Fabiola Gianotti

Fabiola Gianotti is an Italian experimental particle physicist who serves as the Director-General of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), a position she has held since 2016 with a second term extending until 2025. She is also an honorary professor at the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy since 2013, where she is associated with the Experimental Particle Physics Group and serves on the International Advisory Committee of the Higgs Centre for Theoretical Physics.

Gianotti's research focuses on experimental particle physics, particularly in the areas of Higgs boson physics, supersymmetry, and particle detection technologies. Her work has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the fundamental particles and forces that govern the universe. She played a pivotal leadership role in the ATLAS experiment that led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, a breakthrough that confirmed a key component of the Standard Model of particle physics.

Throughout her distinguished career, Gianotti has received numerous prestigious awards and honors:

• Special Fundamental Physics Prize (2012)
• Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2012)
• Enrico Fermi Prize of the Italian Physical Society (2013)
• Niels Bohr Institute Medal of Honour (2013)
• Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (2015)
• Wilhelm Exner Medal (2017)
• Bruno Pontecorvo Prize (2019)

Gianotti's leadership extends beyond her research, as she serves on multiple international scientific advisory boards including the Scientific Council of CNRS in France, the Physics Advisory Committee of Fermilab in the US, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the UN Secretary-General. She has been instrumental in promoting women in science and breaking down barriers in the male-dominated field of particle physics.