Francesca RIZZO

Associate Professor of Experimental Physics of Fundamental Interactions and Applications [PHYS-01/A]

•          Associate Professor of Nuclear and Sub-nuclear Physics [FIS 04] at University of Catania – Department of Physics and Astronomy “Ettore Majorana”.

•          Currently taught courses (A.Y. 2019-2020):

            1) "Introduction to Nuclear and Subnuclear Physics (Mod.1)" for the bachelor degree in Physics.

             2) "Physics 2 and Physics Laboratory" for the bachelor degree in Industrial Chemistry.

  • Member of the Teaching Board of PhD in Physics 
  • Delegated by the Director of DFA for the organization of the laboratory for degree courses other-than-Physics.

Research activities:

1) Fundamental Nuclear Physics.

2) Development of detection devices.

3) Nuclear techniques applied to Cultural Heritage.

ORCID: 0000-0002-1884-1823

(Last update: 02/09/2024)

  • Professor of Nuclear and Sub-nuclear Physics (Catania University).

 

Education

  • Graduated in Physics with full marks and laude on 20 March 1978, defending a thesis on “Quantitative analysis of 12C(6Li,d)16O reaction”.

 

Employment

  • Associate Professor (as of 1 November 2001) - UniCT
  • Researcher (5 May 1983 – 31 October 2001) – UniCT
  • Teacher of Physics in High School (1 October 1978 – 4 May 1983)

 

Scientific Responsibilities

  • Responsible, since 2009, of the LANDIS Laboratory of LNS-INFN, Catania
  • 2016 - 2021: Responsible of the User Office of LNS-INFN, Catania
  • 2015- 2018: Local Responsible at INFN-LNS of theNEWCHIM experiment, approved and financed  by INFN – CNS3 (Commissione Scientifica Nazionale 3 - Nuclear Physics Board).
  • 2008-2014: Local Responsible at INFN-LNS of the EXOCHIM experiment, approved and financed  by INFN – CNS3 (Commissione Scientifica Nazionale 3 - Nuclear Physics Board).
  • 2003-2007 : Local Responsible at INFN-LNS of ISOSPIN experiment, approved and financed  by INFN – CNS3 (Commissione Scientifica Nazionale 3 - Nuclear Physics Board).

 

Organization of International Conferences and Workshops:

  • ASYEOS 2008, IWM2009, ASYEOS 2010, IWM2011, ASYEOS 2012, ASYEOS 2015, TECHNART 2015,  NN 2015,  IWM-EC 2016,  NRNN 2017, MA-XRF 2019, FATA 2019.

 

Third Mission Activities

  • 2015-present: “Settimana della Cultura Scientifica” (LNS-INFN), Seminars and guided tours for Students and Visitors.
  • December 2016: “Arte è Scienza” (Cultural Heritage and Scientific Techniques); Seminar on ”La Fisica per i Beni Culturali” for Students and Visitors.

 

Teaching Experiences

  • 2011-present: Istituzioni di Fisica Nucleare e Subnucleare (Mod.1) for the bachelor degree in Physics.
  • 2002-present: Fisica 2 e Laboratorio for the bachelor degree in Industrial Chemistry.
  • 2001-2015: Misure Nucleari for the Specialization School in Medical Physics
  • 2001-2002: Fisica Generale 2 for the bachelor degree in Chemistry
  • 1999-2002: Fisica Nucleare e Subnucleare for the bachelor degree in Radiology Laboratory Techniques
  • 1999-2008: La Fisica nella vita quotidiana for the Specialization School SISSIS
  • 1997-2000: Fisica Generale for the bachelor degree in Radiology Laboratory Techniques
  • 1996-1997: Fisica for the bachelor degree in Material Science
  • 1994-1996: Fisica for the bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering
  • 1983-2001 Lab assistance in Esperimentazioni di Fisica II (M-Z) for the bachelor degree in Physics.
  • Supervisor of several Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. Theses in Physics.

 

Research activity

The research activity of Prof. F. Rizzo, of experimental nature, started with her Thesis work and has been carried out, since the beginning, within the programs and with the support of INFN. It has been performed in different Laboratories, both Italian (INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro) and foreign (GANIL, Caen, France; GSI, Darmstadt, Germany; Cyclotron Laboratory of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; ISOLDE-CERN, Geneva, Switzerland). However, the Laboratory mainly used is the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) of Catania where prof. F. Rizzo was and is currently involved in several research activities with scientific responsibilities, in particular:

  • since 2009: Responsible of the LANDIS Laboratory of LNS-INFN  (Laboratory for Non-Destructive Analysis in Situ), devoted to Cultural Heritage.
  • 2016- 2021: Responsible of the User Service of the LNS-INFN, which includes Chemical-Physical Techniques, Electronics and Detectors, Experimental apparatus operation and maintenance.

Main research lines

1. Fundamental Nuclear Physics:

  • Study of heavy ion collision using stable and exotic beams at intermediate energies.
  • Dissipative processes in heavy-ion collisions at energies around the Coulomb barrier.
  • Nuclear structure and reaction mechanism study by means radioactive beams.

2. New detection apparatus development:

  • CHIMERA, a 4-pi multidetector formed by 1192 telescopes, each one composed by a silicon detector (300 mircon) and CsI(Tl) scintillator.
  • FARCOS (Femtoscope ARray for COrrelations and Spectroscopy) array having high energy and angular resolution: 20 triple telescope, Double Sided Silicon Strip Detectors (DSSSD) as first (300 micron) and second (1500 micron) stages followed by CsI(Tl) crystals. 

3. Nuclear techniques applied to the Cultural Heritage Field:

  • Development and application of different transportable devices (PIXE-alfa, XRF, XRD, FF-XRF, Scanning micro e macro XRF) for non-destructive and “in situ” quantitative analysis of elements present in  archaeological findings and artistic masterpieces. This activity is carried out at the LANDIS laboratory (Laboratory of Non-Destructive Analysis) of LNS-INFN.

 

Scientific Publications

Prof. Francesca Rizzo is author of about 450 scientific publications. The full list is maintained in the UniCT IRIS product catalogue: "UniCT IRIS catalogue: Francesca Rizzo".

VIEW THE PUBLICATIONS
N.B. the number of publications can affect the loading time of the information
VIEW THE COURSES FROM THE A.Y. 2022/2023 TO THE PRESENT

Academic Year 2021/2022


Academic Year 2020/2021


Academic Year 2019/2020


Academic Year 2018/2019


Academic Year 2017/2018


Academic Year 2016/2017


Academic Year 2015/2016

The research activity of Prof. Francesca Rizzo is carried out in the field of Experimental Nuclear Physics, the main lines being: Fundamental Nuclear Physics, Development of detection apparatus, Nuclear techniques applied to Cultural Heritage.

1. Fundamental Nuclear Physics (principal topics):

  • Heavy Ion collisions at low and intermediate energies.
  • Nuclear structure and reaction mechanisms studies using exotic beams.
  • Equation of State for asymmetric and symmetric nuclear matter.
  • Isospin and dynamical mechanisms  effects in nuclear reactions.

2.  Development of detection apparatus:

  • CHIMERA (Charged Heavy Ion Mass and Energy Resolving Array) - A 4-pi CHIMERA multidetector system to detect and identify charged particles. Currently installed at INFN-LNS, it consists of 1192 telescope detectors DE-E which allow high detection efficiency and high granularity, characteristics which are both required in experiments at intermediate energies.
  • FARCOS (Femtoscope ARray for COrrelations and Spectroscopy) - Array of 20 triple telescopes (first and second stages are Silicon X-Y detectors, third stage CsI(Tl)) which allow, due to very  high angular and energy resolution, to perform space-time correlation measurements of the reaction products. FARCOS is mainly used at the LNS-INFN; however, due to its high modularity feature, it can be easily transported and installed in other national and foreign laboratories.

3. Nuclear techniques applied to the Cultural Heritage:

  • Development of new transportable devices and application of different nuclear techniques to analyze the elements present in Cultural Heritage and archaeological materials.  The analyses are non-destructive and, due to the portability of the instruments, they can be made “in situ” (Museum, Archaeological parks, churches,...). This activity is carried out at the LANDIS laboratory (Laboratory of Non-Destructive Analysis) of LNS-INFN.

Since 2021 Prof. Francesca Rizzo is a member of CIIM (Commissione Italiana per l'Insegnamento della Matematica), UMI (Unione Matematica Italiana) as  designated member of SIF (Società Italiana di Fisica)

2016-2020 Prof. Francesca Rizzo has been a  member the of Permanent Didactic Commission (CDP) of SIF (Società Italiana di Fisica).

 

Editorial Activity

  • 2015: Editor of Conference Proceedings SIF,vol 109,“12th International Conference of Nucleus- Nucleus 2015” .
  • 2012: Editor of Conference Proceedings SIF, vol 105, “International Workshop on Multifragmentation and related topics”, IWM-EC 2012.
  • 2010: Editor of Conference Proceedings SIF, vol 101, “International Workshop on Multifragmentation and related topics”, IWM-EC 2010.
  • 2008: Editor of Conference Proceedings SIF, vol 95, “International Workshop on Multifragmentation and related topics”, IWM-EC 2008.