Listen

Delegate for Research – Prof. Alessandro Aiuppa 

Departmental Research AQ Management Commission 

DiSTeM is an interdisciplinary department that carries out research in the field of environmental issues, combining disciplines that concern the fields of Earth Sciences and Natural and Environmental Sciences, focusing on theoretical foundations, the testing and analysis of environmental problems and systems, the development of methodologies for environmental planning and management and the application of modern technologies for the assessment and mitigation of the impacts of human activities. In this framework, DiSTeM coordinates, with an interdisciplinary approach and bringing them together in a single cultural context, research activities aimed at studying environmental processes and problems in a framework of sustainable development.

The professors and researchers of DiSTeM coordinate and participate, also through participation in Inter-university Consortia and international research networks as well as in Clusters and European Platforms, in national and international research projects in the following fields: marine geology, volcanology, geochemistry, petrography, sedimentology, paleontology, geomorphology, stratigraphic geology, structural geology, applied geology, mineralogy, mineral georesources and petrographic mineralogical applications for the environment and cultural heritage, applied geophysics, chemistry, analytical and environmental chemistry, environmental botany and botany, zoology, marine ecology and conservation of marine ecosystems, fisheries and aquaculture, marine biotechnology. DiSTeM pursues its research objectives through an increasing and active participation in competitive selections for the allocation of external financial resources. It should be noted, in this regard, the considerable impetus that have had over the last decade the project initiatives based on calls for direct funding of the European Community.

 

Despite its relatively limited number, the Department has laboratories with large equipment and the research boat "Antonino Borzì" and has an annual scientific production (as of 2015) of about 100 articles in indexed journals (Scopus, ISI Web-of-Knowledge), many of which have a high impact and great international diffusion.