Complementing the previous interview with a foreign point of view, we share an interview with Professor Lorenzo di Bari, a specialist in organic chemistry teaching at the University of Pisa. During the interview, the professor shared with us his experience in conducing research cooperation.

Is Dr. Górecki the first Polish scientist you have worked with?

No; i had collaborated with Prof. Jerzy Lisowski from Wroclaw long time before i met Dr. Górecki and i should add that some of my closest colleagues are Polish.

How would you describe working with Polish scientists?

In my experience, it is very easy and natural to work with Polish scientists. I appreciate very much their competence, but also their positive attitude toward collaborations. It is very relevant that they tend to be very prompt in responding. In many cases, we exchanged chemical samples where fast feedback is very useful and Polish colleagues have always been very reliable both in the quality of the produscts they sent and in handling fast and properly those they had received from me. 

Did you learn anything interesting about Poland? Do you mind to share?

Notwithsanding a very long and very close collaboration with Dr. Górecki, I regret very much I learned no Polish. Dr. Górecki was extremly good in speaking Italian and eager to learn more of my own language. On the contrary, he taught me a lot about life and food in Poland, which is one of my favorite topics. 

Why does the University focus on international cooperation?

Collaboraation has always been instrumental to the progress of knowledge. Personally, I enjoy very much working in team with other people with complementary expertise. Especially in science there is no place for boundaries of any kind which makes internaional collaboraion so efficient. Nowadays, one can very easily establish and refresh relationships with online meetings, although I believe very much in the added value of meeting in person. Sitting at the same table, running experiments together and brainstorming in the same room can hardly be fully replaced by virtual meetings, although they usefulness cannot be denied.

What is particularly important in your field of research today?

In my opinion, we all work at two different levels. In the first place, we define precise objectives, which can be for example new chemical entities, new materials, endowed with new or improved features. Underlying this, however, there are the methods we devise to reach those objectives, which can be much more interesting that the objectives themselves. This is a luck, because it is common that one cannot reach the goal one aimed, but nonetheless one's own knowledge or experience has progressed. Sharing all this with the scientific community is essential and for this reason dissemination is crucial.

I am particularly fond of the so-called tird mission of University; that is the place where scientific research meets the society, responding to everyday needs and making one's work accessible to everyone.