Nicolò Marchetti - the KAIS Chair coordinator - teaches Near eastern archaeology at the University of Bologna and has a long experience in archaeological research in Western Asia, notably in Syria, Palestine, Turkey and Iraq. As scientific director of several excavation projects at important sites therein, he gave equal significance to the investigation of ancient remains and their fruition by the public through the creation of archaeological parks. The latter, addressed to both local communities and tourists, are acting as meaningful elements for the cultural and economic development of the surrounding areas. These activities have been implemented also through his coordination of several concluded EU-sponsored cooperation projects such as ARCHAIA, WALADU and EDUU. He is the editor the scientific web platform OrientLab. He directs the excavations of Nineveh in Iraq and Karkemish in Turkey and coordinates the BANUU and KALAM projects.