Francesca Saviola, a PhD candidate from CIMeC of the University of Trento, is the recipient of the “Premio Ilenia Graziola” for her research work on the brain.
The 500-euro award, now in its ninth edition, honours the memory of Ilenia Graziola, a student of the Master's degree in Cognitive Science of the University of Trento and research collaborator at Fondazione Bruno Kessler who died prematurely on 23 November 2008.
The price is financed by a fund jointly established ten years ago by Fondazione Bruno Kessler and by the (then) Faculty of Cognitive Science (now managed by the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science and CIMeC), and is awarded to theses and research work in the area of cognitive science or human-computer interaction.
In the eleven years since the death of Ilenia, the prize has been awarded nine times: six times to students, three times to PhD candidates of the University, based on an evaluation by a committee made up of two members, one designated by the department and one by FBK.
This year, Francesca Saviola received the award for her work on the structural modifications of the brain in patients in the early stages of psychotic disorders (Evaluation of structural brain modifications related to first episode psychosis).
The award was presented to her by professor Massimo Zancanaro, with the family of Ilenia Graziola, during a ceremony that took place in the conference room of the Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science.