Lecce

The Research Unit at Third Parties (URT) in Lecce is based in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DiSTeBA) of the University of Salento, where it has offices and a multidisciplinary laboratory in which 20 staff members work. The URT was created to strengthen collaborations between IRET and the University of Salento, and as a crucial node in the connections between the European and Italian components of the LifeWatch research infrastructure, dedicated to the study of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The Lecce URT, within IRET, fosters an innovative approach to research on biodiversity and ecosystems, integrating scientific expertise with advanced IT tools for data production, management and modelling, respecting the principles of Open Science and FAIRness. Furthermore, it promotes advanced courses in e-biodiversity and ecosystem science at master, doctoral and post-doctoral level. These courses are organised in collaboration with European universities, with the aim of fostering the internationalisation of the URT and creating a network of scientific and cultural exchange. In this context, the fruitful collaboration between the URT, DiSTeBA and LifeWatch has favoured the implementation of regional, national and European projects.

The main areas of research at the site are: 

• Salute e resilienza degli ecosistemi terrestri (sistema suolo-pianta, ciclo dei nutrienti, dinamica e sequestro del C, degradazione e perdita di suolo); 

• Health and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems (soil-plant system, nutrient cycling, C dynamics and sequestration, soil degradation and loss);  

• Soil chemistry and physics, plant biochemistry and physiology;
  

• Sustainable management of ecosystems (agricultural, urban and industrial areas, forests, green infrastructure);

• Ecosystem pollution and contamination (monitoring, impacts, emerging contaminants, soil, sediment and water mitigation and recovery strategies, nature-based solutions); 

• Circular economy (green economy, bioactive molecules, waste utilisation, growth substrates and green chemistry).