The 2019 Claudio Demattè prize has been awarded to:
- L’efficacia di uno spot pubblicitario (The efficacy of an ad spot), di Ilenia Paparella
- Strategie di difesa per la quercia da sughero minacciata da un coleottero (Cork oak defense strategies against a type of beetle), di Stefano Nones
The 25 thousand euro grant, established to commemorate Trento-born economist Claudio Demattè, aims to support young Master's graduates or PhD candidates of the University of Trento or resident in Trentino, to continue their studies, carry out research work or further specialize in a foreign country.
The award ceremony, organized by Associazione Amici di Claudio Demattè with the University of Trento, gruppo GPI and Giovani Imprenditori di Confindustria, will take place on 19 October, at 10.30 at Grand Hotel Trento.
On the occasion of the awarding ceremony Simone Marino, who was awarded the Demattè prize in 2012 and is currently an official of the European Commission, an expert in public policies and coordinator of the structural reform support service at the EC, will give a lecture on "L'insostenibilità dell'immobilismo. Il futuro dell'Italia tra riforme mancate e promesse tradite".
"Since the first edition in 2006, 14 young scholars have received the 25,000 euro grants to continue their education and specialization abroad" commented Michele Andreaus, president of Premio Dematté.
The prize was created to strengthen economic sciences, but over the years opened up to include the areas of biology, sociology, law, international studies and philosophy.
This year, Ilenia Paparella earned her master's degree in Psychology from the University of Trento, and Stefano Nones earned his in Viticulture and Oenology from the University of Trento and in Agricultural Science from the University of Bolzano/Bozen.
For her study period abroad, Ilenia Paparella is planning to study the efficacy of advertising spots. "The efficacy of video advertisements – she explained – depends on the level of attention of the audience. That is why advertisements focus on a small number of elements which usually have an emotional content, to capture an increasing amount of this limited resource through automatic and fast processes, often with no or little consideration for the quality of the message. Cognitive neurosciences, through perceptual grouping techniques, that is the process with which we gather multiple inputs in a single unit, can be used to reorganize ad spots to make them more effective and resilient in the viewers' memory, thus increasing the quantity and quality of the content and its transmission".
Stefano Nones, on the other hand, will focus on how to protect cork oaks from a particular pest. "Cork oaks – he explained – are a crucial evergreen species of the Mediterranean area, which is now declining in number. Higher temperatures and long droughts have an impact on the trees' physiology and on the ecological relations of insects and microorganisms, with unpredictable behaviours. In Portugal, the ambrosia beetle (Platypus cylindrus), which was a secondary pest until the 1980s, became a serious threat to forests in only thirty years, capable of destroying a healthy tree in only three years. My project is to study the beetle's attraction dynamics to these trees and to identify possible defense mechanisms using an approach based on ecological chemistry, to design environmentally sustainable strategies and chemical compounds.
About the prize
The Claudio Demattè prize awards a 25 thousand euro grant to a Master’s graduate or a PhD candidate from the University of Trento or resident in Trentino but from another university, to continue their studies, carry out research work or further specialize abroad. Works from all discipline areas will be welcomed, provided that they involve aspects of economics, management or the business sector, in a broad sense. Those focusing on the following areas are of particular interest: entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, social innovation and social care, fintech and financial innovation, social cohesion, sustainability and renewable energy, humanities approach and philosophical basis to support economic and management decisions, search for new economic paradigms and business models.