IX edition
Science Is Cool Association
via Montecerviato, 130
Rome
Info:
Tel. +39 0781 1836191 (answering machine)
Info and reservations:
info@scienceiscool.it – www.scienceiscool.it
Electra Theatre
Lecture by Nunzio Tuccitto, University of Catania
Molecules are not just matter but also means of communication. In the microscopic world, chemical signals regulate vital functions such as heartbeat and thought. Science mimics these processes by creating synthetic molecular communication, where chemical messages transmit data between devices and cells. We will discover how this invisible language arises, combining chemistry, physics, and computer science, and how it could revolutionize the medicine of the future.
Lecture by Erika Del Grosso, University of Eastern Piedmont
When a new drug reaches the market, it is the fruit of years of work and collaboration between experts in biochemistry, pharmacology, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and physics. Together, they evaluate its efficacy, safety, stability, and tolerability. The long and complex journey is fraught with pitfalls and failures, but only the union of diverse scientific expertise can transform a molecule into a treatment capable of saving lives.
Target: middle and high school students
Scientific aperitif hosted by Erika Del Grosso (University of Eastern Piedmont)
When a new drug reaches the market, it’s the result of a lengthy process involving many professionals. Researchers from different scientific disciplines (such as biochemistry, pharmacology, chemistry, biology, mathematics, physics, and others) collaborate to demonstrate the efficacy, safety, stability, tolerability, and so on of a new molecule that could, after rigorous testing and rigorous controls, save lives. But the process is long and complex, can last many years, and is fraught with pitfalls and failures that only effective collaboration between diverse scientific expertise can help overcome, leading to success.
Target: middle and high school students
Electra Theatre
Conference by Roberto Franco, Italian Geological Society
What links the famous detective to science? The deductive method, or rather, abduction: a reasoning that, starting from objective and unprejudiced observation, leads to the most plausible hypothesis. As Holmes teaches, “Once the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Holmes does not fear the truth, unlike a society devoid of critical thinking. And in this, the detective resembles the scientist.
Conference by Mauro Mureddu (Sotacarbo S.p.A.)
Since it became clear that a progressive increase in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere causes environmental and climate damage, CO2 has become an enemy to be fought, a dangerous pollutant to be eliminated. Given that we can
significantly reduce it, but not completely eliminate it, as various human activities that produce CO2 will inevitably remain, the path to its reuse is now open. Starting with this unique molecule—which has no odor, is colorless, is impalpable, and our senses cannot perceive it, so for us it simply doesn’t exist—one of the options for its reuse is to produce, in combination with green hydrogen, a clean fuel characterized by the total absence of sulfur and very low emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter.
Electra Theatre
Lecture by Silvia De Francia, University of Turin
In medicine, what’s needed is not equality, but equity: recognizing the differences that also influence drug response. A sex- and gender-specific approach allows us to see patients more clearly. For years, diseases and drugs were studied only from a male perspective: until the 1990s, women were excluded from trials. Can men and women take drugs equally? No.
Conference by Laura Sanna, CNR-IGAG
Beneath our feet lies a hidden world of darkness and wonder: caves. Science explores them to understand the movement of water and air underground. We will follow the rain as it filters through the rocks, forming concretions and shaping unique environments. We will study microclimates, temperature, humidity, and air currents, which vary with the shape and position of the cavities. This research reveals the past climate and helps protect delicate environments.
Target: middle and high school students
Scientific aperitif hosted by Silvia De Francia (University of Turin)
The right approach to study in every medical discipline should not be based on the concept of equality, but rather on that of equity, a useful tool for highlighting the differences that characterize us, including in our response to medications. A sex- and gender-specific approach to treatment is, in fact, a lens through which we can see patients more clearly. Diseases, long studied only from a male perspective, must necessarily also be tailored to the female perspective. And the same must be true in the field of pharmacology. Yet, until the early 1990s, most drugs were tested excluding the female perspective. Women? Excluded from almost every trial. Can men and women therefore take medications in the same way? The answer is no.
Target: middle and high school students
Workshops organized by the Asproni-Fermi Mining Institute of Iglesias
Students from the Asproni-Fermi Institute in Iglesias, all studying different courses but sharing a common passion for science, technology, and communication, offer simple and innovative laboratory-based learning experiences.
During the Festival, it will be possible to actively participate in the workshops offered for the occasion.
Visitors, divided into groups, will be guided through this experience by students from the tourism course.
Since the dawn of the Universe, the components of matter have been grouped, linked, and intertwined in billions of combinations, generating everything that Nature has to offer. For millennia, human beings have sought to understand these combinations and create new ones, to improve and better themselves. Human lives intertwine, generating new stories; the experiences of scientists intertwine for discovery and progress, while ever more innovative materials emerge from the intertwining of already known and often diverse components.
This workshop aims to demonstrate the importance of the intertwining of different entities for achieving a better future, through fun and educational activities organized and presented
by the students of the three-year “Chemistry and Materials” program at the “Asproni-Fermi” IIS in Iglesias, at the historic museum on Via Roma. These activities are divided into two parallel paths:
• “Material Intertwinings,” to discover the effects of the intertwining of natural and artificial materials;
• “Narrative Interweavings,” to discover the beauty of Chemistry through the union of science and storytelling.
For each course, undergraduate students will propose experiments consistent with the current year’s theme, designed and developed by them with the sole technical support of their teachers. The ultimate goal will be to educate the public on the meaning of the word “Tramas,” meaning “interweaving,” in its broad and varied facets, raising awareness among the public about the exchange of ideas and mutual sharing because, as we know, unity is strength!
The three-year Electronics students will show visitors their achievements in the fields of automation and electronics, in particular:
• In traffic control and road safety: traffic lights and car washes;
• In energy saving, environmental protection, and energy production: construction of green generation plants;
• Applied to safety and the disciplines of other diploma courses at our institute: level indicators, mineral transport systems, safe operation of a machine tool, practical applications of polymer materials, practical applications of semiconductors;
• Sound and electronics: optical Theremin and audio amplifiers, distortion for electric guitar;
• Automation with microcontrollers (Arduino): applications to musical instruments, games.
The safety net. Prevention and awareness frameworks.
In this interactive workshop, children will embark on a multi-step journey that combines play, reflection, and collaboration. Through hands-on experiences and group activities, they will discover how workplace safety isn’t just a set of rules, but a true network of responsibility, care, and mutual respect.
Each step of the journey represents a “thread” that, when combined with the others, builds a solid foundation of awareness and prevention: because only together can we create a safe work environment for everyone.
Territorial Plots
The network that tells the story of the environment
A workshop for kids dedicated to discovering and protecting the environment through technology and direct observation. Like a grid guiding the flight of a drone, participants will build a “web” of knowledge together to read the landscape from above and understand its transformations.
By collecting images, data, and maps, they will learn to plan concrete actions to protect the environment, combining scientific curiosity and ecological responsibility. An experience that combines study, creativity, and awareness to build the future of our planet, one thread at a time.
Students from the Tourism course will welcome visitors and guide them through the most evocative places of the former Mining Institute and the workshops set up by the various Asproni-Fermi courses. At the end of the experience, visitors will be taken to the Tourism Course Workshop, where they can vote for the workshops that most impressed them using a voting booth. They will also attend an
exhibition of the Tourism course’s work and the most interesting experiences the students had.
Classes involved: 4 TUR – 5 TUR – 3 AFM
Students from the 3rd AFM and 5th SIA classes invite you to discover the invisible threads that guide our daily choices. In the Behavioral Economics lab, economic decisions become part of a web of emotions, perceptions, and intuitions: subtle threads that unite rationality and psychology.
Through games, experiments, and simulations, visitors will be able to put themselves in the shoes of economic decision-makers and understand how our choices often deviate from the rationality envisioned by traditional economic theory, intertwining with feelings and mutual influences, creating complex networks of interconnected behaviors.
An opportunity to understand that behind every decision lies a complex and fascinating story.
The game becomes a tool for knowledge!
Through playful activities, students in the 4A and 5A computer science classes will guide participants on a journey where fun and learning intertwine. Board games become a skills laboratory: problem solving, strategy, collaboration, and critical thinking are developed between one move and the next.
Several science-themed titles, in line with this year’s theme, will be presented to explore how science can come to life on the gaming table.
Classes involved: 4A INF – 5A INF
A laboratory where technology comes to life!
Students in the 4A and 5A computer science classes will guide participants through the world of coding, helping them understand how
programming language can become a creative tool capable of giving shape to ideas.
Through simulated scientific experiments in a digital environment, it will be possible to observe phenomena and processes interactively, combining science and innovation.
Finally, with educational robotics, participants will be able to get closer to how robots work, discovering how logic, ingenuity, and programming can work together to create real and fascinating solutions.
An experience to experience the future of technology firsthand… today.
Classes involved: 4A INF – 5A INF
Math Lab 1
In mathematics, as in life, everything is connected. Every idea, number, and figure is a thread in a vast logical fabric. When we learn to connect the threads correctly, mathematics becomes a fabric of relationships, not a set of rules.
Math Lab 2
Participants will discover that bubbles always behave the same way: they seek equilibrium, arranging themselves in shapes that reduce their surface area. This is the natural manifestation of the mathematics of efficiency.
Math Lab 3
Mathematics describes not only quantities, but also structures. Every pattern is a combination of order and repetition: the
visible form of an invisible law.
Classes involved: 3°A and 3°B LSA
Download the brochure 2025
2025 Edition
Opportunities for young people
2025 Edition
2025 Edition
2025 Edition
Experiments with humble materials. The ScienzaSocietàScienza Association opens its 2026 program with a special meeting with Professor Ugo Galassi, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, from 4:30 to 6:30 PM in Cagliari, at the Aula Magna of the Pacinotti Scientific High School. Free admission.
On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 10:30 a.m., in the Aula Magna of the Rectorate at Via Università 40, the Christmas Lecture “Critical Materials, Critical Decisions: The Future of the European Battery Industry,” given by Professor Silvia Bodoardo of the Polytechnic University of Turin, will be held.
On November 27, 2025, the Members’ Assembly of the ScienzaSocietàScienza Association elected the officers for the three-year period 2026-2028.
Il Consiglio direttivo e i soci dell’Associazione ScienzaSocietàScienza sono affettuosamente vicini al Presidente Davide Peddis e a tutta la sua famiglia per la scomparsa della cara madre Antonina Onnis.
In 2025, 12 candidates submitted their applications. They were joined by nine candidates from the 2024 edition, as required by the call for applications. The
