Research

See the project description on the Department website: PNRR projects [ITA].

• ITINERIS - Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Marco Roman
• INSYDE-HU - Integrated systemic detection of pollutants in the human body
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Marco Roman
• PAT - Perturbation problems and asymptotics for elliptic differential equations: variational and potential theoretic methods
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Gabriele Santin
• SOS - Success of Salix shrubs encroachment leading to a major vegetation and landscape change in the Italian Alps
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Dario Battistel
• RISE - Rethinking and Innovating Statistics for Extremes
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Ilaria Prosdocimi
• BIOREFINE - BIOtechnological tRansformation of municipal wastEs into high value compounds: volatile fatty acIds, polyhydroxyalkaNoates, and biofuEls
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Paolo Pavan
• PHOTOPLAST - PHOTOtransformation of PLASTic particles in the environment
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Antonio Marcomini

See the project description on the Department website: PNRA and PRA projects [ITA].

• CATCH-O - Concordia ATmospheric CHemistry - Observatory
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Marco Roman

See the project description on the Department website: Horizon 2020 projects [ITA].

• REST-COAST - Large Scale RESToration of COASTal ecosystem through rivers to sea connectivity
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Andrea Critto
• MYRIAD-EU - Multi-hazard and sYstemic framework for enhancing Risk-Informed mAnagement and Decisionmaking in the E.U.
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Andrea Critto
• MICROCLIMATE - Micron-scale Ice Core Reconstruction of Abrupt Climate Changes
  Ca’ Foscari P.I. (Supervisor): Carlo Barbante

See the project description on the Department website: Horizon Europe projects [ITA].

• BioSusTex - Towards absolute safe and sustainable biobased textile
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Elena Semenzin
• SUNRISE - Safe and sUstainable by desigN: integRated approaches for Impact aSsessment of advanced matErials
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Antonio Marcomini
• BoSS - Bauhaus of the Seas Sails
  Project awarded by the DAIS Excellence Project funds as it involves researchers from various fields, thus promoting interdisciplinary research activity
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Fabio Pittarello (INFO-01/A)
  Co-applicant: Fabio Pranovi (BIOS-05/A)
• GREENART - GREen ENdeavor in Art ResToration
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Elena Semenzin
• MODERATE - Marketable Open Data Solutions for Optimized Building-Related Energy Services
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Wilmer Pasut

See the project description on the Department website: ERC projects [ITA].

• AiCE - Deep learning. Artificial intelligence revealing the oldest ice climate signals
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Sebastiano Vascon
• REGINDEX - Compressed Indexes for Regular Languages with Applications to Computational Pan-genomics
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Nicola Prezza

See the project description on the Department website: Marie Curie projects [ITA].

• SKYNET - Estimating the ice volume of Earth's glaciers via Artificial Intelligence and remote sensing
  Ca’ Foscari P.I. (Supervisor): Carlo Barbante
• EXPEDITE - EXPloring opportunitiEs for developing a risk and resilience climate service baseD on blg daTa and machinE learning
  Ca’ Foscari P.I. (Supervisor): Andrea Critto

See the project description on the Department website: COST projects [ITA].

• LUCES - Supramolecular LUminescent Chemosensors for Environmental Security
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Elena Badetti
• PURPLEGAIN - Fundamentals and applications of purple bacteria biotechnology for resource recovery from waste
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Cristina Cavinato
• FULLRECO4US - Cross-Border Transfer and Development of Sustainable Resourcw Recovery Strategies Towards Zero Waste
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Cristina Cavinato
• DYNALIFE - Information, Coding, and Biological Function: the Dynamics of Life
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Marco Salvatore Nobile

See the project description on the Department website: Other national projects [ITA].

• CeTrA 2.0 ID 10693633 - Infrastruttura di ricerca Centre for Trace Analysis (CeTrA)
  PR Veneto FESR 2021-2027, Azione 1.1.2 Sub A DGR n. 1237/2023
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Marco Roman
• BRIC INAIL 2022 - Processi innovativi biologici e bio-elettrochimici per la produzione di idrogeno da matrici organiche di scarto
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Francesco Valentino
• MODSEN - MODel of Saving electric ENergy from organic waste fermentation
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Cristina Cavinato
• BioMOON - Low Gravity Biorefinery Platform
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Cristina Cavinato

See the project description on the Department website: Other international projects [ITA].

• EcoDigify - Enhancing the capacity of European Universities to drive Green Digital Transformation through a Transdisciplinary and Action-Oriented Approach to integrate Sustainable Digitalization into Higher Education Curricula
  Ca’ Foscari P.I.: Agostino Cortesi

Polymers commonly used, such as polyolefins (e.g. polyethylene) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are essential materials for everyday life, and modern society could not exist without them. However, their production and use pose significant environmental challenges, including the depletion of fossil resources, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmental pollution resulting from microplastic formation.

At present, 90% of the polymers used daily still originate from non-renewable fossil resources. The handling of plastic waste underscores a critical situation:

• Only 9% of plastic waste is recycled (2021 data).
• Around 19% is incinerated, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems.
• Over 50% ends up in landfill.
• A concerning 22% is dispersed into the natural environment, leading to pollution, the formation of micro- and nanoplastics, biodiversity loss, and health risks.

These figures highlight the urgency of adopting more sustainable and circular approaches in polymer production and management.

Dr. Alexandra Zamboulis, a member of Professor Dimitrios Bikiaris’ research group at the Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, was a Visiting Scholar at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice for four weeks in September 2024, working with Professor Fabio Aricò on this topic. With over 55 scientific publications in international journals, Dr Zamboulis actively participates in research projects funded at both national and European levels.

The project is based on an interdisciplinary study aimed at developing innovative sustainable solutions in accordance with the principles of Green Chemistry. The primary objectives are:

• The synthesis of bio-aromatic monomers from renewable resources.
• The production of recyclable polyesters to reduce environmental impact.

The project closely relates to issues concerning the management of macro-pollutants, including plastics and microplastics, as well as the reduction of environmental risks and impacts throughout the lifecycle of products and processes.

On 8 October 2024, Dr Zamboulis delivered a seminar that explored strategies for synthesising novel bio-based polymers, with a focus on vanillic acid-based polyesters. She also presented additional solutions for enhancing the sustainability of commonly used polymers, along with discussions on the pressing issue of microplastics.

Understanding the processes that have led to variations in sea levels throughout geological history is essential for evaluating their significance to future local scenarios. The research project led by Professor Alessio Rovere offers a unique opportunity to gain deeper insights into the mechanisms influencing sea levels, aiding in predicting and managing future climate change challenges. The project adopts an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together geologists, modellers, and oceanographers.

For two weeks in June 2024, Professor Luigi Jovane [POR] (Instituto Oceanográfico da Universidade de São Paulo) was hosted at DAIS to contribute to developing the research project.

The project is part of the department’s long-term research into past and present climate in collaboration with the National Research Council and various international partners.

The primary objectives of the project are:

• To analyse geological processes that influence sea levels.
• To assess their significance for future climate change scenarios.
• To promote interdisciplinary collaboration for a comprehensive and integrated understanding.

Accurately modelling the extreme behaviour of many real-world phenomena is crucial for evaluating and managing the risks posed by environmental hazards to critical infrastructure, which also impact regulatory policies. Climate change has heightened the need to develop advanced statistical tools to better understand environmental risks associated with increasingly frequent extreme events.

In recent years, two modern approaches have gained attention and are advancing rapidly:

• Extreme Value Theory (EVT) provides a robust probabilistic foundation for defining, characterising, and efficiently estimating extreme risk indices and their key characteristics.
• Distributionally Robust Optimisation (DRO) offers an ideal framework for improving decision-making in the face of uncertainty.

The research conducted by Professor Ilaria Prosdocimi’s Statistics group, in collaboration with Claudia Neves from King’s College London, who was a Visiting Scholar at Ca’ Foscari University for one week in February 2024, aims to:

• Develop a unified approach to improving risk management by leveraging the predictive power of EVT and building statistical tools for quantifying uncertainty in worst-case scenarios.
• Apply an interdisciplinary and rigorous methodology to capture the heterogeneities caused by structural changes in the physical processes generating data, such as the intensification or weakening of climatic factors, while ensuring clear and accessible interpretation for applied science experts.