Three projects at the Sant'Anna School funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions grant, the European funding program to support the careers of researchers with a PhD
Cross-cutting themes for the three funded projects: CURRENSEX will address abuse of power in the form of sexual blackmail, AWARE-MS will combine Artificial Intelligence and wearable devices to prevent the onset of Multiple Sclerosis, while CASSANDRA will measure the climate impact of contrails
Three research projects involving the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa have been funded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) grant, the funding program promoted by the European Commission and aimed at young researchers with a PhD.
Specifically, two Global Postdoctoral Fellowships have been awarded to fund the mobility of researchers outside Europe, and one European Postdoctoral Fellowship has been awarded to fund researchers who are moving within Europe or coming to Europe from other parts of the world to pursue their research careers.
The two Global Postdoctoral Fellowships were awarded to Roberta De Paolis (Dirpolis Institute) and Mariangela Filosa(Biorobotics Institute); the European Postdoctoral Fellowship was awarded to Luca Boscagli (Imperial College London) under the scientific supervision of Francesco Montomoli (Interdisciplinary Research Center on Sustainability and Climate): thanks to this funding, Boscagli will conduct the project at the Sant'Anna School.
The goal of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions is to support the careers of researchers and promote excellence in research. The action is aimed at those who wish to carry out their research activities abroad, acquire new skills, and develop their careers. Postdoctoral fellowships help researchers gain experience in other countries, disciplines, and non-academic sectors.
“This funding is a significant achievement for the School because it consolidates our ability to attract strategic resources. The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships create a bridge between research groups of excellence at the world's best universities, promoting an exchange of skills, methodologies, and visions that is essential today in order to address major global challenges,” comments the Rector of the Sant'Anna School, Nicola Vitiello.
The three projects of the Sant'Anna School
CURRENSEX – Corruption and gender-based violence, when sex becomes a currency of exchange
Roberta De Paolis, post-doc in criminal law at the Dipolis Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa, was awarded an MSCA Global Fellowship with the CURRENSEX project. The project addresses an emerging and still little-studied phenomenon: cases in which sex, rather than money, becomes the “currency” of exchange in situations of abuse of power, falling into a gray area between corruption and gender-based violence. In such contexts, people in positions of authority can exploit the vulnerability of those who depend on their power, offering benefits or opportunities in exchange for sexual favors. The lack of shared conceptual and legal tools often makes it difficult to distinguish between corruption and sexual abuse, increasing the risk of under-reporting, impunity, and secondary victimization. The project therefore aims to identify the socio-cultural and legal conditions that favor such borderline situations and to develop guidelines to facilitate the assessment of cases in which abuse of power takes sexual forms. The fellowship involves two years of research at the University of Chicago and one year back in Italy at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa,and will be developed under the supervision of Professor Kimberly Kay Hoang, an expert in gender sociology at the University of Chicago, and Professor Gaetana Morgante, a professor of criminal law at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.
AWARE-MS: AI and wearable devices to model the evolution of multiple sclerosis
Mariangela Filosa, a researcher at the BioRobotics Institute of the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, has been awarded an MSCA Global Fellowship for the AWARE-MS (Artificial intelligence and Wearables for the Understanding and Evaluation of Multiple Sclerosis) project. The project aims to better understand and model the evolution of multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system that affects 2.8 million people and is one of the leading causes of non-traumatic disability worldwide. In most cases, multiple sclerosis manifests itself in relapsing-remitting episodes, characterized by acute events, known as relapses, which occur frequently and present with severe sensory and motor symptoms. Identifying these relapses in advance is essential in order to intervene promptly and limit the progression of the disease. AWARE-MS will combine data collected via wearable devices with advanced artificial intelligence models to continuously monitor and analyze patients' health status. The ultimate goal will be to establish a proactive approach to multiple sclerosis by modeling the evolution of the disease to reveal the mechanisms underlying the onset and severity of relapses.
The fellowship involves two years of research at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital of Harvard Medical School (USA) and one year back in Italy at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, and will be developed under the supervision of Paolo Bonato (Harvard Medical School) and Calogero Oddo and Giovanni Stabile (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna).
CASSANDRA: numerical models to quantify the climate impact of new aviation fuels in non-CO₂ emissions
Luca Boscagli, currently a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College London, has been awarded an MSCA European Fellowship for the CASSANDRA project. The project will be carried out under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Montomoli of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Sustainability and Climate (CISC) at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.
Contrails represent a significant but still poorly characterized contribution to the overall effect that aviation emissions have on the climate, particularly with regard to non-CO₂ emissions. The CASSANDRA project (Coupled Aerosol-jet Simulation and Sensitivity Analysis with Non-linear Data Recovery and Assimilation) will study the coupled microphysical and fluid dynamics processes that control contrail formation, both under conditions of conventional fuel use and new sustainable aviation fuels.
CASSANDRA will provide a new numerical model integrating computational simulations, experimental data, and flight test data, specifically designed for the study of contrail formation. The research will help reduce the predictive uncertainty of existing models and improve their accuracy.
Looking ahead, the CASSANDRA project will help support evidence-based public policy and the optimization of aircraft engines for sustainable fuels, providing concrete tools for mitigating the non-CO₂ climate impact of aviation.
