
Presentation
The Department of Physics and Astronomy ‘G. Galilei’ was founded in 2012 following the merger of the Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy.
Thanks to the close collaboration with the Padua Section of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), with the National Laboratories of Legnaro, with the Department of Physical Sciences and Technologies of Matter of the CNR (National Research Council) and with the Padua Astronomical Observatory of the National Institute of Astrophysics (OAPD-INAF), the Department of Physics and Astronomy presents itself as a centre of excellence endowed with all the necessary potential to tackle the most daring challenges in all fields of research in Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics. Professors and researchers from all the Scientific Disciplinary Groups (GSD) of the Physical Sciences (PHYS-01 to PHYS-06) and from almost all the disciplinary scientific fields are present there, thanks to the union of two communities, which had already achieved, independently of each other, outstanding levels in all the research fields in which they had ventured. Proof of this is the CIVR assessment, carried out before the merger of the two Departments, which ranked both structures at the highest levels of qualification in their respective disciplines.
On a national and international level, the new Department of Physics and Astronomy undoubtedly presents itself as one of the best-equipped research centres in the sector, with cutting-edge instrumentation and laboratories with a consolidated tradition, such as the Astrophysical Observatory of Asiago, and with easy access to important research infrastructures such as the nearby National Laboratories of Legnaro.
The main task of the ‘G. Galilei’ Department of Physics and Astronomy (DFA) is experimental and theoretical research in all frontier sectors of Fundamental and Applied Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics. favouring national and international collaborations. Researchers from the Department are active, often in a leadership role, in many international laboratories such as: CERN in Geneva, SLAC in Stanford, the DESY centre in Hamburg, Belle2 in Nagoya, Fermilab in the USA and the most important Astronomical Observatories around the world.
Together with the Padua Astronomical Observatory of the National Institute of Astrophysics (OAPD-INAF), which has always collaborated in scientific, educational, popular and technological activities, the Department is the largest astronomical centre in Italy, and one of the most important internationally in terms of reputation and tradition. It is the only one in Italy to be a member of the European Association for Research in Astronomy (EARA), a network of six European institutes of excellence conducting research in the field of observational and theoretical astronomy.
Of fundamental importance are the collaborations with national research bodies, in particular with the INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics), with the Department of Physical Sciences and Technologies of Matter of the CNR (National Research Council), with ENEA (National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development), with INAF (National Institute of Astrophysics) and with ASI (Italian Space Agency).
Relations between the University of Padua and the INFN have been governed since 1968 by an agreement under which the Padua INFN Section is housed within the Department and research infrastructures are shared and managed jointly by the two bodies. A similar agreement exists between the University of Padua and the INFN for the National Laboratories of Legnaro, which, despite being a national INFN structure, hosts activities of the University of Padua within it. The collaboration with INAF takes place under a framework agreement approved in 2022. Similarly, relations between the University of Padua and the CNR are governed by an agreement signed in 1995 with INFM (National Institute for the Physics of Matter), which passed to the CNR in 2003, when the latter absorbed it.
The Department manages the Asiago Astrophysical Observatory of the University of Padua, where the largest optical telescopes in the country are operational together with the observational facilities of OAPD-INAF. There is the largest mirror aluminisation chamber available in Italy, owned and operated by the University of Padua. Since 2011, a new observing station has also been in operation, the node of an international network dedicated to the study of phenomena in the upper atmosphere. All organisational, development and maintenance activities at the Asiago site are carried out in collaboration with OAPD-INAF. The experience of the Asiago technicians, matured and handed down through the continuous use of unique instrumentation in Italy, has proved crucial for the successful operation of telescopes located abroad, such as the Galileo National Telescope (TNG) in the Canary Islands and the Very Large Telescope Survey Telescope (VST) in Chile.
The department participates in the RFX Consortium, a collaboration between the CNR, ENEA, the University of Padua, INFN and Acciaierie Venete S.p.A. RFX's research theme is controlled thermonuclear fusion for energy production, under a EURATOM contract.
It is also important to mention the significant role played by the Department in the activities and management of the G. Colombo Centre for Space Studies and Activities (Centro di Studi e Attività Spaziali) and in particular in the Doctoral School in Space Technology and Measurements (STMS).
The achievement of relevant results in research activities in physics, astronomy and astrophysics often requires technologies, methodologies and infrastructures that, due to their high cost and complexity, can only be acquired within the framework of large collaborations. These are most often realised thanks to the close ties with the INAF and INFN research organisations, which effectively optimise the use of resources and ignite fruitful synergies.
The Department shares in-house mechanical and electronic design services with the INFN Section and has access to the INFN's Legnaro National Laboratories and the OAPD-INAF facilities, in particular the OAPD-INAF optics and electronics laboratories, where instruments for major ground and space telescopes are currently designed, built and tested.
Great attention is also paid by the Department to the promotion of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary applications of methodologies and techniques (theoretical and experimental) developed in the research lines and their consequent technology transfer. These activities are often included in large-scale projects funded by the European community, for which the Department of Physics and Astronomy is often the proposer. In this context, projects proposed by our researchers have been financed under the Research Programmes of Excellence chapter of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio del Veneto. Contemporary research and technology combined with the innovation introduced by artificial intelligence are based on the production and analysis of enormous quantities of data, which require large-scale calculation processes. The Department participates in and proposes initiatives and projects that concern advanced scientific computing, based on the use of high-performance computing and storage resources, such as the CINECA Leonardo HPC supercomputer and the CloudVeneto infrastructure. Particular mention must go to the work on quantum technologies, which led to the University obtaining a large amount of funding under the World Class Research Infrastructrure call for the construction of a quantum computer. Substantial funding was also obtained through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) calls. The participation of the Department in the activities and management of the Padova Neuroscience Center is an example, among others, of activities where research and skills in physics are combined with those of other areas, such as medicine, statistics, biology and computer science, to face the challenges of understanding the dynamics of complex systems, such as the organization and functioning of the brain, in this case, which necessarily require multidisciplinary skills and methodologies, for the development of applications of great relevance and impact on the company.
Major funding was also obtained from the European esearch Council, with no less than seven researchers being beneficiaries.
No less important is the Department's commitment to the education of young people, in a broad spectrum of effective courses that meet the required European and international standards. A commitment to higher education, which is rooted in the extensive research activity conducted mainly in an international context and which takes the form of three degree courses (Physics, Astronomy and Optics and Optometry), three Master's degree courses in vehicular languages (Physics, Physics of Data , Astrophysics and Cosmology) and the interdepartmental course in Materials Science. In addition, there are three Doctoral Schools in Physics and Astronomy, which also operate within the framework of numerous international cotutela agreements.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy carries out intensive teaching activities for the University of Padua, both in degree courses of the same subject area and in many other degree courses, especially for physics as a basic subject.
In addition to the above-mentioned degree courses, the Department carries out intensive basic training activities in the following degree courses:
- corso di laurea in Chimica
- corso di laurea in Chimica Industriale
- corso di laurea in Scienze e Tecnologie per l’ambiente
- corso di laurea in Biologia
- corso di laurea in Biologia Molecolare
- corso di laurea in Biotecnologie
- corso di laurea in Geologia
- corso di laurea in Matematica
- corso di laurea in Informatica
- corso di laurea in Scienze Geologiche
- corso di laurea in Scienze Naturali
- corso di laurea magistrale in Matematica
- corso di laurea magistrale in Scienze della Natura
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Aerospaziale
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria per l’Ambiente e il Territorio
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Biomedica
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Civile
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Elettronica
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria dell’Energia
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Gestionale
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Informatica
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria dell’Informazione
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica e Meccatronica
- corso di laurea in Ingegneria Chimica e dei Materiali
- corso di laurea magistrale in Ingegneria dei Materiali
- corso di laurea magistrale a ciclo unico in Ingegneria Edile-Architettura
- corsi di Laurea della Scuola di Medicina e Chirurgia
- corsi di Laurea della Scuola di Agraria e Medicina Veterinaria
- corsi di Laurea della Scuola di Scienze umane, sociali e del patrimonio culturale
And takes part to the School in:
- Dottorato in Scienza ed Ingegneria dei Materiali
- Dottorato in Scienze Tecnologie e Misure Spaziali
- FUSION-DC - International Doctoral College in Fusion Science and Engineering
A fundamental task of the Department is also to create a constant link between research and higher education activities, in order to continuously update and enrich, also in collaboration with researchers from Public Research Institutions, the educational offerings of the Doctoral Schools in Astronomy, in Physics and in Materials Science and Engineering, and of a number of Master's programmes. In this general context, the Department also supports the international mobility of students and collaborates in various international initiatives, conferences and projects on physics teaching.
For a decade now, the Department has been running the most advanced project at national level for the orientation and dissemination of scientific culture, called ‘The Sky as Laboratory’. It is a project that involves the entire higher education system of the Veneto Region, with an enrolment rate of around 500 students per year. The Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) has entrusted the Department with the task of disseminating this project nationwide starting from the 2011-12 school year and supervising its organisation and planning in the future, in close liaison with the General Directorate for Higher Education.
Fundamental is the contribution made by the Department since 2004 to the national ‘Plan for Scientific Degrees’ (PLS) project, set up that year by the MIUR, the National Conference of Science and Technology Deans and Confindustria with the aim of encouraging enrolment in degree courses in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Materials Science. This project saw close cooperation at regional level between universities, regional school offices and business associations and, at local level, between schools, school and university teachers, research institutes and businesses.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a rich and important collection of scientific instruments of historical interest (over a thousand objects from the 16th century onwards) that reconstruct the University of Padua's prestigious scientific past. Currently, the Museo Giovani Poleni, repository of this collection, is located in the Department's teaching centre.
In the prestigious location of the Specola Tower of the Padua Observatory - INAF, in the museum of the same name, there is a collection of important documents and instruments that bear witness to the centuries-old tradition of Padua astronomy.
On the other hand, the University of Padua's Asiago Astrophysical Observatory houses the University of Padua's ‘Museum of Astronomy Instruments’, which collects instruments from the last century, acquired after its foundation in 1942. This collection supports the Department's popularisation activities, curated together with OAPD-INAF, which are attended by around twenty thousand visitors each year.