WS.I

AgriNano Techniques

September 16-17-18

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With the world’s population expected to exceed nine billion by 2050, scientists are working to develop new ways to meet the rising global demand for food, energy and water without increasing the pressure on natural resources.
The development of Agri-NanoTechniques has started very recently. Agri-NanoTechniques will be implemented within the evolving science of precision agriculture that aims at using new technologies to increase the use efficiency of water, fertilizer, plant protection products and other inputs. A second, broad potential application concerns the issues of agri-food wastes reduction and valorization in accordance with the principles of the circular economy.
The introduction of nanotechnologies in agriculture still needs deepening in basic and applied knowledge. However, several promising results have been achieved, so far. A huge development is taking place in this sector, therefore nanotech applications currently under development will soon be overtaken by other ideas that are expected to contribute to solve several issues in the field of sustainable agriculture.
NanoInnovation 2020 hosts the 4th edition of the workshop “AgriNanoTechniques: Nanomaterials for products and application in agriculture”. Because of the restrictions due to COVID-19, the 4th Workshop Agri-NanoTechiques is organized in the form of webinars co-organized by the Universities of Bologna, Firenze, Parma, Verona and Udine.

The workshop, organized under the patronage of the Italian Society of Agronomy, will be the forum for discussing the perspectives of nanotechnologies in the primary sector among the stakeholders and scientists.
The virtual workshop offers the possibility of inserting educational contents. The first session is specifically aimed at master degree and PhD students in agriculture and biology. The second session encompass an overview of nanotechnology applications in plant nutrition and protection. The third session hosts recent research advances in these fields. 

WS.II

Nanospectroscopy and Nanotechnology: Challenges and Innovations

September 16

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The exponential growth of nanotechnologies in recent years has required rapid development of nanoscience and in particular of nanospectroscopy techniques. Understanding, controlling and manipulating the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter, on the nanometer scale, has become a fascinating field of research in continuous evolution. Moreover, a remarkable feature of the nanospectroscopy lies in its multidisciplinary nature as it find application in physics, chemistry and biology.

The aim of the workshop is to bring together scientists working on nanospectroscopy and nanotechnologies, including theory, experimental demonstration of novel concept, progress and applications to any field of science.

The workshop will be organized on four different sessions. The first one will be focused on “Basic principles of Nanospectroscopy”, deepening techniques such as SERS and TERS, showing the potential of conductive AFM as well as the latest results on nanoalloys with plasmonic properties obtained by laser ablation in solution. The second one will be on “Nanotechnology applications”, and will provide an overview of the most recent applications in the fields of biomedicine and biosensors from a therapeutic and diagnostic point of view. The third one will focus on “Manufacturing of nanodevices” for applications ranging from photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices to sensors. Finally, the fourth session will concern "Advanced methods for imaging spectroscopy and metrology”, showing recent results in the field of bio-imaging and nanomedicine engineering, and presenting recent developments of new techniques for the spectroscopic and microscopic characterization of surfaces as well as for 3D optical metrology.

WS.III

Nanotechnology and Sustainability

September 16-17

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Micro and nanoplastics are an emerging concern worldwide. Nanoplastics, usually categorized as plastic particles smaller than 1 micron, are of particular concern because they are expected to be as ubiquitous as their bulk counterparts. Nanoplastics are an important priority regarding fresh water quality as well as pollution transport in the environment and potential impact on human health. Recently, several studies on nanoplastics quantification and impact were undertaken and some of them are still ongoing. The first two symposia, organized within the PON TARANTO Research and Innovation Project, will discuss the most advanced results of such undergoing studies managed by public research centers in collaboration with private companies. The workshop talks will present, in particular, studies on the detection and characterization of nanoplastics in different matrices (water, air and food) and on some technology able to mitigate their impact on the environment and health.

In recent years, several studies highlighted that advanced nanomaterials have the potential to achieve a breakthrough in the development of novel applications for a sustainable future. The third and fourth sessions gather contributions from both the academic and industrial world to strengthen their synergistic contribution to technological growth for sustainability. In this framework, water treatment processes, as well as CO2 capturing and valorization, are topic of great and actual relevance, and the development of innovative and efficient materials is the key to be successful. Membranes, as applicative example, are fundamental elements for water purification and CO2 separation plants, but their usage is also widespread in fuel cells, batteries and “blue energy” harvesting systems. Notwithstanding their large technological relevance, currently employed membranes suffer from many drawbacks and a further breakthrough in this field might require a complete membrane redesign. Several studies highlighted that advanced materials, and nanomaterials in particular, have the potential to achieve a breakthrough in membranes performances, increasing membrane resistance (mechanical, thermal and chemical resistance) and lifetime, and enhance membrane selectivity. On the other hand, to efficient reuse of carbon dioxide as a raw material to obtain value-added products requires both the development of novel materials able to fast capture and release the CO2, and highly selective, stable, efficient, environmental-friendly and inexpensive catalysts for its electro/photoelectron/thermo catalytic reduction. Planned talks will be on recent results in the topics mentioned above, with a special focus on the fundamental aspects as well as on the technological challenges tackled by the academy and the industry. The workshop is organized by Polytechnic of Turin and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, in cooperation with the Italian Association for Industrial Research (Airi). The session will be held online (webinar) in two parts, the first (Sep 17th, 14.00-15.30) with a focus on industrial application and the second (Sep 17th, 16.00-17.30) on basic and applied research activities.

WS.IV

YoungInnovation The state of research communicated by young researchers

September 17-18

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Innovative technologies, including nanotechnologies, represent, in recent decades, an important opportunity to improve human living conditions especially in healthy fields (pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food). The focus of this workshop is to evaluate the current status of the research. In particular, we’ll analyze both very innovative aspects, i.e. regenerative medicine by means of steam cells and 3D Print Technologies, and traditional routes of administration revaluated thanks to the most modern approaches.
An interesting aspect of the workshop “YoungInnovation the state of research presented by those who daily works in laboratory to produce innovation.

WS.V

Open Innovation & Open Science

III Edition 

September 18

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Anche quest’anno, a seguito del successo delle due precedenti edizioni, verrà proposta a NanoInnovation il workshop "Open Innovation e Open Science" che così giunge alla sua terza edizione.

Si è deciso, per continuità, di mantenere il titolo, ma i contenuti e le finalità dell'edizione 2020 sono stati rivisti e riconfigurati per tenere nella dovuta attenzione gli scenari del dopo Covid-19, in termini di sostenibilità, re-industrializzazione 'locale', ripensamento delle politiche di globalizzazione e nuove esigenze dei percorsi di formazione universitari e post-universitari.

Le politiche di utilizzo delle risorse derivanti dall'uso dei Recovery Funds renderà ancora più cruciale e strategico il rapporto tra ricerca pubblica e privata, in un’ottica di valorizzazione della conoscenza la cui creazione rappresenterà un fattore chiave per una concreta e stabile ripresa economica

La capacità di identificare e sfruttare competenze e conoscenze di rete, di gestire processi cooperativi rapidi e complessi, di promuovere processi inclusivi e multi-stakeholders per accrescere l’impatto sociale dell’innovazione, di aggregare competenze e conoscenze multidisciplinari, sono sempre più fattori determinanti per il successo della ricerca ed innovazione.

Con l’avvento della quarta rivoluzione industriale (modello 4.0), sono richiesti nuovi e più efficaci modelli per l’incontro tra domanda e offerta di tecnologia ed è necessario un cambiamento culturale che coinvolga il management della R&I, oltre a figure professionali dedicate, per sfruttare al meglio le opportunità offerte dallo sviluppo delle tecnologie abilitanti ed emergenti. Una parte del workshop sarà costituito da una tavola rotonda dedicata alla progettazione di possibili nuovi percorsi universitari che siano in grado di affrontare la sfida di figure professionali in campo tecnologico che richiedono sempre più competenze trasversali oggi difficilmente acquisibili con i percorsi di studio tradizionali.

Durante le sessioni in cui si articolerà l’evento, alcuni tra i principali Enti di ricerca, Università e Grandi imprese nazionali, PMI, associazioni professionali nazionali e organismi territoriali si confronteranno su modelli ed esperienze relativi a:

• Formazione e competenze
• Trasferimento tecnologico
• Iniziative e approccio territoriali
• Politiche di creazione di infrastrutture di ricerca
• Creazione di spin off e start up
• Sostenibilità di processo e prodotto
• Principi e metodi per la open science
• Principi e metodi per la open innovation

WS.VI

Highlights from Open Infrastructures for Research

Supported by Regione Lazio

September 16-17

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