The University of Verona strives for excellence in teaching, research and innovation. It has 22,000 students and 1,500 staff including lecturers, researchers, technical and administrative personnel who work to continually improve and grow the university.
A forward-thinking institution which continuously seeks to strengthen the link between its degree courses and the real world of work, the university’s main objective for the near future is to become progressively more welcoming and adapted to student needs.
Their plan involves increasing the production of certain plant biochemicals and microbial protein using an innovative cascading biorefinery design. They will then test these end-products with users in the agricultural and food sectors, considering how they are used and what happens to them at the end of their lifespan.
In simpler terms, the team wants to demonstrate and test new and efficient ways of creating valuable chains of products for the farming sector. They will evaluate how well these products perform in real-world conditions and ensure they are environmentally sustainable. Their aim is to develop business models that are both economically viable and ecologically friendly.
Key people
Professor David Bolzonella
David Bolzonella is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Department of Biotechnology of the University of Verona (Italy. He has a 25-year experience in:
• biogas production through anaerobic digestion of organic waste/residues of civil/industrial/agricultural origin;
• production of bio-based molecules from organic waste/residues;
• wastewater treatment for nutrients and micropollutants removal.
He participated to 10 EU funded projects, and published 150 papers cited more than 11,000 times (Google Scholar, June 2023).
E-mail address: david.bolzonella@univr.it
Professor Nicola Frison
Nicola Frison is Associate Professor at the University of Verona (Italy), Department of Biotechnologies. His research activities focus on:
• design, implementation and validation of advanced and innovative biological processes for wastewater treatment in pilot, demonstrative and full-scale reactors;
• resource recovery (polyhydroxyalkanoates, volatile fatty acids, cellulose, phosphorus, microbial proteins) from waste and wastewaters.
He published more than 80 papers and has a h-index of 28.
E-mail address: nicola.frison@univr.it