Roberto Messina got his Master’s Degree in Applied Physics and Nanosciences at the University of Salento in 2022. His thesis focused on the interaction between Channelrhodopsin, a light-sensitive ion channel protein largely used in optogenetics, and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), employing molecular dynamics simulations to investigate how this interaction changes the structure, the stability and the dynamics of the photoprotein. Since 2023, he is PhD student in Physics and Nanosciences at the University of Salento, conducting research at the CNR NANOTEC Institute in Lecce (referent: S. D’Agostino) and collaborating with the Department Industrial Chemistry of the University of Bologna and the CNR NANO Institute in Modena on a project titled “Molecular Dynamics Studies for Applications in Polariton Chemistry” and aimed at analyzing the effects of the excitations inside metal (i.e. plasmons) on the protein photo-cycle. As of May 2025 he is a visiting PhD student at the Chair of Materials Science and Nanotechnology of the TUD Dresden University of Technology, where he is working on Machine Learing-based force fields under the supervision of Prof. Gianaurelio Cuniberti and Dr. Leonardo Medrano Sandonas.