The SNSF rewards sixteen research projects submitted by USI

In the first of two annual rounds of Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) grants, sixteen proposals submitted by USI researchers have received positive responses. These projects span the many disciplines present at the university.

The SNSF funds the best projects submitted for evaluation by the two annual deadlines in April and October. With fifteen projects awarded in this round, USI confirms the quality and competitiveness of its research at the national level. The range of supported projects highlights the lively and diverse research areas within the USI Faculties and affiliated institutes.

Overall, the projects received funding totaling around CHF 10 million.

For the FAculty of Economics, the project of Professor Loriano Mancini, titled "Climate Risk: The Unique Role of Insurers," was supported. His research focuses on the critical role that insurers play in mitigating climate risk.

The project of Professor Fabrizio Colella, from the Faculty of Economics, titled "The Role of Firms in Wage Formation: Evidence from Immigration and Local Taxes in Switzerland," was funded. His investigation deepens the comprehension of the role that firms play in shaping wage structures and other labor market outcomes.

Furthermore, within the same Faculty, the SNF approved the project by Professor Alessandro Lomi, titled "Network Dynamics and Community Evolution: Coordination, Development, and Resilience". His research aims to understand how communities coordinate, develop, and maintain resilience in the face of various challenges, offering insights into social and economic network behaviours.

For the Faculty of Informatics, the project of Professor Monica Landoni, titled "SOL - Scaffolding to Foster Independence When Children Search Online for Learning," was supported. Project SOL aims to create a theoretical framework using scaffolding to extend the Search-As-Learning (SAL) paradigm for children in primary classrooms, developing innovative Child Interactive Information Retrieval (CIIR) technologies to enhance learning through search.

The project of Professor Damiano Costa, from the Faculty of Theology, titled "Equivalence in Metaphysics," was also supported. This project uses logical, philosophical, semantic, and mathematical tools to investigate the phenomenon where two scientific theories can be considered equivalent.

Professor Léna Pellandini-Simanyi’s project, from the Faculty of Communication, titled "Investing in Meaning: How Symbolic Meanings Shape Lay Investor Stock Choices," was supported. Her study will explore how, in decentralised economic systems designed to measure and reward individual performance, heterogeneous organisations may work together to address pressing societal problems.

The project of Dr.ssa Anne-Linda Camerini (Istituto di salute pubblica - IPH) “AWARE: Mental Health Portrayals on Social Media and Implications on Adolescents’ Awareness and Well-being” was also supported.It is a Weave project, i.e., a Project Funding in collaboration with Austria and Germany.

The Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) has been granted funding for four projects, totaling CHF 3,130,000. These include Professor Maurizio Molinari's project "ER-phagy: the lysosomal control of endoplasmic reticulum homeostasis," Professor Silvia Monticelli's project "Bridging T Cell Receptor and Integrin Signaling Pathways with SKAP2 - Functional Insights and Biochemical Characterization," Professor Greta Guarda's project "The role of the transcription factor RFX7 in B cell responses," and Professor Valentina Cecchinato's project "Natural Autoantibodies Targeting Chemokines In HIV-1 Infection And Pathogenesis."

The Institute of Oncology Research (IOR) received funding for two projects, amounting to CHF 1,400,000. Dr. Giuseppina Carbone's project "EHF/ESE3 transcription factor as a regulator of prostate epithelial cell differentiation and stem cell properties," and Dr. Davide Rossi's project "Oncogenic perturbations of the non-coding regulatory genome in classic Hodgkin lymphoma."

Furthermore, the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale (EOC) secured grants for three projects, with a total approved budget of CHF 1,422,410. These projects include "Disabling levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease: the role of sleep" by PD Dr.Med. Salvatore Galati, "Investigating the role of senescence in the development of incurable prostate cancer bone metastases within a human 3D in vitro model of aging bone" by Professor Matteo Moretti, and "Ticin for the optimal anticoagulant treatment of left ventricular thrombosis (TITAN-LVT) study" by Professor Marco Valgimigli.