Welcome

Dear Colleagues,

The Local Organizing Committee warmly invites you to the 73rd Congress of the Italian Society of Physiology that will be held in Pisa on September 6-8, 2023.

The German writer Rudolf Borchardt (1877–1945) wrote that “If there is a place on Earth where History can be told from a name, that is Pisa” [1]. He was referring to the political and economic achievements that the maritime nation reached at its apex in the Middle Ages, but the sentence may also apply to the role of the city in science. Indeed, major advances are due to Pisan minds: Leonardo Fibonacci, with his Liber Abaci (1202), popularized the Indo-Arabic numeral system in the Western world, and Galileo Galilei introduced the scientific method, thereby opening to modern science.

Other important personalities contributed to the development of science in Pisa, but the list would be too long. In the field of physiology, a special mention is due to Giuseppe Moruzzi, deemed as one of the greatest Italian scientists in the XX century. He, while at the University of Pisa (from 1949 to 1980), founded the so-called "Moruzzi school of physiology", which produced a generation of brilliant Italian scientists. The aura of science and culture that permeates the surroundings also comes from the three Universities (University of Pisa, founded in 1343; Scuola Normale Superiore, founded in 1810 by Napoleon; Scuola Universitaria Superiore S. Anna, founded in 1987) and the research pole of the National Research Council that are located within the city.

Pisa is a nice town to explore. Besides the famous Piazza dei Miracoli (which is probably the only case, at least in Western countries, in which the most representative monument of the city is not in the city center, but at its periphery), the Lungarno, with its palaces and suggestive sights, the backstreets of the city center, the plenty of churches in different styles, and, last but not least, a number of places for rewarding eno-gastronomic experiences are worth a visit.

A SIF congress was held in Pisa in 2004. This second meeting will be located in the Palazzo della Sapienza (Via Curtatone e Montanara, 15), the first historical nucleus of the University of Pisa. Its location within the city center, near the river Arno and in a quarter characterized by noteworthy art, craftsmanship and commerce will give the opportunity to relax between one session and the other.

We are certain that the scientific program will result rich and stimulating, with the participation of distinguished scientists, plenary lectures, symposia, and workshops. Young physiologists will be actively involved in all the phases of the congress.

We look forward to your enthusiastic participation and wish you a pleasant stay in Pisa. Welcome!

[1] Borchardt, Rudolf. “Pisa. Ein Versuch”, Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Kurt Schütte, 1948.