STAR_2

ITA | ENG

Project
The project, lasting 32 months, involves the upgrade of the STAR_2 research infrastructure in terms of expansion and extension of the services offered, with a view to increase the number of users. The main focus of the project is on the enhancement of the core part of the infrastructure, i.e. the TBS hard X-ray source, and the experimental stations connected to it: laser, electronics and control, radio frequency, radiation protection, mechanics and vacuum, data storage and computing. The increasing number of investigative techniques available and the creation of experimental stations also open to external users will improve this infrastructure with features that are unique in Italy and, in general, difficult to access at international level. Further action will be taken to improve the service laboratories (Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Biology, Modelling, Visualization and Simulation) which are dedicated to the analysis and characterization of traditional and innovative materials on different scales.

Financial Resources
The project was funded with 17.556.294,40 euro by the NOP Research and Innovation 2014-2020 as part of the action “Enhancement of Research Infrastructures” which supports projects aimed at the upgrading of 18 research infrastructures identified as priorities by the Ministry of University and Research in the PNIR 2014-2020, covering one or more ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) areas and having a significant impact on the trajectories of the National Smart Specialization Strategy, including the Areas “Smart and Sustainable Industry, Energy and Environment” and “Health, Nutrition, Quality of Life”.

Impact on the Territory
STAR_2 will foster scientific and technological excellence in southern Italy by preventing or reversing the brain drain and supporting world-class research in fields as diverse as biology, materials for industrial use and medical sciences through the basic properties of materials science, physics, chemistry and life sciences. The analysis, characterization and preparation on different scales (macro, micro and nano) of samples of traditional and innovative materials will provide an extended range of scientific and technological services in key areas such as electronics, optics, photonics, optoelectronics, flexible electronics, alternative energy materials and biomaterials.
The beneficiary of the funding is University of Calabria. The Calabrian scene has a number of players in this sector that have proved to have good opportunities for technology transfer in the fields of diagnostics and therapy of human diseases. For example, the extraction of information from big data in 3D and 4D matrices, made possible by the supercomputing systems of STAR_2, is a service that can be extended well beyond the Calabrian regional borders thanks to Internet technologies and Industry 4.0.

Further information (in Italian):

Scheda del Progetto STAR sul sito INFN

Accordo INFN e UniCal per l'analisi avanzata dei materiali (Askanews.it, 27 maggio 2021)

Ricerca d’avanguardia, in Calabria (La Nuvola del Lavoro di Corriere.it, 10 maggio 2016)

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26/04/2021