About RIVA Illustrations
Communicating science for researchers and artists
Dedicated exclusively to research and innovation, RIVA Illustrations is an international, inter-sectorial, and interdisciplinary agency aiming at communicating Research and Innovation through Visual Arts.
Exploiting visual storytelling to communicate research involves using compelling visuals to tell a story about scientific research findings or concepts. Visual storytelling can take many forms, including illustrations, comics, animations, and videos.
Discover in our animation why visual storytelling for science outreach and public engagement is the mission of RIVA Illustrations.
Who is behind RIVA
Illustrations ?
Ahlem Abbaci and Fiammetta Ghedini, both coming from the world of research and with a 10+ years experience in science managing and communication.
The founders
Ahlem Abbaci
Co-founder / Managing director
Ahlem helps decision makers, Research and Innovation (R&I) European and national networks, leaders, researchers and innovators understand, plan for, and address their R&I strategic needs. Her approach is fundamentally pluridisciplinary and focuses on creating and then exploiting potentials and values within proven and approved processes.
Ahlem began her career as a researcher in bio-inspired micro- nano-robotics at Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et Robotique (ISIR) – Sorbonne University – Paris. She went on to complete her background with advisory and consulting experience at the Directorate General of Research and Transfer of Technology, and then in private consulting firms. During the last 15 years, she worked for and within more than 250 European (FP6, FP7, H2020) and international projects.
She is also coach and mentor in the Mentoring Network MCN of EIT Health, and co-founder of IR&IS Global Partner, the international agency specialised in supporting R&I.
Fiammetta Ghedini
Co-founder / Creative director
Fiammetta begun her career as a researcher, with a PhD from the University Sant’Anna (Pisa, Italy) and UCL (University College London) in 2011, with a thesis on optical illusions. Since then, she has been working on the frontier between science and communication with a focus on drawing and illustration. She has collaborated with universities and educational institutions around the world to illustrate science via drawing and video. She collaborated with the Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Paris (CSL), Goldsmiths University, University College London (UCL), City University of New York (CUNY) and AAAS (American Association for the Advance of Science). Finally, from 2015 to 2019 she has been editorial coordinator for ERCcOMICS, a series of comics issued via collaboration between artists and scientists, sponsored by the European Research Council.