News & Events

An odour can trigger a memory, cause disgust or even save our lives. Nonetheless, although it is so important for our existence, olfaction still remains the most enigmatic of our senses. Its mysteries and marvels will be analysed by Nobel Prize Linda Buck during the ICTP-SISSA Colloquium open to the public, titled “Unraveling the sense of smell”. The American neurobiologist will share the main phases of forty years of research on the functioning of the olfactory system and its impact on emotions and behaviours. Buck will be in Trieste to participate in the “Conference on Frontiers in Olfaction” which will be held from 24 to 28 July at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics "Abdus Salam" (ICTP). The Colloquium will take place on Tuesday 25 July at 5:00 p.m at ICTP (Leonardo Da Vinci Building).

The dichotomy concerns the so-called angular momentum (per unit mass), that in physics is a measure of size and rotation velocity. Spiral galaxies are found to be strongly rotating, with an angular momentum higher by a factor of about 5 than ellipticals. What is the origin of such a difference? An international research team investigated the issue in a study just published in The Astrophysical Journal. The team was led by SISSA Ph.D.

The last event of SISSA SUMMER FESTIVAL 2017 will take place at SISSA's amphitheatre on Friday 14 July at 7 p.m. The Wind Orchestra of the Conservatorio G. Tartini, Trieste, will present a programme with music by Bob Mintzer, Jule Styne, Kenny Wheeler and many other authors. The concert will be held in the Main Hall in heavy weather. All interested are welcome! (Image: Pixabay)

MARS42 is a Summer School aimed at providing Master and PhD students or Post-Doc researchers with useful tools for seeing their studies in a new light. The school represents a unique opportunity to acquire important skills in the field of companies’ R&D and to learn how to transform scientific research into innovative business projects. The MARS 42 Summer Entrepreneurship School will be held at SISSA between 10 and 23 July 2017. (Image: Wikipedia)

SISSA SUMMER FESTIVAL is back with a show that joins science and cabaret. "Topi da laboratorio" is written and performed by a group of young researchers with different scientific backgrounds and experiences in science communication. At the centre of the story: a group of lab mice travelling to the space.

The performance will take place at 7 pm on Friday, 7 July, at SISSA's amphitheater (P. Budinich Main Hall in case of bad weather). The event (held in Italian) is free and open to the public.

FVG-MIT project is a new 3 year agreement recently signed by SISSA, the University of Trieste, the University of Udine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that aims to boost Friuli Venezia Giulia’s excellence by inserting it in a high-standard global net.

Carbon nanotubes exhibit interesting characteristics rendering them particularly suited to the construction of hybrid devices made of biological issue and synthetic material. These special devices are planned to re-establish connections between nerve cells, for instance at spinal level, lost on account of lesions or trauma.

Gromov-Witten invariants, which ''count'' curves (with appropriate extra conditions) on smooth projective varieties, were introduced more than two decades ago; motivated by high energy physics, they ended up revolutionizing enumerative algebraic geometry and provided a bridge to other branches of mathematics. The Summer School in Enumerative Geometry will bring doctoral students, post-docs, and anyone interested from a review of the basic construction to current, state-of-the art research in this field.

Optical phenomena visible to everyone have been central to the development of, and abundantly illustrate, important concepts in science and mathematics. The phenomena considered include rainbows, sparkling reflections on water, mirages, green flashes, glories, daylight, and the crystals. The concepts include refraction, caustics, wave interference, dispersion, complex angular momentum, polarization singularities, geometric phases, and visual illusions.