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 lo ...

in the Department of Chemistry at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

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. Institut ...

in the UK.

Education

Casiraghi's undergraduate studies took place at the

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 186 ...

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 re ...

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

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 research university in Berlin, Germany. It is consistently ranked among Germany's best universities, with particular strengths in political science and t ...

, 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 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 na ...

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 sp ...

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 of atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice nanostructure.

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

as well as

nanotubes file:Chiraltube.png, A scanning tunneling microscopy image of a single-walled carbon nanotube file:Kohlenstoffnanoroehre Animation.gif, Rotating single-walled zigzag carbon nanotube A carbon nanotube (CNT) is a tube made of carbon with diameters ...

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 Scientific ...

(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 spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

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