Why Spectroscopy Education Should Aim for Revolution, Not Evolution

In a video interview at SciX, Alessandro De Giacomo, a professor at the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy and a longtime editorial board member of Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, reflected on how the next generation of scientists should be trained, a question he described as especially important to him after 27 years as a professor. His answer centered on a tension he sees in modern science education: the pull toward applications versus a deep grounding in fundamentals.

According to De Giacomo, students should be formed first and foremost on the fundamental aspects of science. He noted that there is sometimes a trend toward sending students directly to applied work, which is a shift he attributes in part to the sophistication of today’s technology. With powerful, accessible instrumentation now available, it has become easier than ever to take an established spectroscopic technique and put it to use across a wide range of applications.

That ability has value, De Giacomo acknowledged, but it has real limits. Exploiting an existing technique for new uses does not, in his view, give a researcher the spark needed to generate an idea that can change a field. Training focused only on applying tools may produce competent users of those tools, but not necessarily the thinkers who will invent what comes next.

He framed the distinction as one between evolutionary and revolutionary work. Incremental, evolutionary research has its place, but De Giacomo argued that the scientific community cannot rely on it forever. What is needed, he said, is the kind of conceptual leap that emerges from a thorough understanding of underlying principles rather than familiarity with a particular instrument or method.

De Giacomo directed his closing point beyond individual educators and classrooms. He called this a crucial issue that institutions must understand in how they manage and train students. For universities and research organizations, the implication is that training should protect time for fundamental science, even as applied, technology-driven work grows more accessible and more tempting to pursue.

Further Reading

(1) De Giacomo, A.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Alessandro De Giacomo on LIBS, Plasma Physics, and Nanoparticle Size. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/alessandro-de-giacomo-on-libs-plasma-physics-and-nanoparticle-size (accessed October 12, 2026).

(2) De Giacomo, A.; Workman, J., Jr.; Wetzel, W. Beyond the Plasma: Alessandro De Giacomo on Laser–Matter Interaction and Nanoparticle Tagging. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/beyond-the-plasma-alessandro-de-giacomo-on-laser-matter-interaction-and-nanoparticle-tagging (accessed October 12, 2026).