P.I. Principal Investigator
Francesco Magno is a tenure-track researcher (RTT) at the University of Trento, where he also teaches International History and Eastern European History. He graduated in Contemporary History from the University of Padua and received his PhD from the University of Trento. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Trento, a research fellow at the New Europe College in Bucharest, and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Centre d’Histoire of Sciences Po, Paris.
He is the author of Dagli Imperi alla Nazione. Eredità giuridiche asburgiche e zariste nella Grande Romania (Viella, 2023) and co-author, with Alberto Basciani, of Moldavia e Transnistria. Una storia tra Russia e Occidente (Il Mulino, 2026). His articles have been published in leading Italian and international journals, including Eastern European Politics and Societies, Ricerche di Storia Politica, and Environment and History.
Team members
The research team is currently under formation. Recruitment is ongoing
Associated researchers
Taylor Zajicek is an Assistant Professor at Williams College, where he teaches history of modern Eurasia and the Middle East. Prior to joining Williams College, Taylor was a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harriman Institute and a Lecturer in the Department of History at Columbia University. He earned his Ph.D. in History from Princeton University in 2023. His current book project, developed from his doctoral dissertation, explores the intersections of geopolitics, environmental history, and scientific knowledge in the greater Black Sea region from the 1930s to the present. His broader research interests include the environmental history of Central Asia as well as digital humanities, with an ongoing project analyzing approximately 1,300 Soviet conservation posters.