Master’s student, LM-11
Bachelor’s thesis on the biofilm of Casino Algardi
Master’s thesis on the Etruscan collection of the Sergi Museum.
During my Bachelor’s (L-43) I studied the biofilm — the biological patina of microorganisms — that colonises the walls of Casino Algardi in Rome. The aim was to understand which organisms degrade the surface and to test a “green” biocide based on liquorice, a more sustainable alternative to traditional chemical products. In practice I moved from collecting samples in situ to observing them under the microscope in the lab.
With my Master’s I shifted to a different project: the bioarchaeological reassessment of the Etruscan collection of the “G. Sergi” Museum of Anthropology at Sapienza. Here biology is applied to ancient human remains, to reconstruct information about who those people were and how they lived.
What I didn’t expect, when I enrolled, was how much “lab work” lies behind a cultural asset: you don’t restore it with your hands, you analyse it with scientific instruments. That is exactly what I’d tell anyone choosing the programme: it is science applied to heritage, not hands-on restoration. If you are drawn to the idea of using a microscope to take care of history, this is the right place.
