To honor the memory of Giuseppe Occhialini, the Italian Physical Society (SIF), together with the Institute of Physics (IOP), awards a prize for a physicist mostly based in Italy in recognition of distinguished work in Physics research carried out within the past 10 years.

The prize has been jointly established in 2007 by the two Societies on occasion of the Centenary of the birth of Giuseppe (Beppo) Occhialini with the aim to commemorate the eminent scientist as well as to strengthen the relationship between the two Societies. The prize will be awarded on an annual basis and will be alternatively announced by the SIF and IOP, respectively.

The 2023 prize is announced by the Institute of Physics.

List of winners

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2023

Winner

Paolo G. Radaelli

Citation

For his seminal contributions to understanding functional and magnetic oxides, particularly through the use and development of techniques using neutron and synchrotron facilities and the promotion of UK-Italian bilateral activities.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2022

Winner

Mario NICODEMI

Citation

For his innovative, fundamental contributions at the frontier between physics, biology and genetics to understand the mechanisms of chromosome folding and their role in gene regulation in health and disease.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2021

Winner

Marialuisa ALIOTTA

Citation

For her major contributions to nuclear astrophysics experiments, in particular to the study of key hydrogen-burning reactions relevant to quiescent stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis, in the framework of the international LUNA experiments at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, INFN.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2020

Winner

Marica BRANCHESI

Citation

For her vision in bridging the observational astronomy and experimental gravitational wave physics that anticipated the majestic discovery of GW170817, when a flash of multicolor light was emitted concurrently with the long searched gravitational wave signal.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2019

Winner

John D. BARROW

Citation

For contributions to cosmology, gravitation and the use of astronomy to extend our understanding of the constants of Nature and constrain their possible variation in time.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2018

Winner

Elena PIAN

Citation

For the first detection, with the ESO Very Large Telescope equipped with the X-shooter spectrograph, of r-process nucleosynthesis in the optical/infrared counterpart of a gravitational radiation signal due to a binary neutron star merger

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2017

Winner

Michele VENDRUSCOLO

Citation

for having brought physics and biology together in innovative ways to make highly influential contributions to the understanding of the fundamental principles of protein aggregation, solubility and homeostasis

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2016

Winner

Carla ANDREANI

Citation

for her outstanding contributions to novel experimental techniques and methods in neutron spectroscopy and her tireless commitment to fostering the British-Italian collaboration in neutron science

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2015

Winner

James Jeffrey BINNEY

Citation

for his work on galaxy dynamics, in particular for developing an understanding of how galaxies exchange gas with the intergalactic medium and how this exchange controls the evolution of galaxy morphology

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2014

Winner

Alessandro TREDICUCCI

Citation

for his innovative contributions to the realisation of terahertz heterostructure devices.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2013

Winner

Silvia PASCOLI

Citation

for her major contributions to the study of, and leadership in, the field of neutrino phenomenology.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2012

Winner

Eugenio COCCIA

Citation

for his major contribution to the realization of the first long term observatories with cryogenic and ultracryogenic detectors of gravitational waves, and for his international role in the gravitational wave community and in the broader community of astroparticle physics.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2011

Winner

Gian Luca OPPO

Citation

for novel insights into nonlinear and quantum optical phenomena, especially spatio-temporal phenomena, achieved through the development and application of powerful techniques for small-scale computing.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2010

Winner

Ignazio CIUFOLINI

Citation

for providing further experimental confirmation of Einstein's theory of General Relativity through the use of laser-ranged satellites to study and measure frame-dragging.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2009

Winner

Gaetana LARICCHIA

Citation

for distinguished work on experimental positron physics, in particular for developing and using the world's only positronium beam.

Giuseppe Occhialini Award 2008

Winner

Francesco VISSANI

Citation

for his distinguished contributions to neutrino physics and, in particular, to the phenomenology and theory of neutrino mass and mixing.

Galleria