(ANSA) - TRIESTE, 08 APR - "Sissa has a long history of collaborating with the Balkans, dating back to its founding. Not only do we teach students coming from the region, but we also entertain European joint research projects with many Balkan universities". Andrea Romanino, director of Sissa, International School of Advanced Studies in Trieste, is working to strengthen the bonds with the region to the East of the Italian border.

These relations had already been revived three years ago by ESOF 2020, an event that saw Trieste as the European Capital of Science, and that aimed to gather an audience especially in the Balkans.

"Sissa has a unique geographical position, as it stands at the gateway for the East and for the West and as it stands in an area which is rich in scientists and research institutions".

Romanino calls "important" the relationship that Sissa has with the Balkans because "from that area we recruit very talented students, with a great drive and core scientific knowledge".

Once they get to the Sissa "these students are endowed with a vast array of knowledge and skills which are going to allow them to find a career path in research, in business or in civil service. Whether they choose to return in their country of origin, to stay in Italy or to move to some other country, they are going to boost innovation and therefore be beneficial to the economy". Indeed, what they learn in their PhD are the "advanced knowledge and problem solving skills that allow them to face problems which had never been solved before". (ANSA).