Five Sapienza Research projects won the prestigious European Fund for the project Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2018. Two more Internships were assign The Fellowships will be assigned to excellence Researches who have a PhD and concern different topics related to different academic fields. 

The project of the researcher Simona Giunta “Centromere Stability”, coordinated by Isabella Saggio and Franca Pelliccia, will be developed inside the Department of Biology and Biotechnologies. The project will study the mechanisms that maintain human centomeric stability and the consequences of diseases that may lead to cancer and aging, using an innovative approach. 

The “Mayurb” research, by researcher Arianna Campiani, in collaboration with Luisa Migliorati of the Department of Sciences of Antiquity and the Universidad Nacional Autònoma de Mèxico, intends to study the ancient city planning using the Classical Maya Age as a model to understand the origin and the expansion of the urban system over the centuries. 

The fellowship for the “Selene” project was assigned to the researcher Alessandro Surrente, who will work in the Department of Physics, in collaboration with Marco Felici. It will study the chances of using irradiation with hydrogen to check the optical and electrical properties of transition metal dichalcogenide and represents a system thought for applications in the field of phothonics and optoelectronic.

Angela Cinalli's research “Ptanois Posin”, developed with Roberto Nicolai, the Department of Sciences of Antiquity and Center for Hellenic Studies from Harvard University, promotes the study of itinerant writers and musicians in the epigraphic sources of the Hellenistic age, with the aim of proposing a reconsideration of the cultural framework of the Hellenistic period.

The researcher Dusan Boric has been awarded a Marie Curie Global Fellowship for the "Cusp" project, supported by Alfredo Coppa of the Department of Environmental Biology and New York University. The study will apply the analysis of the phenomenon of accretion levels of cement, known as TAC (Tooth Cementum Annulation), on human teeth and cervids from the Mesolithic-Neolithic sites of the Danube Gorges region, in order to identify the seasonality of the activities of subsistence during the transition from societies based on hunting-gathering-fishing to agriculture.

Sapienza, besides the five approved projects in which it is host institution, has two additional awards of the Fellowship to two researchers currently in service at the University who will conduct their activities at foreign universities.

The research "The skeletal effects of historical transitions in lifestyle (Transitions)" by Antonio Profico of the Department of Environmental Biology, coordinated by Giorgio Manzi, will analyze samples of human archaeological finds, to understand the effect of mobility and typology of physical activity on the remodeling of the human skeleton. In particular, within the project, which will be hosted at the University of York, he will analize the morphology of the femur in skeletons belonging to different populations, which can be traced back to historical-cultural passages crucial for understanding human evolutionary history.

The study by Alessia Nava of the Department of Environmental Biology, "Weaning practices in ancient Italy: from Neolithic farmers to the first cities (Wean-it)", coordinated for the Italian part by Alfredo Coppa, aims to reconstruct the timing and ways of weaning and how these have changed with the change of society. It will also provide information on female fertility, maternal and non-maternal care strategies, social stratification, child growth and health in adulthood. The results of the research, which will take place at the University of Kent, will contribute to highlighting the biocultural consequences that have accompanied the Neolithic revolution and the origin of urbanism in Italy.

Sapienza will actively collaborate in the realization of both projects.