Raquel Hernando – WEANED-AWAY

The WEANED-AWAY project investigates infant development and maternal adaptations in the Western Mediterranean during the Early Bronze Age. By analyzing human teeth, it reconstructs childhood and adult dietary patterns, exploring responses to environmental and social stressors. This multidisciplinary study provides insights into early-life adversities and the evolution of complex societies in the region.

Supervisor: Alessia Nava

Department: Oral and Maxillo-Facial Sciences

 

Sinem Arcak Casale - America-Islamica

(Title: Translating the Image: Art, Science and Global Imagination in the first Islamic Description of the New World (Tarih-i Hind-i Garbī / History of the West Indies), 16th-20th Centuries)

This project investigates a corpus of illustrated and painted books known as the Tarih-i Hind-i Garbi (History of the West Indies), the first non-indigenous and non-European history of the Americas. Manifesting rich layers of multidirectional translation, the work’s journeys, crossings, and circulations in text and image, geographically and temporally—from Spanish and Italian to Ottoman Turkish, Persian and French, from the Americas to Spain, Italy and the Ottoman capital to Iran and India, and more recently to Europe and the U.S., and from manuscript to printed editions will allow a study of early modern travel and colonization from the perspective of the non-colonizers, who were acutely curious and interested in knowing about the confines of the earth, and in competing for its domination.

Supervisor: Rosita D’Amora

Department: Italian Institute of Oriental Studies

 

Simone Sari – LEXLlull

The Roots of the European Intellectual Lexicon through Ramon Llull's Multilingual Vocabulary

Il progetto LEXLlull prevede la creazione di un dizionario multilingue (latino, catalano, francese, occitano) basato sulle traduzioni delle opere di Ramon Llull (1232-1316) conservate in manoscritti esemplati quando l’autore era ancora in vita, con uno speciale focus sul lessico scientifico. Si ottiene così una fonte sincronica del lessico intellettuale medievale nelle principali lingue romanze per poter capire come i laici avessero accesso alla conoscenza scientifica e la diffondessero.

Supervisor: Stefano Asperti

Department: Literature and Modern Cultures

 

Rossana Tufaro - SoHRI67

SoHRI67 uncovers the social history of Red Internationalism in the Arab region in the long-1960s. It challenges traditional historiography by highlighting the inter-Arab dynamics of socialist and anti-imperialist activism after the 1967 Naksa, centering the Lebanese-Gulf trajectory. Through a social history approach, it repositions Arab radicals as agents of change, and adds to the revolutionary geographies of the Global 1960s. 

Supervisor: Laura Guazzone

Department: Italian Institute of Oriental Studies

 

Massimiliano Vassalli – TRAVELS

The TRAVELS project reconstructs the history of Iranian Zoroastrians (1773–1854) by integrating European travel accounts and Zoroastrian sources, situating it within world history and exploring East-West interactions. By incorporating contemporary Zoroastrian narratives, it bridges past and present, highlighting the diaspora’s enduring identity.

Supervisor: Carlo Cereti

Department: Scienze dell’Antichità

 

Giovanni Lapis - JREACT

JREACT will develop innovative concepts and methods for the teaching of religions in the school context from the perspective of the secular and academic study of religions. For several years, scholars of religions in Europe have been researching on this topic, with the main aim of overcoming Euro- and Christian-centric biases. However, there have been few comparisons with the perspectives of non-European scholars. JREACT fills this gap by analysing how scholars of religions in Japan approach the topic of teaching religions at school. Given the combination of the different religious context, the long tradition of modern religious studies, and a lively (even political) debate on the topic, Japan is a promising case-study to analyse and compare with the European situation. This will make it possible to identify points of contact, unexplored issues and new insights to develop intercultural and self-critical religious education, responding to European policies of creating diverse, inclusive and democratic societies.

Supervisor: Alessandro Saggioro

Department: History, Anthropology, Religion, Arts and Performing Arts 

 

Fulvio Bertuccelli – IhaNeT

IhaNeT- Identity, Nation and Treason in Turkish Concept of Authority is an interdisciplinary project that aims to improve the understanding of the concept of treason (ihanet in Turkish), in its collective dimension, in Türkiye. Covering the period from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire (1918) to the failed military coup of 2016, IhaNeT aims to elucidate the evolution of treason in its legal, discursive, and subjective dimensions, thereby contributing to the understanding
of the concept of political authority.

Supervisor: Fabio Grassi

Department: History, Anthropology, Religion, Arts and Performing Arts

 

GenPrISA - Margherita Picchi

This research traces the intellectual genealogy of progressive Islam in South Africa through the case of the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town. It examines the historical roots of the mosque's discourse and ritual practice and its impact on the transnational Muslim community. 

Supervisor: Alessandro Saggioro

Department: History, Anthropology, Religion, Arts and Performing Arts

 

Francesco Tavani – AQUAFRAME

The main objective of the AQUAFRAME project (Advancing QUASIperiodic metal-organic FRAMEworks for atmospheric water harvesting) is to develop metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) incorporating structural disorder to capture water from the atmosphere. By employing an interdisciplinary approach based on the combination of advanced experimental and theoretical methods, the project aims to produce novel quasiperiodic MOFs and to gain molecular-level knowledge on how these MOFs harvest water from the air, contributing to the development of new materials to address global water scarcity. 

Supervisor: Paola D’Angelo

Department: Chimica

 

Marina Inì - SEPOLCRI

SEPOLCRI si focalizza sui rituali funebri di diverse minoranze religiose in contesti urbani della penisola Italiana nella prima età moderna (1500-1780 circa). Attraverso lo studio di diversi riti funebri, sepolture e la concessione di cimiteri ufficiali da parte di autorità Cattoliche, il progetto ha come obiettivo lo studio delle relazioni tra la comunità Cattolica dominante e le diverse comunità religiose (Ebrei, Protestanti, Greci Ortodossi e Musulmani) presenti nel panorama Italiano.

Supervisor: Serena Di Nepi

Department: History, Anthropology, Religion, Arts and Performing Arts

 

Antonio Tinti - HydroMOF

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of materials composed of the three-dimensional assembly of various types of metal nodes and organic linkers. These materials exhibit extremely high porosity, as each gram of material contains billions of molecular-sized pores.
The possibility to precisely control the chemical nature and geometry of these pores enables scientists to engineer the properties of the materials themselves, including their wettability. This is of great importance for various applications involving the intrusion or extrusion of water or other liquids into nanometric cavities. The aim of the HydroMOF project, funded by the MSCA Global Fellowship scheme and carried out in collaboration between Sapienza University of Rome and École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), is to combine new theoretical descriptions of fluid behavior under extreme confinement, molecular simulations, and innovative Artificial Intelligence techniques to enable the tailor-made design of new MOF materials for applications based on the intrusion and extrusion of non-wetting liquids. These materials can be employed in various applications, ranging from more traditional uses such as mechanical energy storage to more innovative ones, such as the development of next-generation devices for impact and shock absorption.

Supervisor: Alberto Giacomello

Department: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

 

Ditlev Rindom - MOPRITALY

MOPRITALY explores the wide range of new theatrical practices shaping Italian opera in the period 1815-1861: from new discourses about vocal and physical acting to developments in stage technologies and media of mass production. The project reexamines intersections between opera and other visual and literary arts, including ballet, and considers the work of forgotten women composers alongside more canonical figures such as Donizetti, Verdi and Mercadante.

Supervisor: Emanuele Senici

Department: History, Anthropology, Religion, Arts and Performing Arts

 

Federico Nomi – UPS Project

The *UPS (Unravelling Pastoral Societies)* project explores archaeological evidence of prehistoric communities practising transhumance for livestock management, focusing particularly on sheep and goats. Using cutting-edge scientific methods, such as high-resolution multi-isotopic analyses, it investigates the seasonal mobility of animals and humans by integrating archaeozoological, bioarchaeological, and archaeological data. The research aims to determine the role of transhumance in early connectivity and social development of inland Mediterranean areas.

Supervisor: Alfredo Coppa/ Alessandro Saggioro

Department: History, Anthropology, Religion, Arts and Performing Arts