ERC information day at Città della Scienza

On Tuesday 29 October, the ERC organised an information day at the conference centre of Città della Scienza in Naples (agenda - updated 29/10/2013).

ERC President Helga Nowotny discussed scientific excellence with national and local authorities. Addressing more than 150 researchers, including some 70 outstanding scientists funded by the ERC, she highlighted the importance of supporting young researchers for the future of Italy and of Europe. Considering the research environment as an essential factor, she also insisted on the efforts needed to reinforce the country’s attractiveness for scientists. This debate is highly topical, as no less than 40% of Italian ERC grant holders are based outside Italy.

The ERC information day at Città della Scienza followed the ERC President's solidarity message sent to the museum earlier this year after a fire devastated the site. The event was organized with Città della Scienza, with the support of the University of Naples Federico II and in partnership with the Representation of the European Commission in Italy, the Agency for the Promotion of European Research (APRE), the Campania Region, the city of Naples and the Europe Direct Centre of Naples.

Communication material

Press release: ERC President Helga Nowotny in Naples: "A culture of excellence is a priority for Italy" - Italian version

Brochures: participants’ projects (in Italian) - speakers’ projects (in Italian and in English)

Stories: From pizza maker to physiotherapist: Italian robot’s promising skills - Italian version - Towards better reproductive technologies and safer pregnancies - Italian version

Presentations

Morning sessions

- ERC President Helga Nowotny

- President of Città della Scienza Vittorio Silvestrini

- ERC grantee Marco Pagano (project "Finance and Labour")

- ERC grantee Paola Romagnani (project "Renal stem cells: possible role in kidney pathologies and as new therapeutic tools")

- ERC grantee Maurizio Prato (project "Neuron Networking with Nano Bridges via the Synthesis and Integration of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes") - available soon

Afternoon sessions

- Niki Atzoulatou, Head of Unit Grant Implementation, ERCEA: Introduction to the workshop for ERC grantees

- Veronica Williams, Legal officer, ERCEA: Legal aspects and role of the Principal Investigator in ERC grants

- Domenico Usai, Project officer, ERCEA: Financial aspects and role of the Principal Investigator in ERC grants

- Pilar Lopez, Scientific officer, Scientific Department, ERCEA: Scientific aspects and role of the Principal Investigator in ERC grants

Pictures of the event

In the press

The event was notably covered by the Italian public broadcaster Rai (TV reports in regional news with interviews of ERC President Helga Nowotny – TG3 14.00 and TG3 19.30) as well as by the main national press agencies (ANSA, AGI).

Several ERC projects were also highlighted in the media, especially the research led by Bruno Siciliano in robotics (see for example TV report in national news – TG1 20.00 and article in main regional newspaper Il Mattino). Prof. Siciliano presented RoDyMan, a promising robot with exceptional manipulation skills. This robot will soon have the required dexterity to make pizzas. The potential applications of RoDyMan are numerous:  from assisting elderly people to repairing a human limb (ERC story).

Some other links

Il Denaro - Robot pizzaiolo e Dna artificiale - Erc: il futuro che parte da Napoli (29/10/2013)

Euractiv Italia - Città scienza: Ue incontra ricercatori italiani (29/10/2013) 

AGI - Ricerca: Erc premia nanotubi carbonio,'ponti' per segnali nervosi (29/10/2013)

AGI - Ricerca: Carrozza, "Impegnati a aumentare partecipazione a bandi" (29/10/2013)

etc.