Staff

Professor Alma Mater and Head of the Microchemistry and Microscopy Art Diagnostic Laboratory (M2ADL) 

He has devoted all his career to science for conservation and coordinated many national and international project among which the establishment in 1998 of the Xi’an Centre for the Restoration of Cultural Relics in China (1995-1998), the CURRIC project aimed at developing curricula for post-graduate education in science for conservation (2000-2003) and the first European PhD in Science for conservation (EPISCON project, Marie-Curie, VI Framework Programme (2005-2009).

Author of numerous scientific papers published within national and international journals. His main research interest and expertise deal with the application of advanced molecular spectroscopies (FTIR and Raman) to the study of paintings and metal alloys.

Associate Professor since 2016 and a member of the didactic commission and of the council of the Department of Chemistry, University of Bologna.

Since 2022 Silvia Prati is a principal investigator for the UNIBO local team in the National project Superstar (PRIN) and the European project GOGREEN.

Silvia Prati's research aim is studying the manufacturing technique, the state of conservation of the object or monument, and the identification of new restoration procedures.

Author of more than 95 publications in journals with IF, Participation in more than 80 conferences of national and international interest, Publication in book chapters.

Publications

Giorgia Sciutto has been an Associate Professor since 2023, teaching various topics in the CHIM/12 Chemistry of the Environment and Cultural Heritage course at the Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", University of Bologna. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences from the University of Bologna.

Her research focuses on the development of advanced analytical approaches for the characterization of Cultural Heritage materials, with particular emphasis on:

FT-IR Spectroscopy and Microscopy in the mid and near-infrared spectral ranges
Raman and X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy
Multispectral and Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI)
Chemometric methods for analyzing analytical signals and processing hyperspectral chemical maps
Immunochemical methods

She is the author of 55 articles published in ISI journals, with an H-index of 15 and 715 citations (Scopus). Additionally, she has contributed to 8 book chapters, various catalogues, and has presented at approximately 85 national and international conferences, including three invited oral presentations.

Publications

Lucrezia Gatti has a BSc and MSc in Conservation and Diagnostic of Cultural Heritage (Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy), and a Ph.D. in Chemistry for the Environment and Cultural Heritage (University of Bologna, Italy). She is currently a postDoc researcher at the University of Bologna, Italy. Her research interests focus on the development of analytical protocols combined with data-processing approaches for artistic and archaeological materials.
In particular, she uses spectroscopic, immunochemical, chromatographic, and mass spectrometric approaches for the characterization and investigation of artistic and archaeological remains (bones and teeth).

Zelan Li holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Conservation Science from the University of Bologna and completed her PhD in 2024 in Cultural and Environmental Heritage, specializing in Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage. She is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bologna.

Since PhD, her research has focused on developing innovative, non-invasive methodologies for artwork analysis, particularly through hyperspectral imaging and chemometric-based data processing. Currently, she is involved in the PRIN 2022 project, aims on evaluating NIR and X-ray penetration depths to advance 3D spectral imaging in the NIR and XRF regions for complex samples. 

PhD student in Heritage Science enrolled at Sapienza University of Rome starting from 2022, her doctoral studies are funded through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), European Union – NextGenerationEU, as part of PE5-Changes – spoke 5. She is carrying out her research activities in collaboration with Alma Mater Studorum - Bologna University, at the Microchemistry and Microscopy Art Diagnostic Laboratory (M2ADL), Ravenna Campus.

Her research concerns the development of technologies for the diagnostics, monitoring, and study of Cultural Heritage, with emphasis on advanced analytical methods for the characterisation of human remains. Her current focus is the detection of amelogenins in modern and archaeological enamel by means of innovative biosensing platforms and mass spectrometry.

Valentina has obtained her BSc in Diagnostics and Materials for Conservation and Restoration at the University of Florence in 2020, and her MSc in Science for the Conservation – Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the University of Bologna in 2022.

Francesca Ramacciotti  is a post-doc researcher at the Chemistry Department “G. Ciamician” of the University of Bologna. From 2019 to 2023 she was a PhD student in Environmental and Cultural Heritage at the University of Bologna. Her main research focus was on the development and testing of micro and nano-structured materials for the cleaning of works of art. Specifically, the methods she developed aimed at removing aged varnish from paintings and spray paint over-paintings from contemporary mural paintings. She is currently involved in the European project GoGreen focusing on the development of sustainable materials for cleaning artworks that will have an equal or greater effect than traditional materials that are more harmful to the environment. Part of this process includes the development of analytical protocols to assess the effects of their innovative treatments.

Burcu Keser is a PhD student at the University of Bologna since January 2022 and her focus is the development of green cleaning systems for the cultural heritage.

She has been involved in European GoGreen project and works in collaboration with the company SAATI SPA in which greener materials has been formulated. Her study is aiming to minimize harmful effects of toxic materials to the operator, environment and artworks and also developing analytical protocols for the evaluation of cleaning mechanism and efficiency. 

Burcu holds a Master of Science Degree in Science and the Technology for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage from Sapienza University of Rome, and Bachelor's degree in Chemisty from Istanbul Technical University.

Mingchi Ma has a Bachelor's degree in Appreciation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage from Nanjing University of the Arts (2017) and dual Master's degrees: one in Science for the Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Heritage from the University of Bologna (2021), and another in Conservation-Restoration of Cultural Heritage from Nanjing University of the Arts (2022).

His Master's studies focused on developing innovative cleaning methods specifically for the conservation of cinematographic films. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student in Cultural and Environmental Heritage at the University of Bologna. His research applies advanced spectroscopic techniques and data processing methods to analyze and preserve diverse cultural heritage artifacts, including archaeological objects, paintings, and cinematographic films. 

Emilio Catelli has been a research fellow at the Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, since October 2016. In the same year, Emilio obtained a PhD in Chemistry at the Norwegian University NTNU in Trondheim and simultaneously teaching the laboratory course in General Chemistry at the university.

During his PhD (2012-2016) Emilio carried out research activities related to the analysis of pictorial materials and degradation products of works of art with non-invasive hyperspectral imaging techniques (Hyperspectral Imaging). He also studied the statistical analysis of spectral and hyperspectral data with chemometric techniques.

His research interests focus on the characterization of artistic materials using spectroscopic and hyperspectral imaging techniques, as well as infrared and X-ray techniques.

Publications

Research fellow at the Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician of the University of Bologna, at the laboratory of Microchemistry and Microscopy of Cultural Heritage (M2ADL) of the Ravenna Campus.

Giulia is currently collaborating on the project "GoGreen”, with the aim of developing green, reproducible and micro-invasive cleaning methods for street art works.

Demian Spaleta has obtained the international master's degree in Sciences for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage at the University of Bologna and graduated with 110/110 cum laude on the topic New sustainable cleaning systems for the removal of vandalistic graffiti from street art, focusing on the development and testing of innovative and green cleaning systems based on non-woven fabrics produced with electrospinning technology and bio-based organogel.

Demian has been a research fellow at the Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, since April 2024. Research interests include vibrational spectroscopy, multivariate data analysis, archaeometry and the development and evaluation of green and innovative materials for the conservation and restoration of cultural heritage.

Demian's scientific activity includes a participation in the PRIN project with title: MEDUSA - marine outdoor bronze surfaces: a methodological approach and Professor Rocco Mazzeo as his tutor.

 Ilenia Saraceno has a master’s degree in Chemistry (University of Bologna, Italy), with a thesis titled “Hyperspectral imaging and chemometric techniques for the identification and characterization of microplastics in different environmental matrices”.

Since October 2024, she has been a research fellow at the Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician of the University of Bologna, she is collaborating on Project “DIORAMA – A deep dive into the study of microplastics on aqueous matrices”. The project aim is to develop analytical methodologies for the analysis of microplastics in aqueous matrices, implementing standardized and reliable analytical methods to be applied in environmental monitoring campaigns. In particular, her research focuses on the use of molecular microscopy techniques: micro-FTIR and Raman and hyperspectral imaging (HSI), combined with data-processing approaches using multivariate techniques, which allow for determining the chemical composition and the effects of aging on polymer identification. She is also involved in the characterization of samples using stereomicroscopy and optical microscopy and in the preparation of standard microplastic suspensions and their subsequent filtration.