The University of Bologna Research in Three Minutes: the Winner is Lorenzo Margotti

Lorenzo Margotti, a PhD student in Physics, with his work titled “What We Can’t See Can Save Our Lives,” has been selected to represent the University of Bologna in the selection for the European final of the Coimbra Group Three-Minute-Thesis Competition. The 3MT is an academic competition among PhD students that rewards the most engaging presentation of a research project in less than three minutes to a general audience, entirely in English.

Margotti has been chosen among ten students from the University of Bologna and will compete in the European selection of the three PhD students who will participate in the live final at the General Assembly of the Coimbra Group on 6 June at the University of Turku, Finland. The Coimbra Group is the European inter-university network that has promoted this initiative.

The first place was awarded to him by both a voting audience and a jury of experts from the University of Bologna. This jury included Laura Corazza, Researcher at the Department of Industrial Chemistry “Toso Montanari”, Professor Anna Chiara Fariselli at the Department of Cultural Heritage and Delegate for Interdisciplinarity, Professor Luca Fontanesi at the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Delegate for Competitive Research Projects, Professor Paola Govoni at the Department of Philosophy and Communication Studies, Professor Maria Letizia Guerra at the Department of Statistical Sciences and Delegate for Public Engagement, Professor Mario Mazzocchi at the Department of Statistical Sciences, Professor Barbara Monti at the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology and Delegate for Equipment and Infrastructure, and Professor Alessandra Ruggeri at the Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences.

First runner up was Rebecca Rossetti, with her work “Multidimensional Resilience as an Indicator for Mobility Hubs Location” for the Future Earth, Climate Change and Societal Challenges PhD programme. Lorenzo Sforni was the second runner up with his research “Optimal Learning-Driven Autonomy: Design of Algorithms at the Intersection of Optimization, Control, and Machine Learning,” for the IBES - Biomedical, Electrical and Systems Engineering PhD programme.

The Three-Minute-Thesis Competition aims to encourage students to share their research with a wider community in an informative and public-oriented way. The prizes were presented by Professor Alberto Credi, Vice Rector for Research, to Margotti, Rossetti, and Sforni during the ceremony at the Rectorate. The event was enriched by a lecture entitled “Neural Erosion” given by Matteo Cerri, Professor of Physiology at the Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences of the University of Bologna.