Two USI projects selected in the competitive MAPS call

Two projects featuring Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and an affiliated institute were selected in the MAPS call (Multilateral Academic Projects), a joint initiative that promotes collaborative research projects between scholars in Switzerland and colleagues in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The initiative is supported by several national research funding agencies, including the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Each project is jointly evaluated, and funding is provided partly by the SNSF and partly by national funding agencies.

As of the application deadline on July 1, 2024, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) received 318 applications deemed eligible. The competition was intense, resulting in a final success rate of only 9%. Among the approved projects were two proposals from USI, one from the Faculty of Informatics and the other from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB).

The first project selected, titled "EXperiMental: Wearable Technology and EXplainable AI for Mental Health and Inclusivity in Schools", was presented by Prof. Marc Langheinrich, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics, in collaboration with Dr Martin Gjoreski (USI, Faculty of Informatics), Prof. Maroje Soric (University of Zagreb, Croatia) and Prof. Georgiana Juravle (University of Iași, Romania). It combines expertise from cognitive sciences, motor sciences, human behavioural sensing via wearable sensors and explainable artificial intelligence to promote sustained mental health inclusivity in schools. Mental health is crucial for overall well-being, especially during early adolescence. Artificial intelligence and wearable sensing offer new opportunities to monitor behavioural changes related to mental health (such as physical activity and smartphone use); however, their use to support early adolescence remains underexplored. The total funding approved is CHF 1,043,586, of which CHF 349,908 is allocated to USI, for a duration of 48 months.

The second project selected is titled "Extranuclear activities of genome maintenance protein complexes in stress response", and was presented by Prof. Petr Cejka of the USI-affiliated Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), in collaboration with Prof. Mihaly Kovacs (ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary) and Prof. Agnieszka Chacinska (IMol, Polish Academy of Sciences). It will study how mitochondria respond to stress and how the stability of mitochondrial DNA is maintained. The labs will look for factors involved in DNA metabolism in mitochondria, study how they are activated and how they function. Unlike nuclear DNA, the role of metabolic enzymes in mitochondrial DNA remains poorly understood, despite being associated with multiple pathologies. This project was also funded for 48 months with a total contribution of CHF 962,255, of which CHF 349,990 went to USI.

The excellent result achieved after the MAPS call highlights the quality of research conducted at USI and its affiliated institutes within a highly competitive and multilateral context.