The Virgo Award 2021 awarded to Ilaria Nardecchia

Today, the Virgo Collaboration assigned the first ever Virgo Award, a prize that will be given annually to one Early Career Virgo Member who has made a significant and sustained contribution to the experiment. This year’s winner of the award is Ilaria Nardecchia, member of the Virgo Group and the INFN group of the University of Roma Tor Vergata.

The prize was awarded to Dr. Nardecchia “in recognition of her many relevant and continued contributions to the Virgo experiment, in particular of her deep involvement in the modeling and experimental activities which led to a successful implementation of the Virgo Thermal Compensation System.”

The jury that selected the winner was composed of leading scientists in the field of gravitational-wave physics: Lisa Barsotti (MIT Kavli Institute – LIGO), Monica Colpi (Università di Milano Bicocca), Gabriela Gonzalez (Louisiana State University), Frank Linde (Dutch National Institute of Subatomic Physics – Nikhef), Catherine Nary Man (Centre national de la recherche scientifique – CNRS) and Andrea Vicerè (Università di Urbino).

“The achievements of the Virgo experiment, now recognised as a pillar in contemporary physics, rely on the work of many outstanding junior scientists; not always in the spotlight”, declared Giovanni Losurdo, Virgo Spokesperson. “The Virgo Award is a way to acknowledge such a crucial contribution. Congratulations to Ilaria Nardecchia, 2021 awardee, for this well deserved success!”

The award ceremony took place today at the European Gravitational Observatory, during the Virgo Week, the first in-person collaboration-wide meeting since the beginning of the pandemic.