GillaLab
Laboratory of Experimental Aquaculture
The Laboratory of Experimental Aquaculture, now known as GillaLab, was founded in 2012 through a collaboration between the University of Cagliari and the Santa Gilla Fish Consortium, which holds a concession from the Region of Sardinia for the infrastructure of the animal facility in Sa Illetta.
In 2011, the marine ecology research group at DiSVA UNICA was looking for an operational site to conduct studies and experiments on live marine organisms to keep in aquariums and breeding tanks. The facility had to operate directly on the sea, preferably near the city of Cagliari.
The "mother" project:
sea urchin farming
The project that initiated the research activities of the Santa Gilla laboratory focused on the protection, management, and promotion of sea urchins in Sardinia.
One of the research targets was to study the breeding ofsea urchin breeding in captivity, in a location near the sea and equipped with suitable infrastructure.
The project funded by the Regional Law No. 7 "Promotion of scientific research and technological innovation in Sardinia" was later implemented with the RESURCH project on hedgehog farming in collaboration with several European companies.
Research activities and multidisciplinarity
Multidisciplinarity is the dominant element of the activities carried out at GillaLab
Interactions with other departments and sections are fundamental and involve the Food Chemistry section (Prof. Alberto Angioni), Animal Physiology (Prof. Paolo Solari, Department of Biomedical Sciences), Food Hygiene (Prof.ssa Valentina Coroneo, Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health), Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Prof. Gianluca Gatto, Electrical and Electronic Engineering), the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (CCB) and the Sardinian Germplasm Bank (BG-SAR - Prof. Gianni Bacchetta).
Why choose GillaLab
for aquaculture experiments?
GillaLab acts as an educational environment and incubator where students and researchers “do science” and carry out research in the ideal setting, equipped with all the necessary equipment and services to develop research projects from start to finish.
The educational objectives aim at young students, researchers, doctoral students, post-docs, but also technicians and managers in the field of aquatic resource study and management, in particular integratedmulti-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), recirculating aquaculture systems, new biotechnologies for the breeding of animal organisms, micro and macroalgae, technological innovation in food and the qualitative and health characterisation of organisms of marine/lagoon origin.
It catalyzes innovation and serves as a meeting point between science and business, aligning with the interests of the international, national, and local production systems. Gillalab facilitates the development of the so-called Transfer of Technology (ToT) for businesses.
It also acts as a centre for environmental and lagoon monitoring and the study of climate change mitigation in the Santa Gilla model lagoon.