The Michiel Contarini complex

The inauguration, in April 2026, of the first OPM-MEG facility in Italy and the new spaces of the University Padova Neuroscience Center, the Department of Neuroscience and the University Center for University Clinical Services Psychology, was also an opportunity to rename the set of buildings located on Via San Massimo 33 in Padova, more recently known as the "Collegio Morgagni", as the "Michiel Contarini Complex".

The noble palace overlooking Via S. Massimo, with its typical Venetian portico structure associated with the Paduan tradition of porticoes on the street, was built between 1558 and 1561 by the proto-Andrea Moroni - widely active in the city around the middle of the sixteenth century and also recognized creator of the Ancient Courtyard of Palazzo Bo - for the brothers Giovanni Alvise and Fantin Michiel.

In the absence of direct descendants, on the death of the two brothers the building passed to the children of his sister Marina, who married Alessandro Contarini; by 1675 it was then sold to the very rich merchant Agostino Fonseca, of Portuguese origin, from whose heir Sebastiano it came to the Fini, then to the Neri, to become, in 1875, the property of the Municipality of Padova, which used it as the campus of the School of Application for Engineers.

When the latter was transferred to Palazzo Cavalli, the complex housed a kindergarten named after Countess Maria Venezze Giustiniani. Left empty and unused for many years, in 1961 it was then donated by the Municipality to the University: in the vast garden that extended at the back of the building, the building designed by the engineer Giulio Brunetta, at the time director of the University Technical Office, was built to accommodate the students of the university college named after Gian Battista Morgagni. 

The intervention project carried out in 2026 concerned the part of the former residence built in the 60s by Brunetta, which is spread over four floors.

The total cost of the work was about 8.3 million euros, co-financed for 4.7 million by the MUR.

The Michiel Contarini complex hosts, in addition to spaces of the Department of Neuroscience and the University Center for University Psychological Clinical Services, also the University Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC) with the first Italian facility of magnetoencephalography with optical pump magnetometers - called OPM-MEG -, an advanced technology to understand how the more than 80 billion neurons of the brain communicate in real time with each other in cognitive processes and Diseases.

The OPM-MEG system (MagnetoEncephalography with magnetometers a Optically Pumped Magnetometers) is an advanced technology to record brain activity in real time by measuring the very weak magnetic fields generated by neurons during their activity.

Unlike traditional MEG systems, which use cryogenic superconducting sensors (SQUIDs), OPM sensors are small, portable, do not require cryogenic cooling, and can be placed directly near the scalp, greatly increasing the sensitivity and spatial resolution of the measurement.

OPM-MEG maintains electroencephalogram (EEG) speed but dramatically improves spatial accuracy and signal quality, offering much more accurate brain mapping. It does not replace functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but complements it perfectly, offering a dynamic real-time view of brain activity.

The PNC facility is the first installed in Italy and one of the few installed in Europe (Barcelona, Zurich and Athens).

The construction of the facility was also made possible thanks to the contribution of the PNRR EBRAINS Italy project, placing the University of Padova among the few European centers equipped with this cutting-edge technology.