Singers appearing in opera singing competitions are typically ranked based on an overall score assigned by the judges. However, it has remained unclear exactly what elements in the singer’s voice contribute to these scores. In a new study, researchers analyzed opera singing recordings to identify the impact of various vocal characteristics and acoustic features on the scores assigned by the judges. Their findings could provide a scientific basis for future vocal training and education.

This study demonstrated that environment influences autism-like behaviours in genetically predisposed zebrafish. By altering perceived safety and anxiety levels, the study revealed that lack of social behaviour in ube3a mutant zebrafish could be improved, suggesting new therapeutic avenues that focus on environmental adjustments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The way in which babies are soothed could be more important than how quickly mothers respond, according to new research revealing cultural differences in how babies are comforted.  

Improving living conditions for Parkinson's patients, and diagnoses for patients suffering from inflammatory processes. The medical field is the common factor in these Politecnico di Milano research projects, which have been awarded two ERC (European Research Council) Starting Grants with a funding of 1.5 million each, for a duration of five years. The prestigious awards were won by researchers Emanuele Riva from the Department of Mechanical Engineering with the LUMEN project and Claudio Conci from the Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” with the ALFRED project. A total of 55 Italian researchers are among the 478 selected by the European Research Council for 2025, with a total of 761 million EUR going to support the proposed ideas.

The European Research Council (ERC) is funding the research project “SINOFANTASY – Studying Imaginative Otherworlds: Chinese Fantasy Fiction, Literary Politics, and Media Creativity” by junior professor Dr. Jessica Imbach (Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Freiburg) with around 1.4 million euros over five years.

The project examines Chinese fantasy and science fiction literature as a mirror and medium of social transformation since the 1990s.

The ERC Starting Grant enables Imbach to systematically build a research team to investigate the media, social and political dimensions of Chinese fantasy in the long term.