News

30th March 2016, 3.00 pm

SISSA, Main Lecture Hall

On Wednesday 30th, a conference about the brain will be held at SISSA: why do the various areas of the brain have their specific shapes, why are they found in specific locations, what is the role of connections? These are the questions that Henry Kennedy, neuroscientist at INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) in Lyon, invited speaker at the next SISSA colloquium will attempt to answer. The event is free and open to the public, and will be held in English.

La SISSA e l’Università di Trieste aderiscono all’iniziativa della CRUI "Per una nuova primavera dell'Università" prevista per lunedì 21 marzo in tutte le sedi degli atenei italiani, statali e non statali. Durante questa giornata si terranno incontri e dibattiti pubblici per riaffermare il ruolo strategico della ricerca e dell’alta formazione per il futuro del Paese. Verranno discusse e raccolte idee e proposte da consegnare al Governo in un documento di sintesi unitario redatto dalla conferenza dei rettori delle università italiane (CRUI).

24 marzo-5 maggio 2016, ore 18

Sala Bazlen, Palazzo Gopcevich,

Via Rossini 4, Trieste

Quattro gli appuntamenti proposti dalla Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) di Trieste per la “Settimana del Cervello”: si parlerà di neuro-fantascienza, si esploreranno gli effetti del sonno su mente e corpo, si visiteranno i laboratori di ”Neuroscienze e società” della SISSA e infine si scoprirà il “Cervello delle cose”. Non perdete il primo appuntamento con la fantascienza al Museo Revoltella il 14 marzo.

16 March, 2015, 2:30 p.m.

SISSA, Room 128

Le donne nello sport, viste con gli occhi della scienza: è questo l’argomento premiato da Soroptimist Club di Trieste, nell’ambito del concorso “Donne e scienza”. Per questa iniziativa Soroptimist, l’organizzazione internazionale che supporta le donne (con particolare attenzione alle comunità locali), ha collaborato con il Master in Comunicazione della Scienza “Franco Prattico” (MCS) della SISSA di Trieste e con Wired Italia. Il premio è stato assegnato da Martina Di Ciano, studentessa di MCS, che vedrà il suo lavoro pubblicato su Wired.it.

For a while now, neuroscientists have been wondering whether the distortions in the way we perceive foreign languages related to our knowledge of our mother tongue also characterize how we perceive non-linguistic sounds (e.g., music). A new SISSA study, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, shows that, despite many clues seemingly pointing in that direction, speakers of languages with a different rhythm do not differ in their perception of non-linguistic sound sequences.

When it comes to European Research Council (ERC) funding, SISSA has every reason to be proud, especially in recent months. Of the 13 ERC consolidator grants announced in Brussels last Friday for Italy, one is already at the school and another will arrive shortly. Adding to this rich “bounty”  is another ERC starting grant which was awarded to a SISSA instructor last November for a total of 15 projects approved since 2008, making SISSA one of the European schools with the highest number of grants in relation to the number of instructors.

The brain is divided into functional circuits, each specialized for specific tasks: perception, memory, problem solving… how do these circuits work as a team when required? Research suggests that the secret may lie in synchronization of the rhythms of electrical activity. A SISSA study shows that in rats engaged in a task requiring them to make decisions based on memory, sensory and memory regions synchronize at the theta rhythm, the same rhythm that defines the sweeping movement of their whiskers. 

Lo Student Day 2016 ripete il successo dell’anno scorso: alla Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) di Trieste il 23 febbraio si attendono oltre 500 studenti (provenienti dal Friuli Venezia Giulia ma anche dal resto dell’Italia) del biennio finale delle superiori. Lo Student Day è la giornata in cui la SISSA si dedica tutta ai giovani che dovranno decidere il futuro dei loro studi, raccontando la scienza in un clima di “caos autorganizzato”.

The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste has won a considerable financial grant from the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator grant to study advanced reduced order modeling, an area of ​​research that develops methods for simplifying and adapting supercomputing to handheld devices (such as smartphones, tablets,  etc). The Principal Investigator (PI) of the project is SISSA Professor Gianluigi Rozza. This is the School’s fourteenth ERC.

We are born with a basic grasp of physics, just enough not to be surprised when we interact with objects. Scientists discovered this in the past two decades. What they did not know yet was that, as early as five months of age, this “naïve” physics also extends to liquids and materials that do not behave like solids (for example, sand), as demonstrated by a new study just published in Psychological Science.

Snake locomotion is a source of inspiration for technology: graceful, silent, adaptable and efficient, it can be implemented on devices designed for the most diverse applications, from space exploration to medicine. A study carried out by a SISSA research group, just published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A - Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Science, adds to this line of research and proposes a detailed mathematical account of one of the characteristic types of movement adopted by this animal.

On February 25 the local selection of FameLab will be back on stage in Trieste! The international competition challenges young scientists with the talent of communication to tell in just 3 minutes the object of his or her study, or a fascinating scientific topic. No slide shows, graphs, videos: only a fistful of words and a talent for communication are required, to spread to the public the charm and the importance of the scientific research, in a a way that is amusing and easy to grasp.

Workshop website

We learn many things through imitation: how to walk, play an instument, sports, and even more. What are the processes in the brain responsible for imitation? For some years now, science has been examining the role of mirror neurons, but there is still much to understand. One study focusing on neurological patients showed that at least two components are involved in imitating gestures, each from a different hemisphere of the brain. The study, which SISSA participated in, was published in Neuropsychologia.

The polarization vector of cosmic background radiation could rotate during the course of its journey towards us, and if it did, it could also cause trouble for the Standard Model for electromagnetic interactions. To understand if this rotation is taking place, we need an “eye” that can see great distances, like POLARBEAR, an instrument located in Chile at the top of the Andes.

What is the mechanism of action of metal-based chemotherapy drugs (the most widely used for treating common cancers like testicular or ovarian cancer)? How can we improve their effect and reduce their toxicity? A new study combining experiments and theory has broadened our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of these active drugs to help experimentalists devising increasingly effective drugs with fewer side effects. The study, just published in the journal ChemMedChem, was conducted with the participation of International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) of Trieste.