Francesco DE PAOLIS

Francesco DE PAOLIS is an Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Department of Mathematics and Physics "Ennio De Giorgi" at the University of Salento, Italy. His research focuses on theoretical astrophysics, particularly the physics of collapsed objects including white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, gravitational lensing and microlensing phenomena, exoplanets, and relativistic astrophysics.

Dr. DE PAOLIS earned his Physics degree from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in 1991 and completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Bari. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Zurich and the Bartol Research Institute at the University of Delaware before joining the University of Salento in 1999 as a researcher. He was promoted to Associate Professor in September 2015.

His primary research interests include theoretical astrophysics with specialization in collapsed objects, gravitational lensing applications, exoplanet detection through microlensing techniques, and relativistic effects in strong gravitational fields. His work has significantly advanced our understanding of gravitational microlensing as a tool for discovering exoplanets and extragalactic planets, as well as the physics of gamma-ray bursts and galactic nuclei.

Dr. DE PAOLIS has authored over 160 publications in international journals, with recent work demonstrating a strong emphasis on gravitational lensing applications, exoplanet detection methodologies, and theoretical frameworks for understanding compact objects in extreme gravitational environments. His research portfolio shows consistent contributions across multiple subfields of theoretical astrophysics.

• Research Fellow at INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare)
• Associated with INAF (Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica)
• Member of the RIAA Internationalization Commission
• Co-chairman of Italian-Pakistani Workshops on Relativistic Astrophysics
• Local manager of INFN specific initiative TAsP

As an educator, Dr. DE PAOLIS has supervised numerous theses at various academic levels and has been instrumental in shaping physics curriculum at the University of Salento. He currently teaches Fundamentals of Astronomy and Astrophysics for undergraduate students and Theoretical Astrophysics for graduate students, in addition to offering a PhD course in Relativistic Astrophysics.