Francesca Vidotto

Francesca Vidotto is an Assistant Professor at Western University, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and the Department of Philosophy. She is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the Foundations of Physics and affiliated with the Rotman Institute of Philosophy. Her research focuses on quantum gravity, cosmology, and foundational issues in physics, particularly Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) and its implications for spacetime structure and cosmological singularities.

• Education: PhD in Physics (2012, University of Pavia, Italy) with adjoint supervision at Aix-Marseille University; Laurea (M.Sc.) in Physics (2008, University of Padova).
• Awards: Scharzschild-Springer Prize (2015), NVH Jubilee Prize (2015), and Honorable Mentions from the Gravity Research Foundation (2014, 2010).
• Grants: NWO Veni and Rubicon Fellowships, and a Croatian Science Foundation grant for the 'Exploring the Quantum Universe' project.

Her research interests include Spinfoam Cosmology, quantum black holes, and the interface between physics and philosophy. She has pioneered covariant approaches to quantum cosmology and explored quantum gravity signatures in primordial black holes and cosmological models.

She has supervised multiple students in quantum gravity, cosmology, and related fields, and actively engages in public outreach through lectures and science-art collaborations.