Yesterday, the Students Challenges NODES Spoke 6: an opportunity for local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) took place, including the awards event for the winners of the 2025 Students Challenges, and the presentation of the Students Challenges promoted by the University of Pavia in the “beyond-NODES” phase.   During the event held on Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. in the Aula Disegno at the University of Pavia, it was announced that the 2026 Students Challenges call for Spoke 6 will be published by the end of the year. It will be aimed at proponents operating in Business to Consumer (B2C), with no more geographical restrictions (micro–small–medium enterprises and other entities), and it will continue to involve students from the University of Pavia’s Advanced Digital Marketing course in developing digital marketing plans for participating companies. The goal is to improve brand awareness and engagement, focusing on competitiveness at both national and international levels.   The finalists and winners of the 2025 edition were then awarded. Between March and June 2025, more than 100 students from the University of Pavia’s Advanced Digital Marketing course, taught by Dr. Elisa Conz, worked in groups of three on tailored solutions to the challenges proposed by the three companies—Bonizzoni, Frigerio and Il Sabbione—selected by the 2025 call.   Here are the names of the finalists and winners of the 2025 proposed challenges:   Marketing Challenge Az. Agr. Bonizzoni FINALISTS Valentina Patriarca – Tommaso Salvini – Sonia Manca Gabriele Puppin – Gioele Siddi – Antonino Mazzola WINNERS Daniele Ronzoni – Gioia Colella – Margherita Ghezzi   Marketing Challenge Az. Agr. Frigerio FINALISTS Simone Amico – Martina Bulzomi – Simona Galeno Nicla Centorame – Alessia Lobrano – Vera Silvestro Delpueyo WINNERS Valentina Dallabrida – Sara Occoferri – Emanuele Menghini   Marketing Challenge Il Sabbione FINALISTS Nicolò De Ruvo – Leonardo Brigo – Matteo Gibertoni Claudia Parisi – Gaia Tradi – Noemi Basile WINNERS Giulia Rubini – Alessia Aiachini – Camilla Roccatagliati

Prof. Graziano Rossi, scientific coordinator of the Flagship Project VINO, was invited to the event “The future of rice begins with water – Agriculture and climate change: strategies for sustainable development,” held in the Aula Magna of the University of Pavia on November 3. Speakers included Silvia Garavaglia, Gianfranco Comincioli, and Ettore Prandini—presidents of Coldiretti Pavia, Lombardia, and the national organization, respectively—Andrea Beduschi, Regional Councillor for Agriculture of Lombardy, and Andrea Giuliacci, a well-known meteorologist.   Prof. Rossi spoke about the challenge of continuing to cultivate vines in areas of the Oltrepò Pavese that are particularly affected by climate change—an issue central to his research in the VINO project—focusing on cover crops and on possible alternative crops to vines, such as olive trees. He also had the opportunity to show an under-vine mulching machine through a video filmed at the project’s VINO pilot research sites.   He also presented the cascade-call projects OLIOP (a project that laid the foundations for a possible olive-oil supply chain in the Oltrepò Pavese) and APNR (the Pinot Noir Academy in the Oltrepò Pavese), in which he was involved as a specialist consultant.   The research and innovation activities of the projects funded by Spoke 6 VINO, OLIOP, and APNR have created solid foundations and partnerships that continue beyond NODES. On Tuesday, November 4, at the Enoteca Regionale della Lombardia (Broni, PV), the information initiative “OLIOLTREPO” was held— a free event to highligth main results, with the aim of bringing farmers, consumers, and all citizens closer to the research and expertise developed in recent years.

Successful participation by Spoke 6 at the “Borsa della Ricerca” (BdR), held in Catania from October 1–3, 2025, an event by Fondazione Emblema. The Spoke took part in multiple one-to-one meetings with companies, a dedicated CrossRoads session, and the new initiative “Stories”. In addition, the Academic PoC Biorestart 4.0 was awarded by GB Foods at the end of the pitch competition. The Borsa della Ricerca is an event designed to foster connections among the world of university research (groups, departments, spin-offs), startups, companies, incubators, and investors (public and private) through an original interaction format that concretely supports technology transfer and research funding.     The CrossRoads was a moment of dialogue with R&D managers from relevant companies. At the event — which saw participation from companies such as CNH International, Deimos, Fine Foods, GBFoods, Gruppo Mezzacorona, Irritec, Isagro, Morato Group, Pfizer, and Star — the Spoke had the opportunity to showcase results achieved in terms of technologies (in the Flagship Projects, in projects funded with companies, industrial PhDs, and Academic PoCs) and to discuss next steps. Some of the companies had already taken part in last year’s CrossRoads and in the NODES Spoke 6 RoadShow held in April in Pavia, demonstrating strong interest in the Spoke’s research and innovation activities.     Dr. Lucia Marazzi (serving as Deputy Manager of the Spoke) took part in the Stories initiative, giving an interview to journalist Franco Ferraro, editor-in-chief of SkyTG24, which was broadcast live on Fondazione Emblema’s YouTube channel.     Finally, the Spoke brought to the BdR two business ideas from the Academic PoCs Biorestart 4.0 and DEMETRA, winners of the startup competition held in June. Both projects were able to manage a schedule of meetings (about ten each) with the companies in attendance.   Marco Carnevale (DEMETRA): “I spoke with Leonardo, Star, Isagro, Lutech, Nippon Gases, Love-Italy, and Rurinnova. The event enabled a fruitful exchange of ideas and allowed me to identify the real needs of industry. Opportunities emerged to use the simulator in training contexts in the agricultural sector (Rurinnova) and as an experiential system for tourism (Love-Italy).”     Enrico Doria (Biorestart 4.0, winner of the GB Foods prize): “We filled our meeting schedule right after registering on the BdR website and had the chance to speak with major companies in our sector of interest; I also got to meet several start-uppers, even from different fields, with whom we exchanged important and interesting information about how to navigate entrepreneurial environments. We had the opportunity to get our market proposal known. But the most important aspect concerns validation of the market itself: we prepared a series of ad-hoc questions to better understand the value of our USP, to confirm or adjust the SWOT of our products/services, and to validate our business model in general. After the event, we were contacted by some companies in the food sector and some in the cosmetics sector. We are now considering establishing ourselves as a startup and are preparing for a meeting with the GB Foods board in Spain.”

On September 26, 2025, researchers from the University of Pavia involved in the NODES – North-West Digital and Sustainable project took part in SHARPER Night 2025 in Pavia, held at the University’s Central Building. The event offered an important opportunity for the public to engage with the innovative research carried out within Spoke 2, Spoke 6, and Spoke 7, focused on environmental sustainability and digital technologies, with interactive experiments designed for all age groups.   Several researchers from Spokes 2, 6, and 7 organized experiments at a dedicated project stand. Additionally, researchers working on the FORMINABILÆ Flagship Project organized the exhibition "Cultivating the future: agriculture, energy, community" The exhibition presented a project proposal for the revitalization of Cascina Vialone, a traditional Lombard farmhouse, reimagined as an ideal model for a future farm. Through a process that intertwines theoretical research, architectural design, and comparative analysis, the project envisions an agricultural architecture capable of combining environmental sustainability, energy autonomy, and community values.