TOWe asked seven young researchers from the humanities and sciences what they do, their goals and their dreams. We discovered that not only are they hyper-technological (almost all of them use AI) but that they have strong ethical values and believe in sustainability.
«My passion for antique glass»
Roberta Zanini 33 years old, she is a post-doc researcher at the Center for Cultural Heritage Technology – CCHT – ofItalian Institute of Technology based in Roncade (Tv)
«I study ancient glass through chemical-physical analysis to be able to date it, verify its composition and level of corrosion, in order to understand how it has transformed over time. Generally, a resin is used to preserve glass, but it degrades sooner and requires restoration. The worst danger to glass is water, so even the humidity of a museum can damage it. I have patented a method to produce silica nanoparticles in a sustainable way following the principles of green chemistry, because it does not use additional solvents. The idea is to deposit these nanoparticles on the glass like a transparent film, so that they create a protective barrier. In April I will do a practical workshop where I will try to apply them for the first time on fragments of ancient glass. I’ve been working on it for three years, since I finished my doctorate, and the fact that I have an international patent will allow large-scale, cost-effective and sustainable production in the future.
Roberta Zanini, researcher at CCHT, Italian Institute of Technology
Glass fascinates me because it is a living material that changes. I came to deal with it after a non-linear course of study. I obtained a three-year degree at the Polytechnic of Milan in Environmental Architecture. Then I stopped for a year and worked in an accountant’s office. I discovered by chance a master’s degree course in conservation and restoration sciences at the University of Parma and I enrolled. The turning point was when I did an internship at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, in the conservation laboratory. There I found my way. I love research, but I never do just one thing at a time: I taught artistic gymnastics to girls, and I was a city councilor.”
«I’m studying plastic-free packaging»
Angelica Giovagnoli26 years old, PhD student in Industrial Chemistry atUniversity of Bolognais among the 2025 winners of the Una Europa PhD Impact Award, a prize from Una Europa (alliance of 11 universities including Bologna)
Angelica Giovagnoli, University of Bologna
«My research concerns sustainable packaging. Until now, plastic has always been used for food and drinks. Even ice cream cups, which look like paper, actually have a plastic film to protect the product. I am working on a bio-synthetic material to be applied to cellulose that does not get soaked when in contact with food and drinkavoiding plastic. The goal is to advance green chemistry and the circular economy. So far I have created prototypes of cups and bottlenecks, I would like to develop the product and patent it.
I won the European prize for the environmental and social impact of my research. It would be important to make people understand how science can make packaging materials sustainable that come into our hands every day. In the autumn I will finish my doctorate and I can’t imagine what the future holds for me. I see myself in industrial research, so my studies could materialize on a larger scale. I don’t rule anything out, if I have to go abroad to acquire new skills I will go. But I don’t see myself living outside Italy for a long time.”
«From Gran Sasso to Karakorum»
Alessia Spezza29 years old, PhD student in Polar Sciences atCa’ Foscari University of Venice based at the Statale di Milano
Alessia Spezza, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice based at the Statale di Milano.
«The PhD in Polar Sciences in Venice has two research areas: the polar regions, North and South Poles, and the high altitude regions of the planet. Among these are the Andes, the Alps and the so-called Third Pole, which includes the Hindu-Kush-Karakorum-Himalaya mountain system, and is so called because it contains the largest amount of ice outside of the Arctic and Antarctica. I deal with the Third Pole, in particular Pakistan: I study the glaciers and analyze the data collected from measurements made on site to go and see how much ice mass has been lost in the last 23-30 years. We don’t have the results yet, but it is
It is clear that climate change is impacting the entire area, and since it is the third largest reserve of frozen water in the world, the consequences can be important.
In my work I don’t need Artificial Intelligence, I have to be the one to analyze the models and understand if there are errors. Why do I dedicate myself to ice? I was born and raised in L’Aquila, I started by studying the snow on the Gran Sasso, then I worked on the Alps, Karakoram time. I also did a specialist Summer School in Svalbard. The future? A great unknown. I love the mountains and the snow, I hope to be able to study them again.”
«Intelligent games against dysgraphia»
Linda Greta Dui33 years old, researcher at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Polytechnic of Milan. In 2025 she was one of the winners of the Tecnovisionarie award. She has a 3 year old daughter and is expecting her second
Linda Greta Dui, Polytechnic of Milan. Photo by Alessandro Rota.
«Since my doctorate, I studied how to anticipate dysgraphia screening in children. We started with those in the last year of nursery school to see how they draw, how they hold the pen, and we followed them up to the second grade. We used “serious games”, i.e. intelligent digital games that can give us predictive indications and train weak points; we also used a sensorized pen, capable of detecting how the graphic gesture is produced on paper. Arriving early with the screening is important because the difficulties increase over time. AI helps us understand the reasons for the predisposition to dysgraphia in order to intervene. The project has now expanded thanks to funding from the Lombardy Region, it is called INDACO 2.0 and also focuses on dyslexia and dyscalculia.
Furthermore I am involved in a project to improve lifestyles and prevent the onset of tumors. We provide sensory rings to those who participate, to identify the state of their psychophysical well-being. Finally, with the San Gerardo Foundation of Monza I am studying the transition from intravenous to oral feeding in premature infants. A crucial moment; it can happen
that you don’t know how many liquids you can give, what absorption you can have. AI helps create personalized models.”
«Sentinel plants against PFAS»
Lara Nigro30 years old, research fellow in Ecology at the DISAT-Department of Environmental Sciences ofUniversity of Milan-Bicocca. She was awarded among the university’s Young Talents 2025
Lara Nigro, University of Milan Bicocca.
«I received the award for doctoral project on the environmental effects of “liquid plastics”, i.e. those that dissolve in water, like the casings of detergent capsules. Unlike microplastics, they are little studied and do not fall into the categories regulated for pollution. In particular, I studied the effects of dissolving in fresh water on small crustaceans, at the beginning of the food chain. In small organisms, impact with these polymers causes alterations in metabolism and behavior.
My post-doc project focuses on PFAS, synthetic chemicals that persist in the environment, used in consumer products such as non-stick coatings and waterproof fabrics. They can contaminate soil and water and can have adverse effects on human health; for this reason the European Union is evaluating a large-scale restriction on their use. The European Life project (in which Milano Bicocca also participates) aims to develop a treatment to reduce or remove PFAS from contaminated soil. In my work I identify “sentinel” plants to monitor before and after treatment. With the support of Professor Sara Villa, I would like to continue to improve the management and regulation of these contaminants. But here in Italy the situation for those doing research is not easy, I don’t rule out going abroad.”
«I study the ethical implications of AI»
Diletta Huyskes30 years old, research fellow at the Department of Philosophy ofState University of Milan. She is the author of Revolutionary technology (the Assayer)
Diletta Huyskes, University of Milan. Photo by Paolo Properzi.
«After my degree in Philosophy and my doctorate in Sociology, I returned to Philosophy to study the social and ethical implications of AI. During my PhD I discovered that I like studying the relationship between humans and machines, and now I’m doing research on the limits of AI. I look at how technologies are built on an “extractive” basis, regarding both materials and people. To build the foundations of AI, water and rare earths are needed, which are found in the South of the world and which are “extracted” by exploited workers, with power relations similar to those of colonization. As for content, AI collects data that reflects discrimination on social categories, ethnicity, age, gender, which exist in Western society. The question is: are there alternatives, can other cultures teach us something
about technologies? We try to understand this by organizing online seminars with students from all over the world.
In May I will go to Amsterdam to study how algorithms are built in Europe, there is a technical theme and a cultural one. We ask machines to make decisions for us, perhaps in welfare, or in financial services, we rely on them and not always carrying out the necessary checks. From the comparison between Italy and the Netherlands, it emerges that here there is a huge veil of opacity on how we use the algorithms of public services. I struggled a lot to gather information, much more than in the Netherlands.”
«My drone to know the past»
Federica Vacatello, 34 years old, researcher in Christian, Late Antique and Medieval Archeology at the Department of Ancient Sciences atLa Sapienza University of Rome
Federica Vacatello, La Sapienza University of Rome.
«I deal with medieval topography, that is, how landscapes were modified between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the discovery of America. Traditional methods can be used: analyzing cartographic sources, archaeological data. Today, however, there are also those in digital archaeology, who use digital tools. This is where my work on robotics comes in, which was born when, for graduate school, I dedicated myself to medieval Tarquinia. It has an inestimable heritage but we, after 30 years of excavations, only know a very small part of it. We needed an overall vision that was possible to have with a drone calibrated to our needs, which could return the morphology of the terrain, and was born from the collaboration between archaeologists and computer scientists.
Thanks to funding from National Geographic and with the collaboration of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, I created the my first drone, ultralight, inexpensive, with a sensor that allows us to see shapes on the ground that are recognizable to us. The drone is patented, I’m waiting for funding to market it. Thanks to Sapienza, I later made two more. I would like to make students understand that innovating means experimenting and dialogue. It’s not just a matter of finding an object but analyzing the context, starting from the same data to have multiple levels of information.”
