Dalla Ricerca al Mercato
18/02/2026
Dalla ricerca al mercato
Introduce
Prof.ssa Simona Ranallo - Università Tor Vergata
Intervengono
Stefano Gay - Scouting Manager Day One
Paolo Baione - Product Manager Day One
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Global Woman Breakfast (GWB)
10/02/2026
Insieme per una Scienze Inclusiva
La Macroarea di Scienze MM FF NN è lieta di invitarvi ad un incontro stimolante sulla ricchezza di voci e discipline STEM per costruire una scienza inclusiva
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Synthesis and Functionalization of Hydrazine-inserted BODIPY Derivatives
18 dicembre 2025
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Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn, Premio Nobel per la Chimica 1987, STEPS TOWARDS COMPLEX MATTER: From Supramolecular Chemistry Towards Adaptive Chemistry
3 dicembre 2025
Supramolecular chemistry is intrinsically a dynamic chemistry in view of the lability of the interactions connecting the molecular components of a supramolecular species and the resulting ability to exchange components. The same holds for molecular chemistry when the molecular entity contains covalent bonds that may form and break reversibly. These features allow for a continuous change in constitution by reorganization and exchange of building blocks and define a Constitutional Dynamic Chemistry (CDC) covering both the molecular and supramolecular levels.
CDC takes advantage of dynamic diversity to allow variation and selection and operates on dynamic constitutional diversity in response to either internal or external factors to achieve adaptation.
It generates networks of dynamically interconverting constituents, constitutional dynamic networks, that may respond to perturbations by physical stimuli or to chemical effectors. Of special interest is the case where the driving force is an increase in organization/order.
The implementation of these concepts points to the emergence of adaptive and evolutive chemistry, towards systems of increasing complexity.
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Molecular Optogenetics Programming Cells and Biomaterials with Light
31 Marzo 2026
Molecular optogenetic technologies allow the control of cellular signaling processes along the whole signal
transduction cascade with unmatched spatial and temporal resolution.
Based on an overview of molecular photoreceptors, we will present three aspects of our work: First, we will
present extracellular optogenetic strategies to dynamically modulate biological and mechanical properties
of the extracellular matrix. Here, we demonstrate that the functional coupling of photoreceptors to chemical
polymers, biomolecules and surfaces allows the control of key features of matrix-cell interactions.
We further develop the concept of engineering intracellular liquid materials comprising synthetic or natural
transcription factors to adjust transgene activity. We describe different approaches for the stimulus-inducible
formation of liquid transcription factor condensates and demonstrate that these colocalize with target
promoters and yield a several-fold increased transgene activity compared to the non-engineered
transcription factor. We demonstrate that this concept can be applied to different transcription factors to
increase target gene activity in cell culture and in mice.
Finally, we will present recent work on shape-morphing materials where we program mammalian and
bacterial cells to induce autonomous, reversible shape morphing in engineered living materials.
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C'è vita nella matematica? Modelli matematici per interpretare i movimenti cellulari.
15/12/2025
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Multiscale Biomaterials Chemistry: Towards Nervous System Repair
22/04/2026
The versatility of multiscale biomaterials can be exploited to improve outcomes across the field
of tissue engineering. Inorganic, mesoporous nanoparticles, including porous silicon and
mesoporous silica nanoparticles, offer several advantageous properties, including high surface
area and pore volume for drug loading, ease of surface chemistry modifications, tunable
nanoparticle size and pore diameters, and are biodegradable/biocompatible, making them
attractive nanocarriers for drug deliver applications. These properties also make them especially
useful in the incorporation of nanoparticles into biomaterial scaffolds to alter material properties,
protect sensitive therapeutics during fabrication, and tailor drug release properties. Microgels,
hydrogels composed of microparticles ranging in size from 1-1000 μm, have begun to emerge
as one of the most promising building blocks of three dimensional structures. This is due to their
unique properties, including porosity between particles allowing for cellular infiltration and
nutrient/waste exchange, large surface area to volume ratios increasing cellular adhesion points,
and shear-thinning enabled injectability. Using these nano- and micro-scale materials as building
blocks, we are creating digital light projection, 3D-printed macrostrucutres composed of these
materials to interface and improve outcomes in the nervous system. Integrating nanoparticle
and microgel design concepts into multiscale biomaterials engineering holds great promise
across bioengineering.
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Microemulsions as Electrolytes: Physical Properties, Structure and Electrochemistry
27/04/2026
As part of a center devoted to discovering new types of electrolytes for energy storage, our research explores microemulsions as breakthrough electrolytes for integration into redox flow batteries (RFBs). Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable homogeneous solutions stabilized by surfactants in which oil and water do not separate. This unique solution enables us to decouple the electrical conductivity of aqueous salt solutions from the energy density of
the dissolved redox active molecule in the oil phase. The project provides perhaps the most comprehensive research on microemulsions reported.
Our investigations attempt to unravel the intricate behavior of physical properties and the structure of microemulsions when interfaced with electrified environments. After determining phase diagrams of the mixtures to identify regions in which the microemulsions were likely to be homogeneous and bicontinuous, we have carried out extensive characterization of their structure using multiple methods including neutron scattering and NMR methods. We examine the structural dynamics governing microemulsions in the bulk and at the electrode interfaces using techniques such as neutron reflectivity and computational probes. This comprehensive understanding is instrumental in deciphering the mechanisms underlying electron transfer reactions within these systems, shedding light on their electrochemical performance and potential applications in energy storage technologies.
We then describe studies of electrochemistry of oil-soluble redox active species in microemulsions and their use in redox flow batteries (RFBs). We combine oil subphases containing hydrophobic redox active components with an aqueous subphase containing ions, thereby achieving aqueous-level conductivity with the broader selection and higher redox potential of organic redox material, creating a unique electrolyte type for the RFB. Initially, we studied the electrochemistry of ferrocene in bi-continuous TWEEN/toluene/water microemulsions, with ferrocene dissolved in the toluene. Remarkably facile electrochemistry was observed, leading to a hypothesis concerning the ionic transfer processes associated with the formation of ferricenium ion. A principal question was whether the ferricenium is ejected from the liquid phase, a process that seems incompatible with the facile electrochemistry. We will elaborate on the possible process occurring. To further elucidate this process, a series of ring-substituted ferrocene derivatives of varying hydrophobic character was studied, as was the effects of including hydrophobic salts in the microemulsion.
To further inform aspects of the formulation of microemulsions for flow batteries, we augmented our experimental work with several machine-learning studies to discover microemulsion and electroactive component information.
Finally, RFBs based on these systems will be described, including some discussion of the interactions of the microemulsions with porous electrodes and membrane separators. In addition to that discussion, we will describe recent work with possible alternative electrolytes for use in the microemulsion-RFB.
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Overlooked Causes and Costly Consequences of Gross Inaccuracies in Binding Studies: Time to Act
6/05/2026 ore 10:30
Reliable decision-making in drug discovery, chemical biology, and diagnostic development depends on
accurate measures of molecular recognition and function. Yet binding studies often treat imprecision, that
is, random error, as the sole marker of data quality, while overlooking inaccuracy, that is, systematic bias. In
this seminar, I will explain why standard assays for binding affinity (Kd) can hide systematic deviations of
orders of magnitude, even when curve fits look acceptable and standard errors are small.
Drawing on our recent theoretical and experimental studies [1-9], I will show how amplified propagation of
concentration errors in nonlinear regression models can greatly change apparent Kd values and distort
decisions in hit triage and candidate ranking. I will also demonstrate accessible browser-based tools for
estimating the accuracy of Kd from individual binding curves. The discussion will remain at the level of
general principles while also illustrating their relevance to aptamers and aptasensors [10-12].
Finally, I will outline the goals of an emerging consortium that brings together academic laboratories with
instrumentation and high-throughput screening developers to establish reliable experimental practices and
consensus reporting standards.
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La figura del Project Manager (PM) - Associazione Italiana di Ingegneria Chimica- Ing. Piergiorgio Rosso
06/05/2026 ore 15:00
Il seminario presenterà l'organizzazione tipica delle industrie di processo con particolare riferimento alla figura del Project Manager (PM), figura centrale nella gestione dell'intero ciclo dei progetti aziendali dallo studio di fattibilità al completamento dell'impianto/progetto. Verranno illustrate in modo sintetico le relazioni e le dinamiche complesse a cui è assoggettato il PM come punto di riferimento per l'azienda, per il cliente, per chi lavora sul progetto (risorse umane interne ed esterne) e per i fornitori, nel rispetto delle scadenze e del budget, le relazioni quotidiane con numerose figure professionali e il monitoraggio del lavoro svolto dalle varie risorse al fine di evitare ritardi o problemi. Verranno illustrati alcuni esempi relativi alla documentazione di progetto, all'analisi del rischio e alla analisi dei guasti.
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