Director

Paola Gianotti

Paola Gianotti is a Researcher Leader at LNF and conducts scientific research in the fields of hadronic spectroscopy, fundamental symmetries, and dark matter. Holding a degree in Physics from the University of Turin, she received her scientific training in Geneva at CERN, where she collaborated on the OBELIX and DIRAC experiments. In 1993, she moved to Frascati, initially working on the FENICE experiment at the ADONE accelerator and later on the FINUDA experiment, focused on studying hypernuclei, at the DAFNE accelerator. She has been part of several international collaborations including PANDA and ALICE and is currently involved in the PADME experiment dedicated to the study of dark matter. From 2016 to 2022, she served as the Head of Research Division at LNF and currently is member of the Joint Scientific Council (JSC) of the FAIR-GSI laboratory and the Scientific Council of the Helmholtz Institute in Mainz.He is one of the founders of the PADME collaboration at LNF, focusing on the search for dark photons and light dark matter using fixed-target experiments at the BTF facility (LNF).