SHIFT-GEN investigates how narratives of climate change can affect young generations, proposing the first extensive study of young adult climate fiction (YA cli-fi) in English (2000-2023; interest age: 13-19 years). Emerging studies reveal that the chronic fear of environmental catastrophe is particularly affecting young people’s daily life. Feelings of climate anxiety and ecogrief are amplified by a sense of intergenerational injustice, with the so-called climate generation often portrayed as an innocent victim that adults are failing to protect. By adopting an ecocritical perspective, my research will examine whether YA cli-fi portrays young adults as assertive leaders and protagonists, shaping their own future. Moreover, combining recent developments in ecocriticism - namely econarratology, affective ecocriticism, and empirical ecocriticism - this project will investigate whether YA cli-fi is able to prompt the development of ecological citizenship, communicate fears and hopes about the future, and inspire creative thinking and long-term action. Given its scope and purpose, the proposed research is a timely contribution to current ecological debates and can offer significant insights on the connection between the health of people, animals, and ecosystems, engaging in a One Health approach. This three-year action will be undertaken under the supervision of Prof. R. Baccolini (UNIBO) and Prof. E. James (UIDAHO), and includes a secondment supervised by Prof. M. Caracciolo (UGENT). It will comprise a transversal training and the acquisition of transferable skills, as well as a targeted program of dissemination and communication activities. The project will also undertake citizen science research engaging with university students of the Emilia-Romagna region to explore the impact of YA cli-fi on young readers’ climate change emotions, thus employing the theoretical categories of the project to reflect on local communities and fragile landscapes.

REMoTIon proposes an innovative Compact Resonant Wave Barrier (CRWB) to mitigate railway-induced ground vibrations. Engineering implementation of current pile barriers is limited due to their large dimensions, especially in city centers. Instead, by exploiting the locally resonant metamaterials concept, the proposed research framework allows for designing barriers with practical engineering dimensions. The main research objectives of the project include: (i) analytical design of CRWB guided by dispersion laws by employing Multiple Scattering theory, (ii) numerical design and optimization of CRWB exploiting a mixed wave finite element method and machine learning technique, and (iii) fabrication and testing of CRWB on the field. The development of the REMoTIon project demands a multidisciplinary approach that can be guided through a multi-phase learning journey at three academic institutions involved: PennState University (18-months outgoing phase, supervisor Prof. Shokouhi, expert in wave propagation and machine learning), KU Leuven (6-months secondment phase, supervisor Prof. Degrande, expert in train-induced vibrations), University of Bologna (12-months return phase, supervisor Prof. Marzani expert in surface wave measurement, material testing, and prototyping). Under the guidance of these experts, new expertise in ground-borne vibration abatement, wave propagation in heterogeneous soil, machine learning, and signal processing will be achieved through a high-level training-through-research framework. Attending training courses, publishing research results in top international journals, and obtaining new transversal skills will reinforce my career and put me in a privileged place for a tenured researcher position in EU academia working on metamaterials. The REMoTIon project will be organized into 6 work packages (WPs). WP1 to WP3 will cover the objectives, while WP4 to WP6 will include the research training, exploitation/dissemination, and project management phases.

Every day about 4 millions of kilometres of asphalt pavements along the European road network allow the transportation of more than 70% of total passengers and goods. The continuous maintenance and expansion of the road infrastructures are key factors for the socio-economic growth and welfare of the European countries. Nonetheless, existing pavements represent a source of valuable materials (i.e. recycled aggregates and bitumen) that, adequately exploited, would allow the maintenance and new construction of roads in a circular economy perspective. The general, yet necessary, impetus of applying the green transition of industrial sectors also pervades the paving industry. Thus, it is urgent to make this sector less dependent on non-renewable resources, as well as less energy-demanding, to face environmental concerns. UPtoREPAVE proposes the development of innovative road binders, formulated with bio-based wastes that can be used with reclaimed asphalt pavement for the production of highly recycled low-energy paving materials. The developed materials will contribute to the gradual transition of the sector towards its complete restructuring in a carbon neutral vision. Sustainable paving materials produced at low temperatures (low GHGs) will be targeted, while fully exploit advantages and compensate drawbacks given by: the use of each selected material, their combination and their interaction with the recycled aggregates. The fellow will be supervised by renowned experts from the University of Texas at Austin, Delft University of Technology and University of Bologna, working on innovative pavements and sustainable materials. The multidisciplinary project will let the fellow acquire cutting-edge expertise and skills (including soft ones), improving her background on the chemo-mechanical analysis of road materials. The envisaged challenge of producing greener materials for a cleaner industry will be spread beyond the project duration in the academic and industrial fields.

Gender and racial discrimination are critical and pervasive problems in academic institutions world-wide. Apart from being underrepresented in some fields – such as STEM and Philosophy — gender and racial minorities are disproportionately vulnerable to sexual and racial harassment in Higher Education. In 2021, a report on universities in the UK determined that “women were nearly two-and-a-half times as likely to experience sexual violence as men, while staff on insecure contracts, those with disabilities, LGBTQ+, or black, Asian or minority ethnic were also at greater risk”. Academic institutions have sometimes sought to remedy to these exclusions by implementing diversity policies aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented groups among staff and students. However, and more problematically, even when diversity policies and measures to fight against sexual and other forms of harassment are in place, academic institutions tend to be more concerned with protecting the institution from reputational damage than with the safety and well-being of the victims. Reports that document the extent of these harms in universities point out that a change of culture is needed. If we do not address the cultural environment that feeds these violent forms of exclusion, diversity and anti-harassment policies will be insufficient. However, as long as we do not understand what makes this culture so persistent, we will lack the appropriate concepts and tools to change it. My contention is that, while sexual and racial harassment are among the most harmful and violent manifestations of oppression, they are rooted in an ecosystem of cognitive and emotional habits that sediment in exclusionary practices against minorities. My research project will be especially concerned with addressing these emotional conditions, by asking how oppressed and oppressors need to engage with their emotions in order to resist against oppression and build more cooperative ways of living together.