\ Innovazione \ Minister Bernini at Area Science Park: Trieste and its scientific community key players for Italy’s innovation and diplomacy

“Area Science Park is a hub for global, and above all Italian, knowledge, intelligence and expertise. It represents a concentration of our ability to excel. This area is the nucleus of a growing and ever stronger scientific community. A community that shows us again and again how powerful academic cooperation can be both for Italy’s innovation and as a diplomatic tool with international partners.” These were the words of the Minister for Universities and Research Anna Maria Bernini, during her visit to Area Science Park today, where she was welcomed by the President of the research institute, Prof. Caterina Petrillo, and General Manager Anna Sirica. Others present included the Regional Councillor for Research, Alessia Rosolen; the Mayor of Trieste, Roberto Di Piazza; the Prefect, Pietro Signoriello; and representatives of the scientific and technological institutions of SiS FVG, the Friuli Venezia Giulia Science and Innovation System.

The President, Prof. Petrillo illustrated the core activities, strategic priorities and future development prospects of the research body to Minister Bernini, focusing on the investments that Area Science Park is making in the field of research and technological infrastructure. “We are very pleased that the Minister of Universities and Research has accepted our invitation to visit the institution and meet representatives of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region’s Scientific and Innovation System,” commented President Caterina Petrillo after the meeting with the ministerial delegation. “Area Science Park is a national research institution under the aegis of the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR), with a unique profile and expertise developed over 45 years in the field of research and innovation serving the country. Today, thanks in part to funding from the MUR National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the institution is taking a further step forward, investing in new state-of-the-art equipment and attracting young talent. In fact, alongside two national partners, we are working on the finalisation of two research structures, one dedicated to the study of pathogens and another to the study of innovative materials.”

Later, the Minister had the opportunity to visit some of the most important business and scientific entities at Area Science Park, starting with modefinance, a company with a technological and financial foundation, now part of the TeamSystem group. Modefinance is a native fintech company, founded in 2009 as a University of Trieste spin-off and incubated at Area Science Park, and develops artificial-intelligence and data-science solutions for credit risk assessment and management.

Next was the ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology), an intergovernmental organisation with 45 cutting-edge laboratories across three continents. It forms an interactive network of 68 member states, with operations aligned with those of the United Nations System. It plays a key role in biotechnology by promoting research excellence, training and technology transfer to industry, making a tangible contribution to global sustainable development. At ICGEB, welcomed by centre Director-General Lawrence Banks, the Minister visited the Tumour Virology, Bacteriology, and Functional Cell Biology laboratories.

In the afternoon, the ministerial delegation moved to the Basovizza campus, where Minister Bernini visited Area Science Park’s Laboratory of Genomics and Epigenomics (LAGE), a leading national centre in the field of genomics and epigenomics and a key element of the Life Sciences Platform, an open research structure providing expertise and services aimed at experimental testing, and applied and industrial research projects, and which will be further enhanced thanks to MUR National Recovery and Resilience Plan funds.

The next stop was the R&D laboratories of Alifax, one of the most important Italian companies specialising in the development, production and distribution of clinical diagnostic tools for laboratory automation, with a strong focus on scientific research and technological innovation supported by a constant programme of investments.

Before leaving Area Science Park, the Minister visited Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste,the third-generation Italian synchrotron radiation facility serving the national and international scientific and industrial community. Alongside Elettra, since 2010 there has been Free Electron Laser FERMI, one of the few laser facilities of this type operational in the world, capable of ultrashort, microscopic observations at the atomic and molecular level.

The Minister’s busy day ended with a visit to the icebreaker ship “Laura Bassi” of the OGS – National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics.