The research will identify and raise awareness about the audiovisual conventions and communication tactics of animation in multimedia science outreach, in respect to the representation of invisible objects (too big, too small, too far away in space and time). The research is in the field of animated documentary, a major point in the Animation Studies agenda (Honess Roe, 2013). It is also based on the epistemology of scientific communication; as Daston and Galison argued (2007), «truth-to-nature» objectivity is being superseded by visuals balancing art and science. Merleau-Ponty (1964) had previously called for an equilibrium between objectivity and subjectivity in science outreach, due to the new “invisible” frontiers of knowledge. The action will start with 12 months at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, whose excellence in visual research and its interdisciplinary environment will support the Researcher in: 1) building a list of animations in multimedia science outreach from 1980; 2) critically engaging the conventions and tactics from the point of view of animation theory, 3) of animators and 4) of scientists (in dialogue with the resident experts on data visualization). The next 12 months will be hosted by the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padova, Italy. With the collaboration of the Department of Information Engineering and the CICAP (the Italian committee for scientific skepticism), the results from the outgoing phase will be used to: a) create an open access database of multimedia science outreach about the “invisible”; b) set up educational actions; c) create a permanent committee to promote good practices in animation for science. The Researcher will take advantage of his expertise in animation history and theory, his contacts with the industry and with animation schools, and his teaching experience. The research will consolidate his career and make him a mediator between academia, scientists, and filmmakers.

Organic synthesis is still one of the main limiting factors in drug-discovery projects. Traditionally, the generation of compounds libraries requires tedious synthetic routes to introduce modifications into the lead compound, thus the implementation of new methodologies to modify drugs in a selective way in the late stages of their synthesis is highly attractive. In SupraPhoCat project, several supramolecular receptors will be provided with catalytic activity and combined with photoredox catalysis to achieve unprecedent asymmetric C-H funtionalization reactions with exquisite selectivity, using CO2 as non-toxic abundant C1 building block. This ambitious project will establish new methodologies for C-H Late-Stage Functionalization of drugs, which is a key point towards the development of libraries of compounds according to EU green chemistry insights. This Marie Sklodowska Curie action will merge the expertise of the host group (Prof. Luca Dell’Amico, NanoMolCat group from University of Padova) in CO2 valorisation methods and photoredox catalysis with the expertise of the fellow on supramolecular chemistry, molecular recognition and organocatalysis. Also, this project has been designed to augment and complement the research and transferable skills sets of the fellow and will greatly enhance his career prospects to become a mature and independent scientist. Through the training and the research results arising, the fellowship will be beneficial to the candidate, the host institution and European scientific and social environment. This research will allow a great improvement of the state-of-the-art in the construction of active organic molecules through a new, powerful, and impacting synthetic methodology, raising the standing of EU chemistry within this field at a global level. Hence, SupraPhoCat will constitute a significant contribution to the field, and will suppose a benefit for synthetic organic chemists, pharma-, agro- and fine-chemicals industries in EU.

WHY Visualizing, labeling, and tracking cells is critical for advancements in biomedical research, especially in areas like cancer treatment and cell therapy. Over the past two decades, practices for cell labeling strategies have remained unchanged, facing the same critical technological limitation: a lack of versatility. By using a multidisciplinary approach to create MX-tags, a new class of nanomaterials, BIO-MX aims to overcome this limitation to accelerate biomedical discoveries and protect human health. WHAT MX-tags will create an exciting chemical scenario coupled with single-cell mass cytometry (CyTOF), a revolutionary technology in cell biology. Although CyTOF has shaped the current understanding of cellular matter, fundamental needs remain to be addressed to enable new discoveries: 1. To develop universal cell tags that preserve cell functionality, are compatible with all cell types, and integrate seamlessly with advanced single-cell approaches. 2. To produce highly abundant chemically versatile tags able to multiplex the information on cells going beyond current limited available chemistries. 3. To create sensitive and multi-function imaging tags to label, track, and provide spatial resolution of cells for cancer applications. HOW My ground-breaking idea is based on transforming the chemistry of 2D materials called MXenes to create MX-tags, a new class of multi-modular materials involving the peculiar properties of cell-penetrating peptides and nanobodies that will open new horizons for mass cytometry-based discoveries. My unique expertise in CyTOF, immune cells, and 2D material development will drive the key steps of the project. My hypotheses rely on the future use of MX-tags as labeling, tracking, and multi-imaging tools. BIO-MX will provide transformative approaches and methods poised to contribute to human health.

EcoSF investigates the prominence and distinctive representation of ecological issues in Italian science fiction (1952-2019). The project, which provides one of the very first extensive academic studies dedicated to this genre in Italy, examines the debate surrounding its cultural status and traces its evolution in relation to Italian history and culture. An ecocritical perspective is adopted, interrogating the relationship between literary imagination and the environment. Through such approach, EcoSF shows how literature is important to generate awareness of ecological issues and explore literary responses to the current ecological crisis. The cognitive estrangement raised by the imaginative effort of science fiction is central to the necessary re-thinking of current cultural and epistemological paradigms based on anthropocentrism, human exceptionalism, and ecophobia. Furthermore, by interrogating our current relationship with the environment, and imagining known environments after ecological catastrophes, science fiction can provide a tool to investigate our cultural heritage. Combining the innovative critical tools of ecocriticism and the speculative imagination of science fiction, EcoSF offers an alternative genealogy of our understanding of the environment outside an ecophobic perspective. The dissemination of the research will adapt dystopian imagination to the case of Venice, thus employing the theoretical categories of the project to reflect on local communities and landscapes.