Il Politecnico di Torino si impegna per far crescere un giornalismo scientifico di qualità e aderisce come “Host institution” al progetto “Frontiers” supportato dallo European Research Council della Commissione Europea, strettamente collegato ai temi della ricerca di base e con un’attenzione particolare alla diffusione del metodo scientifico e al coinvolgimento del pubblico e dei policy maker.
L’Ateneo mette a disposizione di giornalisti/e ed esperti/e di comunicazione un periodo di residenza di 3-5 mesi a partire da marzo 2025 presso le strutture del Politecnico, per sviluppare un proprio progetto di giornalismo scientifico o comunicazione.
Per aderire è necessario contattare l’Ateneo, scrivendo all’indirizzo comunicazione@polito.it, e presentare entro il 25 settembre 2024 il proprio progetto al consorzio che gestisce l’iniziativa Frontiers e si occuperà della selezione dei progetti da finanziare.
Durante il periodo di soggiorno i giornalisti/e e comunicatori/trici saranno supportati economicamente dal progetto e il Politecnico di Torino metterà a disposizione un ufficio, servizi di accoglienza e la possibilità di accedere ai laboratori di ricerca connessi allo svolgimento del progetto.
L’argomento scientifico del progetto potrà essere multidisciplinare e basato su uno o più dei laboratori di ricerca collegati a progetti ERC dell’Ateneo che si sono resi disponibili, garantendo accesso ai laboratori di ricerca e occasioni di dialogo con il gruppo di ricerca.
I progetti disponibili per la collaborazione sono:
- Computational Electromagnetics: we investigate the scientific field at the origin of all new modeling and simulation tools to tackle the design challenges of emerging and future technologies in applied electromagnetics – ERC Project 321 From Cubic3 To2 Linear1 Complexity in Computational Electromagnetics.
The Grand Challenge of 321 project is to investigate and exploit a dynamic Fast Direct Solver for Maxwell Problems that would run in a purely linear complexity for an arbitrary number and configuration of degrees of freedom. It will thus solve a scientific problem that the CEM scientific community has been seeking for 20 years.
Host researcher: Francesco Paolo Andriulli
- Regenerative Medicine for cardiac tissues: our research will allow direct reprogramming of cardiac cells using in vitro models of human fibrotic heart tissue, followed by in vivo studies – ERC project BIORECAR Direct cell reprogramming therapy in myocardial regeneration through an engineered multifunctional platform integrating biochemical instructive cues.
Through the BIORECAR project, it is expected to get new knowledge on still unexplored regenerative medicine tools that may lead to successful direct reprogramming of human Cardiac fibrotic tissues.
Host Researcher: Valeria Chiono
- Nature inspired production of asymmetric materials: symmetry is a key structural feature in natural systems and allows for self-organization and unidirectionality of chemical transformations. We aim to produce materials bearing different functionalities on the two opposite sides – ERC project JANUS-BI All-liquid phase JANUS BIdimensional materials for functional nano-architectures and assemblies.
The JANUS BI project will deliver fundamentally new abilities to engineer nanomaterials so as to provide “bottom-up” nanoscale-platforms where a tight control over the structural and functional properties is exerted, of major importance for the progress of human ability to mimic natural systems.
Host Researcher: Teresa Gatti
- Nanoparticles for innovative therapies to fight cancer : We develop safe and biomimetic nanoparticles, able to travel in the blood stream upon injection and to find their own way to target cells, activated remotely and on-demand against cancer –ERC project TrojaNanoHorse Hybrid immune-eluding nanocrystals as smart and active theranostic weapons against cancer.
The TrojaNanoHorse project pushes forward the boundaries of the nanomedicine field, proposing innovative tools for cancer treatment which overcome the conventional features of smart drug delivery systems.
Host Researcher: Valentina Cauda
- Coupling acoustic and aerodynamic flows for advanced acoustic liners: We work to model how an acoustic wave interacts with an acoustic absorbing surface in the presence of a flow to design novel noise reduction technologies useful in many fields of application from automotive to aerospace– ERC project LINING Acoustic fLow InteractioN over sound absorbing surfaces: effects on ImpedaNce and drag.
The LINING project pushes the boundaries of our current knowledge by explaining the physical reasons behind unexpected results found in measurements by many labs around the world. Such knowledge can improve the current design approach and pave the way towards more complex geometries, i.e. meta-material, for which the impact of the flow is potentially more relevant than in current technologies.
Host Researcher: Francesco Avallone
- Innovative diagnosis methods for cancer and viruses. We develop a novel and cutting-edge diagnostic platform to detect and quantify cancer and viral bio-markers in bodily fluids, making simpler, faster and more economical the diagnosis of many diseases – ERC project ANFIBIO: Amplification-free Identification of Cancer and Viral Biomarkers via Plasmonic Nanoparticles and Liquid Biopsy.
ANFIBIO seeks to implement a breakthrough concept of DNA and RNA identification that takes inspiration from sequencing technologies and leverages direct SERS sensing and machine learning approaches to deliver a sensitive, accurate, and low-cost platform for the detection of biomarkers of clinical relevance.
Host Researcher: Laura Fabris
- Physical principles for a better use of sun energy : We will enhance the capacity of solar energy conversion extending the width of wavelengths that are converted to the full spectral range delivered by the Sun – ERC project PADEIA Plasmon induced hot electron extraction with doped semiconductors for infrared solar energy.
PAIDEIA project answers fundamental questions in physics and materials processing of heterojunctions and addresses the grand challenge of secure, clean and efficient energy at the same time.
Host Researcher: Francesco Scotognella