Simona Gallerani

Simona Gallerani is an Associate Professor of Astrophysics and Cosmology at the Scuola Normale Superiore. After completing her studies at the Universities of Bari and Padua, she attained her PhD in Astrophysics at the Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati ofTrieste. After 4 years of postdoc activity in Italy (the Astronomical Observatory of Rome) and abroad (joint position with the ELTE University of Budapest and Columbia University of New York; Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique of Grenoble) she came to the Scuola Normale Superiore in 2012, with an independent INAF study grant.

Her research activity concerns the small- and large-scale study of the primordial Universe, and in particular the formation and evolution of the first black holes that formed after the Big Bang (from primordial black holes to supermassive black holes). Her research activity is both theoretical (through analytical models and numerical simulations) and observational. She is the PI for observational projects based on the use of telescopes such as ALMA and Chandra. She has to her credit over 140 scientific publications, which have received more than 5000 citations (H-index=47). She is the local PI for various PRIN MIUR and INAF projects (3 in the last 7 years). She is actively engaged in scientific dissemination; in particular, she has published a book for children with the publisher Mondadori.