Giovanna Tinetti

Giovanna Tinetti is a Professor of Astrophysics and Vice Dean (Research) at King's College London's Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences. She leads the European Space Agency's Ariel mission, a space telescope surveying exoplanet atmospheres, set to launch in 2029. As co-founder of the London Centre for Space Exochemistry Data and Blue Skies Space Ltd, she pioneers satellite technology for scientific data collection. She holds a PhD in Theoretical Physics from the University of Turin, with prior affiliations at Caltech/JPL, the Institute of Astrophysics in Paris, and University College London (UCL), where she was a Royal Society University Research Fellow. Her research focuses on exoplanetary atmospheres, molecular spectroscopy, and advanced data science techniques. With over 300 publications, her 2019 paper on water vapor in K2-18b's atmosphere achieved the highest altmetric score in Physical Sciences that year. She has delivered over 350 international talks and lectures.

• Education: PhD in Theoretical Physics (University of Turin)
• Affiliations: King's College London, UCL (past), ESA's Ariel Mission, Blue Skies Space Ltd

Research Interests: Exoplanet atmospheres, molecular spectroscopy, space science, data-driven analysis methodologies, and atmospheric modeling. Her work bridges observational astronomy with computational chemistry to interpret exoplanet compositions and climates.

Awards:

• Royal Society University Research Fellow
• Highest Altmetric Score (2019 Physical Sciences)

Grants & Projects:

• Principal Investigator for ESA's Ariel mission
• Co-leader of the Ariel Data Challenge 2025

Labs/Teams: London Centre for Space Exochemistry Data, Blue Skies Space Ltd technical team, and the international Ariel collaboration network.