Research visit in Padova

In the third week of January 2026, Bastian was invited by the Department of Biology of the University of Padova to hold a research seminar for the PhD Programme in Biosciences. It was a great opportunity to visit the laboratory of Prof. Loriano Ballarin and, together with close collaborator Prof. Pedro Martinez who came from Barcelona, to add valuable samples for the tunicate project. We really appreciate the openess for collaboration and sample sharing!

The few days of the stay were filled with planned and unplanned meetings and gave opportunity to meet previous collaborator Umberto Rosani, with whom Bastian published an article on bivalve microRNAs in 2021 and Marco Gerdohl, a collaborator on developmental biology of bivalves who made the trip from Triest.

Bastian was shown the facilities and also met with Cristiano De Pitta, whose students had earlier visited our lab in Tromsø and attended the course we taught during the Oslo Bioinformatics Week 2025. New collaborations ranging from antarctic krill to whales were planned.

The visit in Padova also gave the opportunity to visit the Nature and Mankind Museum, which was impressive as it was recently reopened and gave inspiration for how new museums can look for The Arctic Unviersity Museum in Tromsø.

A visit to the famous Aula Magna Galilleo Galilei showcased the over 800 year old history of Padova.