in simulated court or arbitration proceedings. She is often called upon as a lecturer in professional training activities at institutes, universities and NGOs, and as a speaker at conferences in Italy and abroad.

Scientific results

The first and only female Italian international criminal law practitioner with direct experience investigating and prosecuting war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, Alice Zago specializes in laws regulating international and non-international armed conflicts, on large scale crimes especially gender-based and against children, deportation, enforced disappearances and persecution, as well as modern legal theories of attributing individual criminal liability. She is also experienced in procedural criminal law, having led teams to trial, pleaded extensively in court, examined (and cross-examined) witnesses and victims, as well as drafted complex legal documents. Moreover, she has gathered vast experience in a diverse range of investigative techniques, including interviewing techniques open-source investigations and big data applied to criminal investigations. She possesses extensive managerial experience, coordinating the work of multidisciplinary teams in diverse and multicultural environments. 

Editorial work and publications

Alice Zago has contributed to a wide range of publications such as “Advancing Justice for Children” (Save the Children 2021) and “Interrogations in war and conflict” (edited by Cristopher A. and Tobia S., 2014). 

Position/Role

Full Professor of Sociology of Economic Processes at the Catholic University of Milan; Director of the WWELL Research Center (Work, Welfare, Enterprise, Lifelong Learning).

Professional career

After graduating in Political Science at the Catholic University of Milan (best graduate of the year), Laura Zanfrini obtained (1995) a PhD in “Sociology and Methodology of social sciences”, with a thesis on local development in the French experience, evaluated with a judgment of “excellence”.

In 1998 she was hired as Assistant Professor in Sociology of economic processes. She entered the role of Associate Professor in 2005 and then, in 2010, she became Full Professor. She currently teaches “Sociology of Migration and Inter-ethnic Coexistence” and “Organizations, Environment and Social Innovation” at the School of Political and Social Sciences of the Catholic University. She is also coordinator of the Master degree in “Labour and business management” (a course that aims to prepare “enlightened” managers, who combine professional skills with a particular sensitivity to the social and ethical implications of economic action). She is also Director of the Summer School “Human Mobility and Global Justice”.

In addition to a rich scientific research activity (see next point), she has accumulated an extensive teaching experience, both in the academic context (as a professor of economic sociology, sociology of labour, sociology of migration, sociology of differences and inequalities), and in the extra-academic context (as an expert involved in initiatives promoted by public administrations, local authorities, school districts, trade unions, cultural associations, religious institutions, NGO).

Since its foundation in 1991, she has been involved in the activities of the ISMU Foundation as a member of the technical-scientific committee, Head of the Economics and Labour Department and Director of the Documentation Center.

Since its establishment (2010), she has been the Director of the WWELL Research Center (Work, Welfare, Enterprise, Lifelong Learning), at the Department of Sociology of the Catholic University, where a series of applied research, consultancy, and training initiatives are developed in continuity with a long tradition sensitive to the business ethic, sustainability, and inclusiveness.

In these contexts, she has participated and directed many national and international research projects, joined qualified networks of experts, and worked as advisor of many Italian and international organizations.

Scientific results

The scientific activity of Laura Zanfrini has developed around some main thematic areas and then concentrated, in recent years, mainly on the theme of international migration. Thanks to a particular predisposition for the systematization of literature (also according to an interdisciplinary approach) and for the analysis of empirical evidence, she authored many articles and books and collected a long list of participations in conferences and scientific seminars.

A first area of interest is the theme of development, captured in particular in its local declination, the subject of her doctoral thesis (published in the book Una promessa disattesa..., 1996) and of numerous other publications, among which the volume Lo sviluppo condiviso…(2001). In this same area, there are other works dedicated to entrepreneurship (artisans, women, immigrants ...) and the involvement in important projects on co-development, that is the enhancement of the link between international migration and development of the communities of origin (cf., in particular, the project Migrants’ Associations and Philippine Institutions for Development, funded by EU Aeneas program).

A second area is represented by the processes of labour market’s functioning and regulation, analyzed in their relationship with cultural patterns, development models, and social change’s dynamics. Based on several empirical researches, the analyzes dedicated to these issues have resulted in various publications characterized by a specific attention to the system of differences–of gender, ethnicity and age– caught in its intertwining with family patters, cultural contexts and the institutional and informal networks of protection from social risks (see, among others, Disoccupate per forza e per amore..., 2003; Una rivoluzione incompiuta..., 2005; Riconciliare lavoro e cittadinanza; Leggere la disoccupazione..., 2012, as well as contributions dedicated to the work of immigrants, regularly published on the yearly ISMU Report on migration). Among the results achieved, the co-optation in the Scientific Committee of the reviews “Sociologia del lavoro” and “Professionalità”.

A third area of interest is that of human resource management. Initially focused in the degree thesis, dedicated to the negotiation of working time, this issue was subsequently developed in the context of two important interdisciplinary projects on the business-history and, especially, through the co-editorship of some monographic issues of the journal “Sociologia del lavoro “.The interest in the issue of social differences has then developed into a specific focus on Diversity Management: as well as through the publication of various articles and essays, this issue has found expression in the scientific conception and direction of the DIVERSE international project. Diversity Improvement as a Viable Enrichment Resource for Society and Economy,and, more recently, of the project DimiCome - Diversity Management and Integration. The skills of migrants in the labour market, started in 2019. Going beyond the scope of organizational studies, the theme of social differences, caught in their interweaving with social inequalities, has been the subject of numerous works and, especially, of the handbook Sociologia delle differenze e delle disuguaglianze(2011).

The scientific activity of Laura Zanfrini is today mainly focused on international migration, the integration of migrants in the host society and the inter-ethnic relations. Started in the early 1990s, through the involvement in some “pioneering” researches, the study of these issues has been oriented along different lines: the systematization of international literature, the basis of many works and, in particular, of the 2 handbooks Sociologia delle migrazioniand Sociologia della convivenza interetnica (the first edition date back to 2004) and of the numerous “entries” that appeared in prestigious dictionaries and encyclopaedias; thegovernance of human mobility, analyzed by capturing the intertwining of the economic, political and ethical dimensions in multiple publications and, in particular, in the recent volume The Challenge of Migration in a Janus-Faced Europe(2019); the social and institutional construction of ethnic differencesand of the figure of the migrant, also addressed with specific regard to the issue of the ethnicization of employment relationships and also caught in its gender and generational declination; the feedback processes that migrations produce in the communities of originof migrants, with particular regard to the issue of development and of individual and family emancipation strategies, also in an intergenerational perspective; the citizenship and citizenship rights, presented as emblematic of the need to overcome the limits of methodological nationalism and rethink the theories of belonging and justice (see, among others, the volume Cittadinanze..., 2007); the ethical dimension of migration practices and policiesand the role of religion in migratory processes, through the scientific direction of a large multi-disciplinary study –Migrations and religious belongings.From the periphery to the core, for a new humanism–, funded with a special grant by the Catholic University, as a project of “high currently magnitude”.

The notoriety achieved as an expert on these topics is also attested by the frequent speeches at conferences and seminars in Italy and abroad; the participation in the scientific/editorial committee of the journals “Studi Emigrazione/International Journal of Migration Studies”, “Mondi Migranti”, “Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios”, “People on Move”, “Asian and Pacific Migration Journal”, “Rivista Internazionale di Scienze sociali” and of CIRMIB, “Centro di Iniziative e ricerche sulle Migrazioni – Brescia”; the involvement in the working group set up at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on irregular immigration policies; co-optation in the Independent Network of Labour Migration and Integration Experts; the appointment, in 2011, as Consultor of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants.

Editorial work and publications

She authored almost 400 publications, including books, essays and articles in Italian and foreign reviews.

The complete list can be consulted through the repertoire.

Among them we highlight:

University textbooks:

[2004 first edition] Zanfrini L, Sociologia delle migrazioni, Laterza. Più volte riedito, ultima versione del 2016: Introduzione alla sociologia delle migrazioni.

[2004 first edition] Zanfrini L, Sociologia della convivenza interetnica, Laterza, then acquired and translated by Alianza Editorial, La convivencia interétnica). 

Edited books:

[2011] Zanfrini L (ed.),Sociologia delle differenze e disuguaglianze, Zanichelli.

[2005] Zanfrini L (ed.),La rivoluzione incompiuta. Il lavoro delle donne tra retorica della femminilità e nuove disuguaglianze, Edizioni Lavoro.

Monographic books:

[2019] Zanfrini L, The Challenge of Migration in a Janus-Faced Europe, Palgrave Pivot.

[2007] Zanfrini L, Cittadinanze. Appartenenza e diritti nella società dell’immigrazione, Laterza.

International research projects’ volumes:

[2015] Zanfrini L, The Diversity Value. How to Reinvent the European Approach to Immigration, McGraw-Hill.

[2008] Zanfrini L, Policies on irregular migrants. Volume I: Italy and Germany, Council of Europe Publishing.

[2006] Zanfrini L,Orgoglio e pregiudizio. Una ricerca tra Filippine e Italia sulla transizione all’età attiva dei figli di emigrati e dei figli di immigrati, Angeli.

Selected articles:

[2017] Zanfrini L, Between Ambitions and Ambivalences: Cross-cultural Diversity Management and Immigrant Integration, in Business and Management Studies.

[2016] Zanfrini L, How Europe can Benefit from Immigration-Related “Diversity” – A Policy Paper, in Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy.

[2012] Zanfrini L, Family Migration: Fulfilling the Gap between Law and Social Processes, in Societies.

Awards and prizes

Premio “Agostino Gemelli” quale migliore laureata della Facoltà nell’anno 1989.

“Paul Harris Fellow”, rilasciato dalla Fondazione Rotary del Rotary International, “in segno di apprezzamento e riconoscenza per il suo tangibile e significativo apporto nel promuovere una migliore comprensione reciproca e amichevoli relazioni fra popoli di tutto il mondo”.

Position/Role

Biotechnology Group Leader, Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità (National Institute of Health), Rome, Italy

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University La Sapienza of Rome in 1994, he continued his academic training at the same university with a PhD in Immunological Sciences, which he obtained in 1998. In the meantime, he began his research activities at the Immunology Laboratory of the Institute of General Pathology of the Tor Vergata University of Rome and the Immunology Laboratory of the CNR in Rome. In 1997 she was appointed to a research post at the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, where in 2005 she became First Researcher. In 2009 she obtained a Master in Science Communication at the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) in Trieste. From 2008 to 2017 she is Director of the Department of Hematological and Oncological Biotechnology, Department of Oncology and Molecular Medicine. She has been coordinating for many years projects funded by AIRC (Italian Association for Cancer Research) and the Ministry of Health including the COLOMED project (COLOrectal cancer in MEDiterranean countries, www.colomed.it) for the creation of an inter-Mediterranean coordination against colon cancer. 

Scientific results

Ann Zeuner is a biomedical researcher specialising in cancer stem cell biology and the development of new cancer therapies. She has patented important new technologies applied to the treatment of cancer patients, including a method to alleviate chemotherapy toxicity and a new anti-cancer drug that is cheap, effective and has minimal side effects. She is constantly involved in science education for schools, and is the author of a textbook for high schools (Le cellule staminali, ed. Istituto Superiore di Sanità); she gives lectures and seminars in schools of all levels and training courses for teachers. He has collaborated with the Accademia dei Lincei in the programme "I Lincei per una nuova didattica nella scuola: una rete nazionale" (The Lincei for a new didactics in the school: a national network) and she leads within the ISS an operative unit for the training of students within the programme "Alternanza Scuola Lavoro" of the MIUR. Finally, it promotes important initiatives in favour of international cooperation among scientists as well as training and resource exchange activities in the Mediterranean area.

Editorial work and publications

Ann Zeuner sits on the editorial board of Frontiers in Molecular Targets and Therapeutics and of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità Newsletter. She has published numerous articles in international scientific journals, including the most authoritative ones in the scientific field such as Science, Nature, Stem Cell, Blood, Cancer Research. 

(2017) Colace L, Boccia S, De Maria R, Zeuner A. Colorectal cancer: towards new challenges and concepts of preventive healthcare. Ecancer medical science. 2017 Nov 28;11:ed74. doi: 10.3332/ecancer.2017.ed74. eCollection 2017.

[2017]  Manic G, Signore M, Sistigu A, Russo G, Corradi F, Siteni S, Musella M, Vitale S, De Angelis ML, Pallocca M, Amoreo CA, Sperati F, Di Franco S, Barresi S, Policicchio E, De Luca G, De Nicola F, Mottolese M, Zeuner A, Fanciulli M, Stassi G, Maugeri-Saccà M, Baiocchi M, Tartaglia M, Vitale I, De Maria R. CHK1-targeted therapy to deplete DNA replication-stressed, p53-deficient, hyperdiploid colorectal cancer stem cells. Gut. 2017 Apr 7 (Epub ahead of print).

[2015] Francescangeli F, Contavalli P, Gambara G, De Angelis ML, Baiocchi M, Pagliuca A, Fiorenzano A, Prezioso C, Boe A, Todaro M, Stassi G, Castro NP, Watanabe K, Salomon DS, De Maria R, Minchiotti G, Zeuner A. Dynamic regulation of the cancer stem cell compartment by Cripto-1 in colorectal cancer. Cell Death & Differentiation, 22(10):1700-13.

[2014] Zeuner A, Todaro M, Stassi G, De Maria R. Colorectal Cancer Stem Cells: From the Crypt to the Clinic. Cell Stem Cell. 2014 Dec 4;15(6):692-705.

[2014] Zeuner A, Francescangeli F, Contavalli P, Zapparelli G, Apuzzo T, Eramo A, Baiocchi M, De Angelis ML, Biffoni M, Sette G, Todaro M, Stassi G, De Maria R. Elimination of quiescent/slow-proliferating cancer stem cells by Bcl-XL inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer. Cell Death & Differentiation, 105.

[2013] Todaro M, Turdo A, Bartucci M, Iovino F, Dattilo R, Biffoni M, Stassi G, Federici G, De Maria R, Zeuner A. Erythropoietin activates cell survival pathways in breast cancer stem-like cells to protect them from chemotherapy. Cancer Research, 73(21):6393-400.

[2012] Francescangeli F, Patrizii M, Signore M, Federici G, Di Franco S, Pagliuca A, Baiocchi M, Biffoni M, Vitiani LR, Todaro M, De Maria R, Zeuner A. Proliferation State and Polo-like Kinase1 Dependence of Tumorigenic Colon Cancer Cells. Stem Cells, 30(9):1819-30.

[2011] Bartucci M, Dattilo R, Martinetti D, Todaro M, Zapparelli G, Di Virgilio A, Biffoni M, De Maria R, Zeuner A. Prevention of chemotherapy-induced anemia and thrombocytopenia by constant administration of stem cell factor. Clinical Cancer Research, 17(19):6185-91.

[2009] Zeuner A, Pedini F, Francescangeli F, Signore M, Girelli G, Tafuri A, De Maria R. Activity of the BH3 mimetic ABT-737 on polycythemia vera erythroid precursorcells Blood, 113:1522-5.

[2007] Zeuner A, Signore M, Martinetti D, Bartucci M., Peschle C., De Maria R. Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia derives from the selective death of megakaryocyte progenitors and can be rescued by Stem Cell Factor. Cancer Research, 67:4767-4773.

[1999] De Maria R, Zeuner A, Eramo A, Domenichelli C, Bonci D, Grignani F, Srinivasula SM, Alnemri ES, Testa U, Peschle C. Negative regulation of erythropoiesis by caspase-mediated cleavage of GATA-1. Nature, 401:489-493. 

Position/Role

Researcher at Villa Vigoni – German-Italian Centre for the European Dialogue-

Professional career

Francesca Zilio graduated in International and Diplomatic Relations at the University of Trieste. She then obtained a binational PhD in History of International Relations from Sapienza University of Rome and Freie Universität Berlin.

Before coming to Villa Vigoni she was postdoctoral DAAD Fellow at Freie Universität Berlin, research assistant at the University of Bern, visiting researcher at the Institute for European Global Studies of the University of Basel, and a research fellow at Istituto di Studi politici S. Pio V in Rome.

She is a research affiliate at Dodis (Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland). She founded a project on Italy’s Nation Branding (www.nationbranditalia.it).

In the field of Public History she is the author of a book that explains the history of divided Berlin (and Germany) through its buildings, the creator and author of an Instagram profile and a Facebook page about German Division and Reunification, and she creates historical itineraries in Germany for cultural tourism institutions. 

Scientific results

Her main areas of interest concern the history of Germany and Berlin during the Cold War, the foreign policy of Italy and Federal Germany after the Second World War, German-Italian political and cultural relations, the role of Christian Democratic parties in the process of European integration, and the institutional promotion of the national image of states (from cultural diplomacy to nation branding).

Editorial work and publications

Books 

[2020] Zilio F. Divisione e riunificazione: itinerari storici nella Berlino della Guerra fredda. Villa Vigoni Editore | Verlag 

[2020] Zilio F. “Unirsi e non restare spettatori immobili di ciò che accade nel mondo”: Mariano Rumor, l’integrazione europea e la distensione. Editrice Apes

[2014] Zilio F. Roma e Bonn fra Ostpolitik e CSCE, 1969-1975. Aracne 

[2007]Zilio F. Bonn e Bruxelles unite per la riunificazione? Le dimensioni bilaterale e comunitaria della cooperazione allo sviluppo tedesca per impedire il riconoscimento della DDR (1955-1972). ISIG

Papers 

[2015] Zilio F. The conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and NATO Southern Flank: Mediterranean security as a source of intra-bloc tension, in Lemke B. (a cura di). Periphery or Contact Zone? The NATO-Flanks 1961 to 2013. Rombach: 69-85 

[2014] Zilio F. Aldo Moro e la CSCE: dalle parole ai fatti della politica distensiva italiana, in Moro R, Mezzana D (a cura di). Una vita, un paese: Aldo Moro e l’Italia del Novecento. Rubbettino: 643-661 

[2012] Le relazioni fra Roma e Bonn durante il primo Governo Brandt fra Ostpolitik e CSCE. Mondo contemporaneo, 2012 [2]: 5-34

Online: 

[2020] Zilio F. Un insegnamento per l’Europa nel trentennale della riunificazione tedesca: https://euractiv.it/section/europea-parlano-i-fatti/news/un-insegnamento-per-leuropa-nel-trentennale-della-riunificazione-tedesca/

Awards and prizes

Prize of the Italian Society of International History for the best doctoral dissertation of 2012.

Position/Role

Associate Professor with national qualification as Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Professional career

After graduating in Oriental Languages ​​and Literatures (Arabic) at the Ca 'Foscari University of Venice, she obtained a Ph. doctorate in "Studies on the Middle East and Maghreb from the foundation of Islam to the present" at the University of Naples "L'Orientale".

Since 2002, she started several academic collaborations: she had been resident researcher at the University of Genoa until 2008, she lectured Arabic literature and culture at the University of Urbino and Islamic law, inter culturalism and social citizenship at Ca 'Foscari. In 2013 and 2014 he teaches Arab and Islamic culture at the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISSR) Santa Maria di Monte Berico and teaches Arabic languages ​​and cultures also at the University of Padua and the Master of the Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome.

She is currently Associate Professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Department of Studies on Asia and Mediterranean Africa (DSAAM) of the "Ca 'Foscari" University, where she teaches also Islamic thought and theology as well as Islamic philosophy.

She regularly holds seminars and courses at various universities and research institutes

Scientific results

Her scholarly activity has followed a number of distinct lines of research.

The main line has concerned the Koran as viewed, both lexically and with regard to differing interpretations of content, in the subsequent Arab Islamic literature. To this area belong especially her studies on evil (2002), on such individuals as Mary (1990 & 1997), Cain (1999), Pharaoh (2204), Jonah (2006), and on the question of religious freedom, how the female is perceived (2209), the Night Journey and the Prophet's Ascension (2010). These studies are based on the most representative, mainly Sunnite, works of exegesis in the Arabic language, from the beginning until the present day, noting the authors’ affiliations to the principal schools of thought. In the same direction and working from the same sources, the encyclopaedia entry al-Fātiḥa (2013). Still in the same area but for a more general readership, a complete and partially annotated translation of the Koran (2010), essays on the angels (2012) and on the concept of “the chosen people” (2015), editing the Italian editions of the Dictionary of the Koran (2007) and of J. Van Ess’s Flowering of Muslim Theology (2008), and an essay on kalām (2005).

In a different but rather similar vein are a series of recent studies on religious ethics, part of an ongoing research project, particularly and thus far, on the obligatory nature of employment (2012), on gratitude or šukr (2012), redirection or tawba (2013), judiciousness or ḥilm, peace or salām, and mercy (all 2015); silence and speech etiquette (2016); tenderness or rifq, welcoming and hospitality, moderation or wasaṭiyya, and beauty as an Islamic value (all 2017). In these cases the enquiry is based on the canonical texts and the principal exegesis, on the religious adab literature, focusing on the classical period (e.g. Ibn Abī al-Dunyā), but also following it through to the modern and contemporary periods. From the same sources also the encyclopedia entry Gratitude and Ingratitude (2014).

Another direction of study takes in elements of convergence and divergence between Islamic, Christian and Jewish religious thinking as reflected in Arabic mediaeval literature. To this area belong studies on Job for the Guida dei Perplessi (1997), on “the Golden Rule” (2004), on the correspondence between Ibn al-Munağğim e Qusṭā ibn Lūqā (2004), on the ethical theory of Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī in the Tahdhīb al- akhlāq (2009 and currently printing, in PCAC, Rome), and a number of general academic works on, for example, Christian elements in the formation of Arabic philosophical thought (2005).

A more recent line of interest focuses on some symptomatic figures, especially women, in cultural relations between the Islamic world and the West. To this line belong the studies on Mayy Ziyāda

(1886-1941) and Maria Nallino (1908-1974), both forthcoming.

Another strand concerns adab literature on jewels and precious stones; in this context an essay on the writings of al-Tifāšī (1999), and a general academic work on that author (1999).

Finally, on cultural and social changes relating to the present-day Muslim population of Italy (2006, 2010, 2017).

Editorial work and publications

Besides the above-mentioned publications, below are some of her most recent works:

Book

[2019 forth.] Zilio Grandi I, L’affinamento dei caratteri di Yaḥyā ibn ‘Adī (363/974) , Bologna, PCAC, pp. 1-257.

Selected articles

[2018] Zilio Grandi I, La pazienza dell’Islam: la virtú detta ‘ṣabr’, in Studia Graeco-Arabica, vol. 8, pp. 105-118. 

[2018] Zilio Grandi I, Povertà e Islam, in Via Borgogna 3, vol. 9, pp. 105-117.

[2018] Zilio Grandi I, The virtue of Tolerance. Notes on the root s-m-h in the Islamic tradition, in Philosophy & Social Criticism, vol. Special Issue (Reset DOC Seminars), pp. 1-10.

[2018] Zilio Grandi I, Maria Nallino (1908-1974) and the Birth of Arabic and Islamic studies at Ca’ Foscari,150 Years of Oriental Studies at Ca' Foscari, Venezia, ECF, pp. 85-93.

[2018] Zilio Grandi I, Fuga ed esilio di Mayy Ziyāda (Nazareth 1886 – Il Cairo 1941), Donne in fuga./ Mujeres en fuga. / Femmes en fuite. Atti del Convegno Venezia, Ca’ Foscari 29-30 novembre 2017, Venezia, ECF, pp. 59-74.

[2017] Zilio Grandi I, Dalla tenda di Abramo alle dimore dei credenti. La sacralità dell’ospite nella tradizione islamica, in Politica e Religione, vol. 2016, pp. 131-142.

[2017] Zilio Grandi I, Islamica moralia: appunti sulla gentilezza o rifq (Islamica moralia: notes on kindness or rifq), in Studi Magrebini, vol. II, pp. 649-663.

[2017] Zilio Grandi I, Modestia, pudicizia e riserbo: la virtù islamica detta haya, inPhilologia Hispalensis, vol. 31, pp. 169-183.

[2017] Zilio Grandi I, Medietà e facilitazione. Note a margine di alcune fonti arabe islamiche contemporanee (Some comments on the Golden Mean and Enabling from selected Arabic and Islamic contemporary sources) in Annali di Ca Foscari Serie Orientale, vol. 53, pp. 5-24.

[2017] Zilio Grandi I, Campanini M, Islam religione d'Occidente, Sesto San Giovanni: Mimesis, 2016 (Passato Prossimo). 153 p. in Quaderni di Studi Arabi, vol. 11, pp. 258-259 (ISSN 1121-2306) (Recensione in rivista).

[2017] Zilio Grandi I, Le virtù del musulmano, in L'Islam non è terrorismo, Bologna, Il Mulino, pp. 137-152 (Articolo su libro).

The full list can be consulted at the repertoire webpage.

Position/Role

Researcher at Institute of BioPhysics of the Italian National Council of Research, Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Biology, in 1987 in Milan, she moves for a series of post-docs in different laboratories in Italy (CNR, ICGEB of Trieste) and abroad (UK, Biochemistry Department at the University of Birmingham, and USA, at the Salk Institute, in the laboratory of Inder Verma).

After 15 years in several laboratories, she gets a position as a researcher at the Institute of Clinical Physiology (IFC) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) of Pisa. Here after a short period, following a serious accident, of which she is not responsible, she is forced to leave the laboratory.

She then embarks on a new phase of her scientific career, dedicating to Biological Representation, with the idea of virtually recreating the cellular world using the techniques developed in the field of Computer Graphics (film, video and video games). Today the discipline is recognized as 'Molecular Graphics'. In 2006 she founded the Scientific Visualization Unit at IFC, and obtained the first funding, with which she obtained the scientific results listed below. In 2019 she moves to Milan at the Institute of BioPhysics of the CNR. In this period, she starts a collaboration with groups of Cuban computer scientists, bioinformaticians and biologists, with whom she has active and funded projects, always related to the visualization, in this case of the Dengue virus.

Today Monica Zoppé is considered a pioneer of the 'Art and Science of Scientific Visualization', and is recognized as one of the major theorists of the field, often invited to mostly international conferences and meetings.

In parallel, she also actively participates in the Donne e Scienza (Women and Science) association, she is a member of the board since few years. It is in the context of this activity that she contributed substantially to the organization of the European #WeTooInScience congress, held in Pisa in 2018.

Scientific results

The results obtained in the experimental biology field are documented in the publications available online on the ORCID website.

For the works in the 'Molecular Graphics' field, the main result is the transposition into a graphic system, therefore visible, of the molecular world which is a very rich world, indeed in cells operate specific and different forces: for example, gravity does not count while thermal vibration counts, and many of the forces at play can be calculated as potentials (electrical, lipophilic, osmotic and thermodynamic flows), for which we have no visual perception. 

In detail, the main results obtained in this area can be summarized as follows:

• development of the theoretical and operative bases of the new discipline, scientific visualization, dedicated to the narrative of the cellular and molecular biology
• foundation of the interdisciplinary working group Scientific Visualization: www.scivis.it;
• development and release of multiple versions of BioBlender, a tool that allows one to introduce rigorous scientific data in Blender, one of the most advanced Computer Graphics tools, and the only completely Open Source, developed for cinema and video games;
• Production of a series of short cellular animations, all freely available on the website www.scivis.it and on the major channels, which have obtained important awards both in the scientific, cinematographic and technical fields (see list);
• introduction to the concept of a visual code with which to represent invisible, not unknown, elements.

Editorial work and publications

[2019] Zoppè, Monica G. Improving Gender Diversity in Science. In #WeTooInScience - Sexual Harassment in Higher Education Institutions and Research Organizations, CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing 235–41. Rome, Italy.

[2019] Zoppè, M., Loni,T., Carlone,I., Cianchetta,S.. Making of The Dark Anim: Technical and Scientific Notes. In 2019 International Conference on Cyberworlds (CW), 45–52. Kyoto, Japan: IEEE, 2019

[2018]  Caudai, C., Salerno, E., Zoppè, M. and Tonazzini, A.  ChromStruct 4: A Python Code to Estimate the Chromatin Structure from Hi-C Data. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. 

[2017] Zoppè, M  Towards a perceptive understanding of cellular biology.  Nat Meth 14(7): 662-665 .

[2015] Zoppè, M  La sindrome dell’impostore: Non sono davvero brava come sembra. In: Scienza, genere e società. Prospettive di genere in una società che si evolve. S. Avveduto, M. L. Paciello, T. Arrigoni, C. Mangia, L. Martinelli (eds.). Roma: CNR-IRPPS e-Publishing. 

[2015] Zoppè, M. and Loni, T. The Representation of Electrostatics for Biological Molecules. In: W. Rocchia and M. Spagnuolo (eds.), Computational Electrostatics for Biological Applications, Springer International, Switzerland. 215-225.

[2014] Zoppè, M. Comunicare l’invisibile. La rappresentazione visiva di concetti biofisici / Communicating the Invisible. The Visual Representation of Biophysical Concepts. In: Scrittura e immagini nel dominio della scienza / Text and Image in the sicentific realm. A cura di/Edited by: R. Falcinelli, A. Filippini, G. Liberti, L. Perondi e L. Romei. Progetto Grafico, 25:50 

[2012] Andrei, R., Callieri, M., Zini, M.F., Loni, T., Maraziti, G. and Zoppè, M. Intuitive representation of surface properties of proteins using BioBlender. BMC Bioinformatics, 13(Suppl 4):S16

[2011] Zoppè, M. Vedere l'invisibile. Le Scienze – Italian version of Scientific American. Roma, 515: p. 64-9. 

Selection of VIDEO

[2015] The Dark Anim, (5', 23''). A description of the serotoninergic synapse, and its activity in the healthy and depressed states. With subtitles in English, French and Italian.

[2012] TSH receptor on Red Blood cells, 2011 (3', 48''). Thyrotropin is a hormone that elicit response from thyroid gland. However, its receptor is also found on the surface of red blood cells. After binding, the dimeric receptor splits into two subunits, each of which leaves the lipid raft to associate with other proteins of the cellular surface. 

[2010] PROTEIN EXPRESSIONS - Study N.3 (5', 01''). The video, also produced in 3D, is the final one in a series of tests in the development of BioBlender. It shows several moments of cellular life, from the surface to the cytoplasm and back to cell periphery and out. Watched >70.000 times (Vimeo statistics).

Awards and prizes

The video PROTEIN EXPRESSIONS- Study n.3  has been awarded in several occasions:

[2009] Suzanne Award of the  Blender Foundation, Amsterdam 2009

[2010] Prize of the Jury, at Melzo Film Festival, Milan. Italy. 2010

[2011] Selected as finalist at DogVille-Viladecan Film Festival, Barcelona, Spain. 2011

[2012], First prize.  NANOPLANET was awarded the First Prize in the  ‘Art&Science contest’ at BioPhysical Society meeting, San Francisco (CA. USA).

[2013]  The video The Challenge of HIV Research, reached the Fourth classification in the 'AutoPACK visualization contest’ by the Computer Graphics Society – Autodesk.

[2018] Invitation to the restricted Shonan Meeting on ‘Web Molecular Graphics: Emerging

Technologies & Standards’, Japan.