VIU News
The SMACH Forum project is set to create a vibrant Europe-Southeast Europe platform for intercultural exchange on Sustainable Management of Cultural Heritage. Co-funded by the Central European Initiative, this innovative project is spearheaded by VIU, alongside partners such as the University of Ljubljana, CNR, University of Rome Tor Vergata, and the City of Venice.
Establishing a European Competence Centre for Science Communication and an associated Science Communication Academy is the goal of the COALESCE project.
COALESCE wants to gather and consolidate existing science communication knowledge, resources and tools from a variety of sources, while engaging science communication stakeholders in a co-creating process as well as in validating the Competence Centre’s products for their respective needs.
To achieve this objective, COALESCE aims to build and engage Communities of knowledge and Practice in science communication (CoPs).
We invite all researchers, science-communication professionals, journalists, policymakers, citizens, industry professionals – among other actors – to be part of our community of practice, where you will have the opportunity to be engaged in mutual learning, co-creation activities, training and be part of building the future European Competence Centre for Science Communication.
Please register here in the COALESCE Communities of Practice (CoPs) so that we can actively involve you in the activities.
'SciComm Conversations' is the official Podcast series of COALESCE project, regularly issued on all platforms since March 2024.
In this first season of SciComm Conversations, the Podcast episodes focus on the topic of Science Communication in the age of artificial intelligence.
Each episode explores roles, opportunities and challenges of dealing with and using AI in different domains, such as in education, in communication of science and research, and more widely in engaging with the publics.
Distinguished international speakers are invited by COALESCE team to address the different perspectives of Science Communication in the age of artificial intelligence.
Please refer COALESCE podcast page for the full list and complete transcript of the different episodes.
All podcasts are available in the main platforms: just search for “SciComm Conversations” in your apps!
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
16.45 pm, Room 1G
Venice International University, San Servolo Island
Francesca Vianello, Head of Europe Direct Venezia Veneto, City of Venice
Annalisa Piras, Director of the Wake Europe Campaign
Ilda Mannino, Scientific Coordinator of the TEN Program on Sustainability of VIU
Jane da Mosto, Executive Director of We are here Venice
On the occasion of the Feast of St. Mark awards ceremony on April 25 at the Palazzo Ducale, a special award was presented to Ambassador Umberto Vattani, President of Venice International University for his service to the City of Venice.
In receiving the award, a magnificent winged lion in red and gold glass, symbol of the Serenissima, ambassador Vattani thanked the Mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, the authorities and those present, recalling the countless activities carried out by Venice International University in the city and sharing the award with all the team of his collaborators:
Starting on April 25, 2024 day-trippers to the city of Venice will have to pay an "Access Fee" of €5 on selected dates.
Students and professors of VIU activities are exempt. However, they must register and receive an exemption voucher.
On the selected dates there may be checks around the city to verify if visitors have paid the fee or have the necessary exemption voucher.
The dates for which the Access Fee must be paid, or an exemption voucher must be requested:
- April 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
- May 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 25, 26
- June 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30
- July 6, 7, 13, 14
From April 17 to May 16, 2024, MoCA Shanghai in collaboration with Venice International University will present the exhibition "TRAVELLERS MIRROR CITIES" echoing the spirit of the 60th Venice Biennale’s theme "Foreigners Everywhere".
The exhibition, curated by Miriam Sun, Executive Director of MoCA Shanghai, and Giuliana Benassi, an Italian curator, will present the work of artists who are among the exponents of contemporary art scene in China and Italy including, Fu Tong, Gabriele Silli, Guo Fei, H.H. Lim, Jin Wang, Josè Angelino, Matteo Nasini, Oliviero Rainaldi, Qiu Anxiong, Rä di Martino, Shi Chengdong, Yang Yongliang.
Cities, as geographic, social, and cultural spaces, contain numerous layers of value that are not readily apparent.
This exhibition, centered around the theme of "TRAVELLERS MIRROR CITIES", is set within the context of Venice International University, a space dedicated to international exchange of knowledge.
The exhibition aims to ingeniously construct a conceptual art route of "The Traveler’s City – A Spiritual Mirror Image of One’s Self and the Foreigner", weaving a dynamic narrative with two threads, one apparent and the other concealed.
By employing the non-linear presentation of artworks by Chinese and Italian artists and in diverse artistic languages (i.e., the apparent thread), the exhibition intends to prompt travelers to keep raising questions to the city, awakening them at points of art and guiding them to seek the reflection of themselves in the mirror within the replies from the city (i.e., the concealed thread).
Thus, the purpose of the exhibition is not only for travelers to find answers to the city’s visual enigmas but also to outline their self-reflection and encourage their further contemplation on interpersonal relationships. As Calvino wrote in a dialogue between the Kublai Khan and Marco Polo in his novel, Invisible Cities, "As to the City of Utopia, even though we have not discovered it, we cannot abandon our efforts to seek for it."
DISCO Project was presented at the Transport Reasearch Arena in Dublin on April 16, 2024 in two sessions alongside other urban logistics projects, represented by several of our partners:
Special Session 2.3 Innovation in Urban Logistics: Public and Private Sectors Thriving Together
Date: Tuesday, 16 April
Time: 9:45am – 11:am CEST
Location: Hall 8A-3 (Simmonscourt)
Poster Session 3.4 Logistics and Sustainable Transport
Date: Tuesday, 16 April
Time: 2:30pm – 3:45pm CEST
Location: Hall 8C – Poster Area Simmonscourt, Stage 4
VIU has an open Erasmus+ call for application for short term doctoral mobilities to European VIU member universities.
A call has just been published for PhD students of select Erasmus+ VIU mobility consortium members to apply for a short term doctoral mobility to the following VIU member universities in Europe:
- KU Leuven in Belgium
- Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Germany
- University of Bordeaux in France
- University of Ljubljana in Slovenia
Rolling admissions are open until May 10, 2024.
Science communication has entered the public debate at different levels: it supports the societal dimension of science, levers significant funding opportunities for research, and contributes to build a successful dialogue with decision makers.
VIU Graduate activities are a unique opportunity to deepen specific knowledge through interdisciplinary lenses. Also, they offer highly qualified researchers opportunities to acquire transversal skills that not necessarily have been part of their disciplinary curriculum.
Science communication is one of those skills: more and more researchers find themselves to communicate their research to a wide audience, as it is the case with social media. This certainly might have a great impact in terms of visibility and recognition within the scientific community and, often, beyond but the message must be clear and coherent, and the messenger must be ready to positively and skillfully engage in (sometimes arduous) debates.
The Science Communication seminars offered within the VIU graduate seminars are based on the results and the Toolkits developed by QUEST project, coordinated by VIU and focusing on quality science communication: a series of Toolkits for scientists, journalists, museum explainers and social media managers are available in QUEST website, and can also be used on a free basis as self-learning tools.
Rolling admissions are open for the last places in some of our 2024 Summer Schools:
- Organizing for Sustainable Futures: Micro and Macro-Institutional Conditions of Transformation
- Linguistic Landscapes: Using Signs and Symbols to Translate Cities
- Advanced Transportation, Logistics, and Supply Chain Management
- Science Diplomacy in the Age of Climate Change
PCST Venice Symposium, September 28-30, 2023
At the Symposium in September, a Concluding Statement was issued to draw attention to the need for research and academic institutions to consider the strategic value of public communication of science, and to mobilize support for these activities.
The Statement highlights the multitude of benefits that investments in science communication can yield, including benefits to society (combating misinformation, making science accessible, equipping citizens to access the public debate on science), benefits to institutions (building reputation, increasing students’ employability, and becoming known as engaged and responsive civic institutions), benefits to research and researchers (offering new work perspectives, improved visibility, to be effective across disciplines, and helping to recruit new collaborators).
Public communication of science and research has more and more become part of the researchers’ job, often demanded by research funders and policy makers as a pathway towards societal impact of research.
The COALESCE project is establishing a European Competence Center for Science Communication and an associated Science Communication Academy (task led by VIU), to consolidate science communication knowledge, resources and tools from a variety of sources.
These will be made available to science communication stakeholders across Europe in ways that are useful and replicable in different contexts.
If you want to contribute and co-create the Competence Center, please join the COPs-Community of Practice: researchers, science-communication professionals, journalists, policymakers, citizens, industry professionals – among other actors – are invited to be part of our community of practice, where you will have the opportunity to be engaged in mutual learning, co-creation activities, training and be part of building the future European Competence Centre for Science Communication.
VIU is delighted to announce the addition of two prestigious institutions to the consortium: IUSS Pavia, Italy, and Sabancı University, Turkey. This significant expansion marks a pivotal moment as VIU approaches its thirty-year anniversary, and continues to grow and develop global engagement, further solidifying its position as a hub for interdisciplinary education, research, and collaboration.
Join the first webinar of the POLIS – ALICE Webinar Series 2024, focused on Physical-Internet (PI) led innovation!
Wed 27 March, 12-13 CET (online)
The webinar is public and will feature some of the PI-led innovations and actions that DISCO and URBANE EU-funded projects are currently implementing.
Click here for more info and agenda
Click here to register and receive the Zoom link
March 8, 2024
On the occasion of International Women's Day, we are honored to celebrate the impressive women teaching this semester at VIU in the Globalization Program!
Their research spans a range of disciplines from international law, architecture, renaissance studies, language acquisition, cross-cultural and international management, science communication, public engagement, sustainable development, environmental studies, innovative pedagogies and chemistry.
VIU has Erasmus+ calls for applications for student and staff mobilities in member universities.
Calls have just been published for both students and staff of select Erasmus+ VIU mobility consortium members to apply for a mobility to Stellenbosch University. The types of mobilities include staff mobility for teaching and staff mobility for training as well as student short term doctoral mobilities. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2024. Mobilities are to be concluded by July 31, 2025. Further details and the calls for applications can be found at the following link: https://www.univiu.org/erasmus/calls
VIU and Stellenbosch University are pleased to partner in this valuable opportunity to promote the strong international dimension of Erasmus+ mobilities, ensuring regular channels for people-to-people cooperation by promoting values, principles and interests around common priorities. The new 2021-2027 phase of the Erasmus+ programme reveals that South African participation continues at a high level. In fact, in 2022, 461 staff mobilities to Europe and 416 staff mobilities from Europe to South Africa were realized in the Erasmus+ programme. It is expected that 600 students from South Africa will undertake mobilities to Europe and a further 128 students take up mobilities to South Africa.
Last week, VIU was very happy to welcome a student benefiting from an Erasmus+ short term doctoral mobility from Stellenbosh University. The student participated in the VIU Graduate Seminar on Translation: Why Is It a Political Question? Perspectives In Philosophy and Translation Theory. Faculty from the University of Padova, KU Leuven, Waseda University, and University of Firenze supported students to work in a transnational context, across different disciplines, languages, and cultures. Workshops with invited experienced translators fostered students to compare different translation strategies and styles, possibly helping them to find their own. They discovered the political dimension of translation practices that are never neutral or transparent communication tools and learned about the political effects of their own translation activities.
