On July 31, 2023, the Italian Ministry of University and Research funded three Sapienza projects led by emerging and established researchers under the FIS (Fondo Italiano per la Scienza) Call for the development of fundamental research activities.

In the Physical sciences and Engineering area, the project Statistical Mechanics And Complexity: theory meets experiments in spin glasses and neural networks (SMaC) coordinated by Enzo Marinari of the Department of Physics was selected and funded with 1.5 million euros.

The project uses a quantitative approach typical of theoretical physics to analyse highly complex systems, with the ambition of bringing interesting experimental results closer to an evolving theoretical framework. This explains the 'revolutionary' properties of materials (the typical example is spin glass) such as memory and rejuvenation, and attempts to use 'neural networks' to arrive at ever more powerful methods of learning, memorising and understanding, opening a window into the way our brains work.

In the Social Sciences and Humanities area, the project Printing Revolution and American Collections: the migration of cultural heritage at times of political change (PrintRevUS), coordinated by Cristina Dondi of the Department of Literature and Modern Cultures, was funded with more than 1.3 million.

The project will investigate the consequences of past policies and events on European book heritage migrating to the United States.

In the Life Sciences area, the project Differentiating heart disease between adult-onset autoimmune and type 2 diabetes, coordinated by Ernesto Maddaloni of the Department of Experimental Medicine, has been selected for a grant of around 900,000 euros.

The project aims to define and characterise the different components of diabetic heart disease and its various clinical manifestations, comparing their characteristics and causal factors between people with autoimmune diabetes and people with type 2 diabetes.

Please click on the Italian version of this page for more details.