On 21st March, Professor Massimo Inguscio, President of the Italian National Research Council (CNR), and a world-renowned quantum physicist, delivered a lecture entitled “Science and Europe - 60 years after the Treaties of Rome”, as the inaugural Enrico Fermi Lecture, as part of a lecture series instituted by the Embassy of Italy in Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute. According to the Ambassador of Italy to Cyprus, His Excellency Mr. Guido Cerboni, this visit, and the Lecture Series more generally, "is very important to reinforce cooperation between Italy and Cyprus in research and innovation". 

The Lecture focused on CNR’s efforts to build up its considerable international networks, from the Arctic to the Himalayas, recognizing the fact that science has no frontiers, and highlighting the role of scientists as pioneers of policy change in Europe. The main message was that while science contributes to creating Europe, Europe contributes to creating science. The talk was particularly important in the context of the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, and examined the role of the European Union in creating a multi-national research space, using as an example the “Flagship in Quantum Technologies challenge”, a ten-year programme involving all Member States, with a total investment of € 1 billion beginning in 2018.

Professor Inguscio, President of CNR, one of the largest and most prestigious research organisations in Europe, is a member of the National Academy of Lincei, and the Academia Europaea. He was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by the French Government, received the Enrico Fermi prize of the Italian Physical Society and the Herbert Walther Award of the Optical Society of America. He has been included in the Thomson-Reuters list of "most influential scientific minds" for his activities in atomic physics research. During his short visit to Cyprus, Prof. Inguscio had the opportunity to visit a few of the laboratories of the Cyprus Institute and discussed future collaborative projects between the CNR and CyI. Following his visit to the Cyprus Institute, Prof. Inguscio stated: “Both CNR and the Cyprus Institute are focused on future-oriented technologies, which is a strong basis for cooperation”.