interview: Nina Vaclavikova
Interview: Professor Eugenio Fornasiero, University of Trieste
The University of Trieste has secured over €5 million from the Italian Science Fund (FIS) to support three high-level research projects, reinforcing its role in Italy’s advanced scientific landscape. Two projects — led by Paolo Fornasiero and Federico Rosei from the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences — received prestigious Advanced Grants, while a Starting Grant went to physicist Matteo Marinelli.
Rector Donata Vianelli praised the results as proof of the university’s strong recruitment strategy and the researchers’ ability to attract major funding. Now in its third edition, the FIS allocates €1–2.4 million per project and awarded funding to about 325 proposals this year.
Trieste’s winning projects focus on renewable energy, catalysis, and quantum technologies:
- Fornasiero (€2.3M) will develop a tandem photocatalytic–electrocatalytic system to convert biomass into valuable chemicals and fuels.
- Rosei (€1.9M) will study model photocatalysts to better understand and improve photocatalytic water splitting.
- Marinelli (€1.1M) will build a tweezer-based quantum repeater platform using ytterbium atoms to advance future quantum internet networks.
University leaders say the funding marks a major boost for Trieste’s expanding research ecosystem.
