The hunt for gravitational waves resumes
The gravitational wave observatory Virgo, near Pisa, will begin its fourth observation campaign, named O4, in the spring. The third campaign ended in March 2020 and physicists are still publishing articles based on its data. Virgo and its US-based counterparts – the LIGO twin interferometers in Louisiana and Washington state – were supposed to start the O4 campaign together by mid-2023 after a round of technical updates to improve sensitivity. But when the date came, the Pisa team was still struggling to reduce background noise, the arch-enemy for gravitational observatories, and had to postpone its start date. Sensitivity is expected to double with the new campaign, allowing the observatory to detect two neutron stars merging at a distance of 60 megaparsecs instead of 30–50 as in the previous campaign, which is hoped will result in a wealth of new discoveries.
Field trials of gene-edited crops
Last April, the Italian government authorized controlled field trials of new assisted evolution techniques in agriculture, which include CRISPR/Cas9 and other gene-editing techniques that previously were only allowed in the laboratory. Agricultural geneticists in Italy, where research on traditional genetically modified organisms was blocked, welcomed the decision. So far, no research group has managed to go through the authorization process and begin a trial, but as the government only authorized experiments for 2024, the next few months will prove whether a new phase in Italian agricultural research is set to begin.
Will Italy approve a climate law?
Unlike Germany, France, Spain or the UK, Italy does not have a comprehensive law on climate policy. Two different drafts were presented to parliament in 2023 – one in June by a group of left-wing senators and another in October drafted by environmentalist groups, including WWF and Greenpeace. They aim to enshrine into law climate neutrality by 2050 (a deadline already set by European Union legislation), a definition of intermediate targets, the appointment of an independent scientific body to assist government on climate matters, and an end to the subsidization of fossil fuels. Pressure is mounting from climate experts and activists to approve a law in 2024.
European elections
In June, Italian parties will compete in the elections for the European Parliament. Environment, climate, energy, agriculture and research funding are all crucial matters of European policy on which Italian candidates will have to take a stand. The next legislature – and the next European Commission – will be decisive for the European Green Deal, the EU’s plan to reach climate neutrality by 2050. The parties that make up the current parliamentary majority in Italy have been at odds with recent climate policies adopted by the EU, such as the ban of internal combustion engines or more stringent energy efficiency requirements for buildings.
Time to get real for the recovery plan projects
Five new national centres and 14 new consortia on fundamental research were launched in Italy in 2023, funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan linked to the EU’s post-pandemic fund. They need start to show their worth in 2024 as they only have until 2026 to secure long-term sustainability before the European funds run out. Aside from the new centres, the education and research section of the PNRR is generally on-track, with the Ministry for Universities and Research reporting that it has reached nine of the 11 milestones in the plan and two of its 13 targets. Targets that must be met in 2024 include more than 600,000 new grants for university students and more than 30,000 new PhD positions.
Competition for the Einstein Telescope intensifies
Though a final decision is expected in 2025 or 2026, this will be another busy year for Italy’s bid to host the new Einstein telescope for gravitational waves. On 13 December last year, the Italian government pledged €950 million to the construction of the infrastructure in the Sos Enattos site in Sardinia, which is competing with a site on the Dutch/German border. Both bids need to produce evidence that their site offers advantages over the other, from less background noise to better infrastructure. But scientists do not rule out the possibility that a design based on twin interferometers in separate sites could prove better than a single one, as suggested by a recent study led by Italian physicist Marica Branchesi. If this was the case, the two sites could collaborate to submit a joint bid.
Another round of ERC grants
The European Research Council will assign another round of its coveted starting and consolidator grants in 2024, in Summer and Winter, respectively. The past few years have seen a repeated trend: Italian scientists get one of the largest shares of ERC grants, but a majority of them take the funds to institutions in other European countries. Successive Italian governments have been trying to fix the problem with tax incentives for scientists who move to Italy from abroad and more recently with new investments in research based on the EU’s post-pandemic recovery plan. Will 2024 see any sign of a reversing trend?
