Brunella Muttillo is one of the winner of Young Researchers Seal of Excellence call 2022 of the University of Siena. The call was promoted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR). Now she is a fixed term researcher at the University of Siena (Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment), in prehistoric archaeology
The RESTART project intends to contribute to the one of the most controversial debates in world archaeology: the first human peopling of the Americas, the last continent to be colonised by our species. In this debate, Colombia played a key role, because it was the gateway to South America. The project mainly intends to reassess critically the oldest archaeological evidence of Colombia, dated at the end of the Pleistocene-beginning of the Holocene (12,500 – 9,000 years ago). It is built upon the characterisation of early lithic technology of Colombia, a hitherto under-researched area.
“I always thought of being a researcher. After I earned my PhD, I dedicated myself to looking for postdoctoral opportunities, that would offer me the chance to develop my independence and maturity as researcher and to acquire a more complete professional profile.
I applied for several international funding programmes in order to fund my research project on the prehistory of Colombia.
I came across the University of Siena thanks to its MSCA Seal of Excellence @UNISI initiative dedicated to promising researchers who gained the ‘Seal of Excellence’ in the Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions, a quality label awarded to projects that were judged worthy of funding but were not funded due to budget constraints. It was an excellent, and not very frequent, opportunity”
Brunella Muttillo
WHO SHE IS
WHY UNISI
She received my Ph.D. in Archaeology from the University of Ferrara (Italy) in 2016. Her main research interest is the study of the evolution of lithic technology during the Palaeolithic. She has participated in several archaeological research campaigns in Italy and abroad, especially in Colombia, where I lead the Italian Archaeological Mission.
She received 4 national grants as principal investigator for research expeditions in Colombia and several awards, among others 3 Seal of Excellence delivered by the European Commission for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie project. Her publications include a book, 2 edited books, papers in peer-reviewed journals, chapters in volumes and conference proceedings, and non-peer reviewed papers.
“The University of Siena is a leading university in the prehistoric research” says Brunella Muttillo.
This was the reason why she decided to apply with the University of Siena for the Call 2022 for Young Researchers – Seal of Excellence, promoted by the Italian Ministry of University and Research as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Now she is a fixed term researcher at the Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment and she is glad to be part of the Prehistory area and she applied for several international funding programmes in order to fund my research project on the prehistory of Colombia Anthropology Research Unit.
Finanziato dall’Unione europea – Next Generation EU