Archive 2011 Published on 01.06.11 CRANN's Dr Silvia Giordani welcomes high school students <p> Dr Silvia Giordani, CRANN Investigator and Lecturer in TCD’s School of Chemistry, demonstrated recently her passion for communicating science to young people by coordinating a visit to CRANN for a group of students from her old high school. Five lucky teenagers and three former students from the Giulio Natta Institute in Bergamo, Italy travelled to Dublin and experienced two days of lectures, demonstrations and tours around CRANN and TCD, giving them a unique opportunity to find out more about what it is like to work in nanoscience research. The students were accompanied by professor Ilaria Iseni and Pia Locatelli, president of Zaninoni Foundation. <br /> <br /> Dr Giordani commented “It has been a great pleasure hosting them and I wish to sincerely thank all my collaborators here at Trinity for their time and their help with the lab tours, demonstrations and lectures during the two days. During my time with the students and also in their presentations their genuine passion for research clearly emerged and I am really happy I can contribute to feeding their hope for a better future for our society”.<br /> <br /> Dr Giordani’s main research focus is working on the design, synthesis, and characterization of a range of carbon-based nanomaterials that are intended for applications in smart and responsive bio-related nanotechnologies. These could be used to detect and treat a range of diseases earlier and in a more targeted manner, or as components in more efficient green energies. To date, Dr. Giordani has authored 40 peer-reviewed publications that collectively have received approximately 1,200 citations and her results have been highlighted in journals such as Science, Nature, and New Scientist. Dr Giordani also provides significant input to the Education and Outreach programmes within CRANN and TCD. She is on the steering group for Science Foundation Ireland’s UREKA programme (2008-2011) and regularly provided lectures to TCD’s SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) students. She is also a member of the Leonardo Group, TCD Science Gallery.<br /> <br /> The school visit to CRANN arose as a result of Dr Giordani’s collaboration with professor Tiziano Pedruzzi , coordinator for the SolarLab at the Giulio Natta Institute. The “mentoring juniors” project began in January with a lecture on nanotechnology and CRANN given by Silvia to seventy students at the school. The top 11 students and three tutors, former students now at the University, had the chance to meet Silvia again during the middle of March to take chemistry classes in English.<br /> <br /> “I’ve been really impressed with the level of interaction between the students and myself and their knowledge of chemistry. The students were divided into three groups and researched projects on energy, memory and cancer. This work together with their visit to Trinity has provided a taste of their possible future careers in scientific research” said Giordani.<br /> <br /> Tiziano Pedruzzi commented “We would like to thank Silvia Giordani for her enthusiasm and generosity with both her time and her ideas for the project. We would also like to thank Zaninoni Foundation and Confindustria Bergamo for supporting this project which allows us to bring Nanotechnology into the school.” The aim of the Zaninoni Foundation, which is non-profit-making, is to perpetuate the unconventional and stimulating influence of the entrepreneur A.J.Zaninoni, through cultural promotion and training relating to all levels of work - from labour to entrepreneurial.<br /> <br /> The visit attracted a lot of media attention locally, with articles appearing in many newspapers. As Silvia explained in one local press piece, “I think of Natta students as younger brothers and sisters who have a passion for science.” (L'Eco di Bergamo, 14th April 2011)<br /> </p> Back to News Listing