Cinzia Casiraghi is a Professor of

Nanoscience The nanoscopic scale (or nanoscale) usually refers to structures with a length scale applicable to nanotechnology, usually cited as 1–100 nanometers (nm). A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. The nanoscopic scale is (roughly speaking) a l ...

in the

Department of Chemistry An academic department is a division of a university or school faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline. This article covers United States usage at the university level. In the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries, universi ...

at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

and

National Graphene Institute The National Graphene Institute is a research institute and building at the University of Manchester that is focused on the research of graphene. Construction of the building to house the institute started in 2013 and finished in 2015. Institu ...

in the UK.

Education

Casiraghi's undergraduate studies took place at the Politecnico di Milano in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where she obtained a BSc and an MSc in Nuclear Engineering. She completed her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in electrical engineering at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 2006.

Research and career

After her PhD, she completed

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

positions both at Cambridge and at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in poli ...

, Germany. In 2008 Casiraghi was awarded the Sofja Kovalevskaya Award, a €1.65 million grant awarded to the highest quality junior researchers from outside Germany, for work concerning formation of

graphene Graphene () is an allotrope of carbon consisting of a Single-layer materials, single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure.

and

carbon nanotube A scanning tunneling microscopy image of a single-walled carbon nanotube Rotating single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers. ''Single-wall carbon nan ...

s. She moved to the University of Manchester in 2010, and was appointed Professor in Nanoscience in 2016, the same year that she was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize. She uses

Raman spectroscopy Raman spectroscopy () (named after Indian physicist C. V. Raman) is a spectroscopic technique typically used to determine vibrational modes of molecules, although rotational and other low-frequency modes of systems may also be observed. Raman s ...

to study

two-dimensional materials In materials science, the term single-layer materials or 2D materials refers to crystalline solids consisting of a single layer of atoms. These materials are promising for some applications but remain the focus of research. Single-layer materials ...

; which include

graphene Graphene () is an allotrope of carbon consisting of a Single-layer materials, single layer of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure.

and Chalcogenide, chalcogenides. She has focussed on ink-jet printed

as well as nanotubes for sensors, photodetectors and solar cells. Casiraghi was awarded a

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientif ...

(ERC) consolidator grant to study the ''Nucleation of Organic Crystals on 2D Templates.'' She has also demonstrated diamond-like carbon can be to increase storage density of data storage. Outside of academia, Casiraghi has contributed to popular science segments for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

and ''

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''.

Honours and awards

Her awards and honours include: * Philip Leverhulme Prize, 2016 * Eli and Harari £50K Graphene Enterprise Award, 2015

References

External links

* Academics of the University of Manchester 21st-century Italian physicists Living people Polytechnic University of Milan alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Year of birth missing (living people) {{Improve categories, date=November 2020 Nanotechnology