The University of Calabria (UNICAL), situated in Southern Italy, is a public university which aims to enrich the cultural progress in the fields of human, economic and technological sciences. UNICAL promotes scientific and educational excellence and puts in place, at all organizational levels, assessment actions of structures, faculty and managerial, technical, administrative and librarians’ staff as well as external collaborators. UNICAL has always been distinguished for its special attention to the quality of innovation in research and education, internationalization and variety of study programs.

UNICAL participates in the Nerites project through two departments: Department of Mechanical, Energy, and Management Engineering (DIMEG) and Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences (DiBEST).

The Department of Mechanical, Energy, and Management Engineering – DIMEG has great expertise in the development and assessment of technologies and methods for supporting the monitoring, conservation, and exploitation of the underwater natural and cultural heritage. In particular, it has obtained excellent results in numerous research projects, in the development of new technologies for the digitization and exploitation of the submerged sites in virtual and augmented reality environments, and in the implementation of systems and methodologies to build geo-referenced 3D models of underwater archaeological and natural sites.

The Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences – DiBEST carries out scientific work in the fields of biology, sustainable management, biodiversity, and cultural and historical heritage and landscape. In particular, the research group of Cultural Heritage (CH) at DiBEST carries out research activity inherent in the application of scientific techniques aimed at the characterization, protection and conservation of the cultural heritage, and over the past decade, numerous threads of study have been developed in the fields of Archaeometry, Geosciences, Diagnostics and Conservation with applications in both subaerial and marine environments.