NEST Laboratory Inauguration

I have been working in one lab at the Cisanello hospital (in the outskirts of Pisa) and a second lab called NEST, the National Enterprise for NanoScience and NanoTechnology. The latter is a part of the physics department in the Scuola Normale Superiore. Although I’ve been working there since July, NEST didn’t officially open until today. There was high security at the inauguration and some of the politicians scheduled to come chose to cancel to avoid the protests in Pisa. As the Scuola Normale Superiore thrives on funding from the European Union, Italy continues to cut back on state funding for scientific research in light of the global economic crisis as well as long-term economic woes. Recent cut-backs affecting all levels of the Italian education system are causing a lot of unrest amongst university students. One of my friends from the University of Pisa is still unsure as to what he will be able to do after graduating in March because he does not know if the programs that interest him will even have the funds needed to take on any new students. I can’t help but feel a bit guilty that amidst the struggle young Italians face in finding funding for research, I’ve arrived in their country and contented myself with ample funding and a comfortable position in two of their labs. I am all the more grateful for the opportunity to work in this brand-new, lovely facility.

Delightfully symbolic of the relation between innovation and tradition in Italy, NEST is entirely hidden from public view, tucked behind an old church in the small Piazza San Silvestro. Actually, one would never guess that anything was hidden through the back gate in the church parking lot unless explicitly told to pass through those doors and look for the small NEST sign. It seems wonderfully Italian to take this academic gem and hide it away in the backyard of an aging architectural beauty in a state of mild disrepair.