Recent Funding Achievements

Over the past two years, I have secured approximately €1M in funding for the Department of Physics and Geology at the University of Perugia, and I am currently developing (some of them have been already submitted) projects under different EU Actions.

• Project Duration: 2024 - 2025 - Project title: "VOLC-LAPSE: Exploring uncharted realms of volcanic eruptions using experimental petrology and ground deformation data" - Funding Scheme: MUR – PNRR – Return (Multi-risk science for resilient communities under a changing climate) extended partnership – Spoke 3 – Earthquake and volcanoes – Cascade Funding - Role: Co-Principal Investigator – Budget: 350.000 €

• Project Duration: 2024 - 2025 - Project title: "AI-VISIO-LAB: Prototyping an Immersive Platform for Scientific Big Data Processing and Visualization in Astrophysics and Planetary Geology" - Funding Scheme: MUR – PNRR – ICSC (National Research Center for High-Performance Computing, Big Data, and Quantum Computing) – Spoke 3 – Astrophysics and Cosmos Observation – Cascade Funding - Role: Principal Investigator – Budget: ~200.000 €

• Project Duration: 2024 - 2026 - Project title: "Civil Safety and Security for Society" - Funding Scheme: University of Perugia, base research funding - Role: WP leader – Total Budget: 450.000 € - WP Budget: 120.000 €

• Project Duration: 2024 - 2025 - Project title: "COMET - Consolidating the radiocarbon calibration over the 12-40 ka interval using paired 14C and 40Ar/39Ar dating of Mediterranean tephra" - Funding Scheme: MUR-PRIN - Role: Research Unit Leader – Total Budget: 229.824 € – Unit Budget:~100.000 €

• Project Duration: 2024 - 2026 - Project title: "Volcanoes for Cryosphere and Atmosphere (VolCA) - Volcano plumbing systems and eruptions in northern Victoria Land: implications for ice cover and atmospheric circulation" - Funding Scheme: MUR-PNRA - Role: Research Unit Leader – Total Budget:~300.000 € – Unit Budget:~100.000 €

• Project Duration: 2023 - 2024 - Project title: "Study of Multi-Hazard Scenarios for Natural Disasters in Central-Southern Italy and Sicily: Understanding the Past and Present to Protect the Future" - Funding Scheme: University of Perugia, base research funding - Role: Principal Investigator – Budget: ~95.000 €

Community Involvement

• 2022 – Now: Artificial Intelligence in Geosciences, Associate Editor

• 2020 – Now: American Mineralogist, Associate Editor

• July 2023: Organizer of a thematic session at the Goldschmidt 2023 in Lyon: "Dynamics and timescales in magmatic reservoirs, conduits and dikes". 

• July 2022: Organizer of a thematic session at the  Goldschmidt 2022 in Honolulu: "From source to surface: Characterizing magma generation and ascent processes from the rock record". 

• 2015 – 2019: American Mineralogist, Guest Associate Editor for the special collection entitled “Dynamics of Magmatic Processes”.

• Jun 2020: Organizer of a thematic session at the Goldschmidt 2020 in Virtual mode: "Constraining Petrological and Geochemical Variations in Magmas to Capture the Evolution of Volcanoes over Space and Time".

• May 2020: Organizer of a thematic session at the EGU General Assembly in Virtual mode: "The Dynamics of Magmatic Plumbing System". 

• Apr 2019:  Organizer of a thematic session at the EGU General Assembly in Vienna (Austria): "Rates, timescales and mechanisms of magmatic and volcanic processes: from mantle source to emplacement or eruption".

• Dec 2018: Organizer of a thematic session at the AGU Fall Meeting in Washington DC (USA): "Origin and Timescales of Magmatic Systems: Discussing Ages, Rates, Transport, and Storage Processes of Magmas from the Source to Emplacement or Eruption". 

• Dec 2017: Organizer of a thematic session at the AGU Fall Meeting in New Orleans (USA): "Processes of Magma Crystallization from Depth to Surface". 

• Nov 2016: Organizer of a thematic session at the Cities on Volcanoes 9 in Puerto Varas (Chile): "Mind the Gap! Techniques to overcome multi-scale issues in geological and geomorphic processes". 

• Jun 2016 - now: Organizer of the international workshop entitled “Application of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to Earth Sciences" in Perugia.

• Apr 2016: Organizer of a thematic session at the 2016 European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna (Austria): " Mind the Gap! Techniques to overcome multi-scale issues in geological and geomorphic processes". 

• Aug 2015: Organizer of a thematic session at the 2015 Goldschmidt conference in Prague (Czech Republic): "Dynamics of Magmatic Processes: From Magma Mixing to Crystal Residence Time". 

Relevant Scientific Talks

• 2024 – Invited Talk at Goldschmidt2024 (On-site, Chicago). Session: “25 years of GEOROC and PetDB: the past, present and future of research with global geochemical databases”. Talk title: “Modern Igneous Petrology Needs More, High-Quality, Data: A Tribute to GEOROC and PetDB”

• 2024 – Scientific Talk at EGU2024 (On-site, Wien). Session: “Old and new methods in solid Earth sciences, from geochronology to machine learning, from Archean to present”. Talk title: “Machine Learning in Igneous Petrology and Volcanology: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives”

• 2024 – Invited Talk at the Machine Learning in Solid Earth Geoscience Conference organized by the Center for NonLinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory (On-site, Santa Fe). Talk title: “Machine Learning in Petrology and Volcanology”

• 2023 – Invited Scientific Seminars and Lectures at the China University of Geosciences and Zhejiang University (On-site, Beijing and Hangzhou). Seminar title: “Machine Learning Applications in Petrology and Volcanology: State-of-the-Art and Perspectives”

• 2019 – Keynote Scientific Talk at Joint SIMP, SGI, and SOGEI Congress (On-site, Parma). Session: “New Developments and Challenges in Volcanology: Insights from Experimental, Analytical and Field Studies”. Talk title: “Volcanic plumbing system dynamics: unraveling rates and timescales of magma transfer, storage, and eruption”