Author: Marietta Psarros
After grabbing a cornetto al pistacchio and a cappuccino (my go-to breakfast combo), I hopped on the 8:00 A.M. train from Modena to Bologna and began my fifth week in Italy! On Monday and Tuesday, I had the opportunity to work alongside students in the IRES cohort at the University of Bologna and learn from Professor Tommaso Salzillo about the spectroscopic techniques used in his research labs. Observing the process of aligning the lasers, collecting Raman spectra from various crystals, and discussing results with my peers helped deepen my understanding of the overall project as well as our samples’ molecular structures. On Monday afternoon was also the third group meeting of the summer, during which I presented an update to the rest of the cohort and the research group in Rochester on the progress being made so far with the recrystallizations in Modena. After wrapping up the day at the university, a few other students and I biked into the city center, enjoyed an aperitivo before dinner, and spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the Bologna crew’s apartment.
During the middle of the week, I was back in Modena to set additional plans for the summer with Professor Luca Catalano and other students in the cohort at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Currently, the lab group in Modena is determined to form single crystals from two distinct dipeptide samples. This has been quite difficult to do so far, but it has been fun experimenting with new solvent systems. Overcoming this challenge and successfully recrystallizing these two dipeptide molecules will make researching their thermally induced topochemical reactions even more exciting!
Since Modena is located directly between Bologna and Parma in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, it’s easy to access the other universities’ facilities and dive further into the world of crystal chemistry. On Friday, I found myself on another early morning commute, this time to the University of Parma. Professor Paolo Pio Mazzeo guided us through single crystal X-ray diffraction using the lab’s cutting-edge diffractometers to help us identify the unit cell structures and polymorphs of our crystals. It’s super awesome to see how different aspects of the overall project are pieced together across the three universities.
This weekend, I finally got around to visiting Modena’s local food market while also doing some shopping along Via Emilia Centro, the road slicing through the middle of the city. It felt great to rest and experience more of my home base for the summer, but by Sunday I was ready to travel once more. After a 3 hour train ride, I arrived in Venice, where I strolled through narrow streets, ate a caprese focaccia sandwich next to the canal, and took a photo on every bridge I stumbled across. Despite the heat, I still ultimately made my way from the train station to the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) and the Basilica di San Marco (Saint Mark’s Basilica). I feel so grateful for the opportunity to explore and appreciate a new part of Italy each week!
It’s hard to believe that the IRES program is already reaching its halfway point. I hope to have summed up even half of how incredible this experience has been so far, and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store for the 2026 cohort. Ciao ciao!
