The first National Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence has been set up in Messina thanks to the contribution of the National Research Council (CNR), several prestigious Italian Universities, including the University of Messina, and the C.O.T., a Polyspecialist Institute in Messina, the only SME involved in the project.
This is a prestigious achievement for C.O.T., whose management team, led by Dr. Marco Ferlazzo, authoritative member of the Advisory Board of the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, has led the company to distinguish itself in the private healthcare sector by dedicating resources to the most advanced research.
The National Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence (www.PhD-AI.it ) aims to prepare researchers, at the moment with two three-year cycles (2021-2024 and 2022-2025) and 225 co-funded scholarships and further 49 financed by the organisations involved, to meet the needs of a society that is changing and transforming digitally. The project stems from the desire to bring together 55 universities from all geographical areas of the country, three public research bodies (INFN, INGV, INDAM), and three private organisations, including C.O.T. of Messina (Istituto Clinico Polispecialistico Cure Ortopediche Traumatologiche S.p.A. ), Fondazione Bruno Kessler and the Human Technopole, to offer – with the contribution of interdisciplinary profiles such as computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, bioengineers, physicists and jurists, and thanks to the collaboration of various excellences – five working areas to address issues such as technology transfer and AI adoption by companies.
The role of C.O.T. is included in the Health Area of the AI Ph.D., and this programme will be launched with the involvement of the Research Unit of the Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome (a leading university of the project together with the Polytechnic of Turin, La Sapienza of Rome, the Federico II of Naples and the University of Pisa) in “Advanced Robotics and Person-Centred Technologies”.
Dr. Marco Ferlazzo, President and CEO of C.O.T., affirms that it is a great prestige for the institute to be the only Italian SME among the partners of the first Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence. The common financed research theme of the Ph.D. regards the cognitive and motor rehabilitation of patients affected by autism spectrum disorders or by pathologies linked to cognitive degeneration, through the use of robots equipped with AI algorithms. In particular, C.O.T., as leading partner, will provide Ph.D. students with its experience in the field of sensors and deep learning, developed through funded research projects such as TOTEM (Total Ergonomic Measurement Platform), PLATFORM (Materials, Processes and Advanced Technologies for the implementation, monitoring and functional validation of osteotomy interventions) and ShowMotionHome4COVID.
Furthermore, Flavio Corpina, managing director of C.O.T., who developed the project together with Giovanni Pioggia, head of the Messina branch of IRIB-CNR, explains how the project is the culmination of a long process of relations, research, and comparison. What characterises this project, in particular, is the direct impact on the National Health Service, enhancing human capital, and the innovation ecosystem; at the same time, it will have an indirect impact on the entrepreneurial system, implementing paths of excellence in prevention, diagnostic-therapeutic and rehabilitation, in the thematic areas concerning cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms of pathophysiological processes, applications of basic research in preventive diagnostic and therapeutic fields, epidemiology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, rare diseases, and biomathematics.
The President of the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, Giuseppe Marino, congratulating Dr. Ferlazzo and the entire staff of the associated company C.O.T., hopes that the international scope of this initiative will also provide an important impulse to the development of the various projects of which the Chamber is promoting, with the aim to strengthening relations between Italy and Cyprus by working on models of excellence that combine Healthcare and Innovation.
For information and insights on the content of this article and on the activities of the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce: segreteria@camcomitacipro.it
Last modified: June 4, 2021