ACADEMIC DEGREES
– 2005: Ph.D. in Indian and Tibetan Studies, University of
Turin.
– 2001: University Degree in Sanskrit (Degree Course in Oriental
History), University of Bologna.
SCIENTIFIC QUALIFICATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
– 2018 - 2024: National Scientific Qualification ("Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale") to function as associate professor (sector 10/N3, “Culture dell'Asia centrale e orientale”). Same qualification had been obtained also for the years 2014 to 2020.
– 2016–present: member of the Advisory Board of the series Puṣpikā (https://iigrs.wordpress.com/proceedings-puṣpika/).
– 2015–2019: member of the Board of the Associazione Italiana Studi Sanscriti, AISS (Italian Association for Sanskrit Studies). (Member from 2007 to present).
ACADEMIC FUNCTIONS
– 2019–present: member of the Erasmus+ Internship Commission (Department of History and Cultures).
– 2019–present: Overseas Programme Coordinator (Department of History and Cultures).
– 2018–present: Erasmus+ Coordinator (Department of History and Cultures).
– 2018–2021: member of the Committee of the Department of History and Cultures (representative of the Researchers).
– A.Y. 2016/17–present: member of the Quality Assurance (QA) commission for the Second Cycle Degree in History and Oriental Studies, University of Bologna.
– A.Y. 2016/17–present: member of the Internship Commission (Commissione Tirocini) for the Second Cycle Degree in History and Oriental Studies, University of Bologna.
– A.A. 2016/17–present: tutor for students focusing on Indian and Iranic studies (Second Cycle Degree in History and Oriental Studies, University of Bologna).
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University Courses
– A.Ys 2011/12–present: ‘Sanskrit I’ (60 hours, up to A.Y. 2016/17 30 hours), University of Bologna.
– A.Ys 2008/09–2010/11, 2015/16–present: ‘Indology’ (30 hours), University of Bologna.
– A.Ys 2004/05–2007/08, 2009/10 - 2011/12: ‘Computer Science for Humanities’ (30 hours), University of Bologna.
Seminars and other lessons
– 2019, 11-12 July: teaching at the “Buddhist Texts Summer School” (4 slots, 6 hours), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
– 2019, 7 - 19 Jan.: teaching activity at the Department of Oriental Studies, University of Mandalay (Myanmar), in the framework of an "Erasmus+ Staff mobility for Teaching" project.
– 2018, Nov. 22: "Breve storia delle scritture indiane: evoluzione storica e differenziazione regionale", seminar held at the University of Milan.
– 2018, June 11: “Numerals and Systems of Numerical Notation in Sanskrit”, class held in the course of Sanskrit I, University of Hamburg (teacher: Victor Davella).
– 2018, May 23: “Un elogio del viaggio e della vita in terra straniera: la sezione sul pravāsa nella Sūktimuktāvalī di Harihara”, seminar held at L’Orientale, Università degli Studi di Napoli.
– 2018, May 3 & 10: “L’episodio dell’origine dello śloka: lettura del testo sanscrito (Rāmāyaṇa I, 2)”, seminar held at the University of Bologna.
– 2018, Apr. 11: "Evoluzione diacronica e diffusione geografica delle principali scritture indiane", seminar held at the University of Milan.
– 2017, Mar. 23 - May 4: “Come inizia il Mahābhārata? Analisi e traduzione dei primi passi della grande epica indiana”, seminar held at the University of Bologna.
– 2017, Mar. 30: “Sugli scaffali intorno a noi: il Mahābhārata e il Rāmāyaṇa nella biblioteca Giorgio Renato Franci”, seminar held at the University of Bologna.
– 2018, Dec.3 (& 2017, Dec. 11, 2017, Feb. 8, 2016, Feb. 18, 2015 Feb. 19, & 2014 Mar. 20): “Scrivere il sanscrito al computer, in devanagari e in traslitterazione”, seminar held at the University of Bologna.
– 2018, Dec. 4 (& 2017, Dec. 14, 2016, Nov. 29, 2016 Mar. 8 and 10, & 2015 Mar. 10 and 12): “Storia dei principali sistemi di scrittura del subcontinente indiano”, seminar held at the University of Bologna.
– 2016, Nov. 18: “Introduzione alla storia delle scritture indiane”, seminar held at the University of Milan.
– 2015, Apr. 28-29: ‘Letteratura d’arte indiana: traduzione dal sanscrito di brani scelti’, seminar held at the University of Bologna.
– 2015, Feb.-Mar.: ‘Introduzione al sanscrito’, a 10-hours course held at the Associazione Culturale Anthropos (Bologna).
– 2007, Dec. 15: ‘Patañjali's Yogasūtra', lecture for the ‘Training
Course for Yoga Teachers (Second Level)' organized by the
‘Federazione Italiana Yoga' (member of the ‘European Federation of
Yoga'), held in La Spezia (Italy).
– 2006, Dec. 9: Lecture on ‘Indian civilization: the Vedic period,
Jainism and Buddhism', for the ‘Training Course for Yoga Teachers
(First Level)' organized by the ‘Federazione Italiana Yoga' (member
of the ‘European Federation of Yoga'), held in La Spezia
(Italy).
LECTURES AND CONFERENCE PAPERS
Invited lectures
– 2013, Dec. 6: “The making of a study of Grantha script in
manuscripts”; invited lecture given at the Centre for the Study of
Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg.
– 2013, Apr. 16: ‘The making of a study of Grantha script in
manuscripts'; invited lecture given at the Faculty of Asian and
Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge (U.K.).
– 2012, Dec. 3: ‘Buddhaghoṣa's Padyacūḍāmaṇi: a forgotten
sargabandha on the life of the Buddha'; invited lecture given at
the Department of Pali, University of Pune (India).
Conference papers
– 2019, July 17: “Colophon mining: extracting information from the colophons found in palm-leaf manuscripts hailing from Tamil Nadu”. Paper presented with Giovanni Ciotti (University of Hamburg) at the “11th International Convention of Asian Scholars” (ICAS), Leiden, 15-19 July 2019.
– 2019, Apr. 8: “Some Aspects of the Modular Structure of Colophons in Manuscripts Written in Tamil and Tamilian Grantha Scripts (2)”. Paper presented with Giovanni Ciotti (University of Hamburg) at the workshop “Texts Surrounding Texts (TST): Kick-off Workshop”, Hamburg, 8-10 April 2019 (CSMC–University of Hamburg, Staat- und Universitätbibliothek Hamburg, Bibliothèque National de France, Centre d’Études de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud–École des Haute Études and CNRS).
– 2018, Oct. 11: “Some Aspects of the Modular Structure of Colophons in Manuscripts Written in Tamil and Tamilian Grantha Scripts”. Paper presented at the workshop “The Syntax of South, Southeast and Central Asian Colophons: A First Step Towards a Comparative and Historical Study of Manuscripts in the Poṭhi Format” (University of Hamburg, NETamil, CSMC, EPHE Paris), Hamburg, 11-13 October 2018.
– 2017, Oct. 26: “Un elogio del viaggio e della vita in terra straniera: la sezione sul pravāsa nella Sūktimuktāvalī di Harihara”. Paper read at the Conference and General Meeting of the Associazione Italiana di Studi Sanscriti, AISS (Italian Association for Sanskrit Studies), Sapienza Università di Roma.
– 2017, Apr. 20: “More on the the dates found in colophons of manuscripts written in Tamil and Grantha scripts”. Lecture given at the 8th NETamil Workshop (Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg).
– 2016, Sep. 30: “The transmission of the Śivadharma in Tamil Nadu: On some manuscripts of the Śivadharmaśāstra and Śivadharmottara written in Grantha script”, lecture given for the “Śivadharma Workshop”, held at Leiden University, 26-30 September 2016.
– 2016, Jun. 23: 'Manuscripts of the Śivadharma in Grantha script'; paper read for the workshop 'Śivajñānapustakāni - Books of Śaiva Knowledge', held at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg.
– 2015, Dec. 21: ‘The making of a study on Grantha script in manuscripts (II)’; paper read for the workshop ‘Paper & Pixel II: International Winter School on Digital Humanities in Indology’, organized by the Department of Indology and Comparative Religions, University of Tübingen, December 17-21, 2015.
– 2015, Jun. 30: ‘On some recitational signs used in the transmission of Vedic texts written in Grantha script’; paper read for the 16th World Sanskrit Conference, held in Bangkok (Thailand), June 28-July 2, 2015.
– 2014, Oct. 1: ‘Some remarks on the dates in manuscripts written
in Grantha and Tamil scripts'; paper read for the ‘NETamil 2nd
Workshop', held at the Centre for the Study of Manuscripts
Cultures, University of Hamburg, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2014.
– 2014, Sep. 25: ‘The Grantha Manuscripts in the Cambridge
University Library Collections: a Survey'; paper read for the
Workshop ‘The South Asian Manuscript Book: Material, Textual and
Historical Investigations', held at the Faculty of Asian Middle
Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge (UK), September 25-27,
2014.
– 2013, Oct. 25: ‘Dates in Grantha manuscript colophons: Some
remarks on their structure and on some symbols and abbreviations
used therein'; paper read for the Workshop “Reconstructing Space
and Time: Localising Manuscripts through Paratexts”, held at the
Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), University of
Hamburg, October 25-26, 2013.
– 2012, Dec. 14: ‘The making of a study on Grantha script in
manuscripts'; paper read at the Centre of Pondicherry of the École
française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO).
– 2012, Sep. 14: ‘War and peace mirroring one another in poetic
fancies'; paper read for the International Seminar “The State and
Society at Peace and War in Indian LIterature and Art”, organized
by the University of Warsaw, held in Warsaw, September 13-15,
2012.
– 2012, Jun. 16: ‘Rispecchiamenti fra guerra e pace nelle immagini
dei poeti indiani'; paper read for the ‘Convegno dell'Associazione
Italiana Studi Sanscriti', held in Cagliari (Italy).
– 2012, Jan. 5-10: ‘Recasting poetry: motifs from the Raghuvaṃśa
reshaped in Buddhaghoṣa's Padyacūḍāmaṇi'; paper read for the XV°
World Sanskrit Conference, held in New Delhi (India), January 5-10,
2012.
– 2010, Sep. 16-18: ‘Buddhaghoṣa's Padyacūḍāmaṇi: a Medieval
Mahākāvya on the life of the Buddha', invited paper for the
International Workshop on ‘Stylistic Devices in Indian Literature
and Art', Università degli Studi di Milano, Palazzo Feltrinelli,
Gargnano (Italy).
FELLOWSHIPS
– 2015, October: Scaliger fellowship, a research scholarship allocated by the Scaliger Institute, Leiden (The Netherlands).
– 2015, May - 2015, Dec.: Research Fellowship, Department of Linguistics and Oriental Studies, University of Bologna.
– 2013, Sep. - Dec. and 2014, May - July: participation as Affiliated Researcher to the “Sanskrit Manuscripts Project: The intellectual and religious traditions of South Asia as seen through the Sanskrit manuscript collections of the University Library, Cambridge”, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, lead by Enzo Vergiani.
– 2013, Feb. - 2015, Feb.: Research Fellowship, Department of Linguistics and Oriental Studies, University of Bologna.
– 2012, Sep. - Dec.: ‘Marco Polo Program' Fellowship, Faculty of
Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna (three-months term spent
in the Pondicherry Centre of the École française
d'Extrême-Orient).
– 2008, Dec. - 2012, Dec.: Research Fellowship, Department of Linguistics and Oriental Studies, University of Bologna.
– 2008, Jan. - Apr.: ‘Marco Polo Program' Fellowship, Faculty of
Arts and Humanities, University of Bologna (three-months term spent
in the Pondicherry Centre of the École française
d'Extrême-Orient).
– 2006, Oct. - 2008, Oct.: Post-doctoral Fellowship, University of Bologna.
– 2001, Nov. - 2005, Feb.: Ph.D. Scholarship, University of
Turin.
PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
– 2019, Apr. - 2022. Participation in the Franco-German project "Texts Surrounding Texts. Satellite Stanzas, Prefaces and Colophons in South-Indian Manuscripts", as a partner of the German team. The project (ID: ANR-18-FRAL-0002) has received a collaborative ANR-DFG grant for three years. PIs are Emmanuel Francis (Centre d’études de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud, UMR 8564, Paris) and Eva Wilden (Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, FFB 950).
– 2018, Dec. - 2023: participation in the “Shivadharma” project (ERC Starting Grant. No. 803624) as Scientific Coordinator for the University of Bologna (Partner Organisation/Beneficiary del progetto). PI: prof. Florinda De Simini (University of Naples “L’Orientale”).
– 2014, March - present: participation in the “NETamil” project (ERC Advanced Grant, No. 339470), as Member of the Additional workgroup on Codicology/Palaeography. Project PI: prof. Eva Wilden (University of Hamburg).
– 2012, Dec. - present: participation in the “Encyclopaedia of Manuscript Cultures in Asia and Africa” project (South Asia section), based at the University of Hamburg, led by Michael Friedrich, Harunaga Isaacson, Jörg B. Quenzer.
– 2014, May - 2017, May: participation as “Teaching assistant/Technologist” in the project E-QUAL (Enhancing Quality, Access and Governance of Undergraduate Education in India), an International Collaborative Project funded by the European Union.
– 2013, Sep. - Dec. and 2014, May - July: participation as Affiliated Researcher to the “Sanskrit Manuscripts Project: The intellectual and religious traditions of South Asia as seen through the Sanskrit manuscript collections of the University Library, Cambridge”, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, lead by Enzo Vergiani.
RESEARCH TERMS ABROAD
– 2018, June 5-20: two-weeks research stay at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg, in the framework of (and funded by) the NETamil project.
– 2016, June 19 - July 3: two-weeks research stay at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg, in the framework of (and funded by) the NETamil project.
– 2015, October: ‘Scaliger fellow’ (from the Scaliger Institute), to research the Sanskrit manuscripts written in Tamilian Grantha script in the Special Collections of the Leiden University Library (The Netherlands).
– 2014, May - Jul.: ‘Affiliated researcher' at the Faculty of Asian
and Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge University, UK
(http://sanskrit.lib.cam.ac.uk/spotlight-on-collaborators-i-the-grantha-connection).
– 2013, Sep. - Dec.: ‘Affiliated researcher' at the Faculty of
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge University (UK).
– 2012, Sep. - Dec.: ‘Visiting scholar' at the Pondicherry Centre
of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO).
– 2009, Jan. - Apr.: ‘Visiting scholar' at the Pondicherry Centre
of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO).
– 2008, Jan. - Apr.: ‘Visiting scholar' at the Pondicherry Centre
of the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO).
SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTS (OTHER THAN PUBLICATIONS)
Exhibitions
– 2016, June: design and development of the exhibition “History of Indic Scripts”, in 15 panels with text and pictures. The exhibition, produced in the framework of the E-QUAL Project, was inaugurated in 9 June 2016 in Palazzo Poggi, University of Bologna (via Zamboni 33, Bologna).
Manuscripts Catalogue Records
– 2013, Sep. - Dec. and 2014, May - July: cataloguing of all the manuscripts written in Grantha script held at the Cambridge University Library, UK (42 manuscripts including 127 texts). The online records are accessible from the Cambridge Digital Library page: http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/sanskrit. The work is the outcome of a collaboration with the ‘Sanskrit Manuscripts Project, Cambridge’.
Software
– 2014, Mar.: development of “ITAdia”, an enhanced version of the built-in Italian keyboard (for Windows OSs). “ITAdia” enables typing directly on the keyboard all the combinations of base characters and diacritics that are used in the International Alphabet for Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST). Distributed under GPL3 (GNU General Public License, version 3).
– 2014, Jan.: development of “ITA diacritici”, an enhanced version of the built-in Italian keyboard (for Mac OSs). “ITA diacritici” enables typing directly on the keyboard all the combinations of base (Roman) characters and diacritics that are needed in the transliteration of all major Indian languages, as well as of Arabic and Perso-Arabic languages. In addition, “ITA diacritici” enables combining a base character with up to four different diacritics, thus facilitating a proper transliteration of the Vedic language and its accent system. Distributed under GPL3 (GNU General Public License, version 3).
ATTENDED COURSES, SCHOOLS AND WORKSHOPS
– 2019, July 15-19: “11th International Convention of Asian Scholars” (ICAS), Leiden.
– 2019, Apr. 8-10: “Texts Surrounding Texts (TST): Kick-off Workshop”. The Workshop was organized by the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (University of Hamburg), the Staat- und Universitätbibliothek Hamburg, the Bibliothèque National de France, the Centre d’Études de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud (École des Haute Études and CNRS). It was held at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg.
– 2018, Oct. 11-13: “The Syntax of South, Southeast and Central Asian Colophons: A First Step Towards a Comparative and Historical Study of Manuscripts in the Poṭhi Format”, Workshop organized by University of Hamburg, NETamil, CSMC, EPHE Paris, held at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg.
– 2018, May 25: Conference “Parola enigmatica ed enigmi”, held at the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan.
– 2017, Oct. 26-28: Conference and General Meeting of the Associazione Italiana di Studi Sanscriti, AISS (Italian Association for Sanskrit Studies), Sapienza Università di Roma.
– 2017, Apr. 20-22: “Colophons, Prefaces, Satellite Stanzas”, 8th NETamil Workshop, held at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg.
– 2016, Sep. 26-30: “Śivadharma Workshop: Manuscripts, Editions, Perspectives”, workshop organized in the frame of the “ASIA Beyond Boundaries” project, held at Leiden University (The Netherlands).
– 2016, Jun. 23: ‘Śivajñānapustakāni - Books of Śaiva Knowledge’, workshop organized by the ‘Śivadharma corpus Project’, held at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg.
– 2015, Dec. 17-21: ‘Paper & Pixel II: International Winter School on Digital Humanities in Indology’, organized by the Department of Indology and Comparative Religions, University of Tübingen.
– 2015, Jun. 28-Jul. 2: ‘16th World Sanskrit Conference’, held in Bangkok (Thailand).
– 2015, Mar. 27-28: ‘Convegno dell’Associazione Italiana di Studi Sanscriti’ and seminar on “Puro e impuro nell’India antica”, held at the University of Bologna.
– 2014, Dec. 15-16: “The Vyaktiviveka of Rājānaka Mahimabhaṭṭa”, workshop organized by the University of Naples “L’Orientale”.
– 2014, Sep. 29-Oct. 3: ‘NETamil 2nd Workshop', held at the Centre
for the Study of Manuscripts Cultures (CSMC), University of
Hamburg.
– 2014, Sep. 25-27: ‘The South Asian Manuscript Book: Material,
Textual and Historical Investigations', held at the Faculty of
Asian Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge (UK).
– 2014, July 25-26: ‘Paper & Pixel: International Summer School
on Digital Humanities in Indology', organized by the Department of
Indology and Comparative Religions, University of Tübingen.
– 2013, Oct. 25-26: ‘Reconstructing Space and Time: Localising
Manuscripts through Paratexts', Workshop organized by the Centre
for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) , University of
Hamburg.
– 2013, Sep. 7-11: Third ‘Manuscripta Buddhica' International
Workshop, organized by the University of Naples “L'Orientale” and
held in Procida.
– 2013, Apr. 12-13: 'Buddhist Manuscript Culture: Textuality and
Materiality', Workshop at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern
Studies, Cambridge (U.K.).
– 2012, Sep. 13-15: ‘The State and Society at Peace and War in
Indian Literature and Art', International Seminar, University of
Warsaw.
– 2012, Jun. 16: ‘Convegno dell'Associazione Italiana Studi
Sanscriti', held in Cagliari (Italy).
– 2012, Jan. 5-10: ‘XV° World Sanskrit Conference', held in New
Delhi (India), convened under the auspices of the Rashtriya
Sanskrit Sansthan (Deemed University under the Ministry of Human
Resource Development of the Government of India) and the
International Association of Sanskrit Studies.
– 2011, 11-22 Jul.: 'Eighth International Workshop on Tamil
Epigraphy', held in Pondicherry and Tanjavur (Tamil Nadu, India),
organized by Dr. Appasamy Murugaiyan (École Pratique des Hautes
Études, Paris) and Prof. K. Rajan (University of
Pondicherry).
– 2011, Mar. 25-26: ‘Workshop on Information Technologies and
Innovation in Sanskrit-based Indian Studies', Institute of South
Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, Wien.
– 2010, Sep. 16-18: ‘Stylistic Devices in Indian Literature and
Art', International Seminar organized by the University of Milan,
held in Gargnano (Italy).
– 2007, Jul. 16-28: ‘Fourth International Sanskrit Summer
Reatreat', organized by the École française d'Extrême-Orient
(EFEO), held in Pondicherry. Lectures and teachings by Dominic
Goodall (EFEO, Pondicherry), Kei Kataoka (Kyushu University,
Japan), Csaba Dezso (Balliol College, Oxford), Alex Watson,
Manidravida Sastrigal (Sanskrit College, Chennai).
– 2006, Jul. 31 - Aug. 11: ‘Leiden Indological Summer School', held
in Leiden. Lectures and teachings by Annette Schmiedchen (Humboldt
Universität, Berlin), Arlo Griffiths (Leiden University), Richard
Salomon (University of Washington, Seattle).
– 2005, 22-24 Jul.: ‘Spoken Sanskrit Summer Meeting', held in
Agenzia, Pesaro-Urbino (Italy).
– 2005, 18-31 Jan.: ‘Winter School in Advanced Spoken Sanskrit',
organized by the South Asia Institute of the University of
Heidelberg with the partnership of the Jñāna-Pravāha Institute of
Vārāṇasī, held in Vārāṇasī. Teacher: prof. Sadananda
Das.
– 2004-2005: Hindī language course (Basic level) at the Centro
Interfacoltà di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata ‘L. Heilmann'
(CILTA), Bologna.
– 2002-2004: Five German language courses (from Basic to Advanced
level) at the Centro Interfacoltà di Linguistica Teorica e
Applicata ‘L. Heilmann' (CILTA), Bologna.
– 2003, Sept. 8-27: Advanced Summer School in Spoken Sanskrit,
organized by the South Asia Institute of the University of
Heidelberg with the partnership of the University of Florence, held
in Florence, Italy. Teacher: prof. Sadananda Das.
– 2002, Sept. 2-27: Sanskrit Summer School, organized by the South
Asia Institute of the University of Heidelberg, held in Heidelberg,
Germany. Teacher: prof. Sadananda Das.
– 1999-2001: Three French language courses (from Basic to
Intermediate level) at the Centro Interfacoltà di Linguistica
Teorica e Applicata ‘L. Heilmann' (CILTA), Bologna.
– 1999-2000: Thai language lessons with private tutors.
