Five USI projects selected by the Swiss National Science Foundation's Ambizione 2024 call for proposals

Five researchers from USI and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), affiliated with USI, have been selected from the Ambizione 2024 call for proposals of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). The projects range from finance to artificial intelligence, from sleep medicine to biomedical sciences, to the study of the immune system and new cancer therapies.

Ambizione is promoted by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and is designed for early-career researchers who wish to develop and lead a project independently at a Swiss academic institution. The idea behind this programme is to provide a springboard for consolidating scientific independence by supporting both the beneficiary's salary and the costs necessary to conduct the research.

Five projects have been selected at USI for the 2024 edition:

Emanuele Guidotti - Faculty of Economics, Institute of Finance (IFin)

Project: Financial Market Microstructure, Big Data, and AI

The project develops a price formation model to bridge the gap between low-frequency historical data and high-frequency data, allowing liquidity to be estimated in past periods and the impact of artificial intelligence on future financial markets to be simulated.

Alberto Martín López - Faculty of Informatics, Software Analytics Research Team (SEART), Software Institute (SI)

Project: SAPIENS: Supporting the API Lifecycle with Neuro-Symbolic AI

The research aims to improve the development and maintenance of web APIs through artificial intelligence tools, addressing the numerous stages of the API lifecycle - from documentation to testing - and integrating AI effectively and sustainably into the work of developers.

Anna Castelnovo - EOC

Project: Mental and Neural Correlates of NREM Parasomnias in Children

The study investigates NREM parasomnias in children, episodes in which characteristics of sleep and wakefulness coexist in different areas of the brain. The aim is to clarify the mental and neural correlates of these automatic behaviours, often accompanied by dreamlike or hallucinatory experiences.

Gea Ceregehetti - Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), affiliated with USI

Project: The Roles and Regulation of Protein Phase Separation in Immune Responses and Ageing

The research explores the mechanisms of protein phase separation, which are fundamental to cellular organisation and involved in processes such as metabolism, immune responses and ageing. The aim is to understand how alterations in these processes are linked to neurodegenerative, autoimmune and cancerous diseases.

Marc Rigau Cortal - Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), affiliated with USI

Project: Harnessing Gamma-Delta T Cells for Cancer Therapy

The project studies the role of gamma-delta T cells in identifying infected or cancerous cells, analysing the activation mechanisms and function of BTN complexes. The approach aims to develop new therapeutic strategies, including solutions based on engineered bacteria for cancer treatment.

With the 2025 edition, the SNSF is introducing important changes: it will no longer be possible to hire doctoral students or postdocs within projects, and the maximum amount of funding available for four years is reduced to 250,000 Swiss francs. The 2025 call opened on 5 August and will close on 4 November, with the results of the first phase expected in April 2026.