Meet the Finalists of the 2026 ISSNAF Young Investigator INFN Bruno Touschek Award
Established in 2022 by Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, this award honors the memory of Prof. Bruno Touschek for his pioneering work in the fields of elementary particle physics and particle accelerators. It recognizes contributions in the fields of fundamental interactions of matter, such as elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, cosmology and the physics of particle beams.
We extend our warmest congratulations to the exceptional finalists of the 2026 edition:
Igor Lorenzo Andreoni
Diana Scognamiglio
Davide Terzani
The winner will be announced on November 12 at the ISSNAF 2026 Annual Event in Washington, D.C.
The Jury, chaired by Patrizia Rossi (Jefferson Lab), also includes Laura Cadonati (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Elena Orlando (Stanford University) and Alessandro Ratti (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory).
IGOR LORENZO ANDREONI
Dr. Andreoni grew up in Bergamo and obtained his Laurea Triennale in Physics at the University of Milano-Bicocca, the Laurea Magistrale in Physics at the University of Milan specializing in Astrophysics. He completed a PhD in Astrophysics at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. After a first postdoc at Caltech, Dr. Andreoni moved to the University of Maryland and NASA Goddard as a Neil Gehrels Prize Fellow. He has been a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2024.
https://www.igorandreoni.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/igor-andreoni-303940195 https://physics.unc.edu/people/igor-andreoni/
Research Focus
Igor Andreoni is an observational astrophysicist whose research probes the most extreme, transient phenomena in the Universe such as neutron star mergers, tidal disruption events, and gamma-ray bursts. He uses wide-field optical surveys combined with multi-wavelength and multi-messenger follow-up observations. His work sits at the intersection of two revolutions in modern astronomy: the advent of gravitational-wave astronomy and the emergence of high-cadence, all-sky optical surveys capable of finding rare transients in real time. By connecting these data streams, his research addresses open questions about the origin of the heaviest elements in the periodic table, the demographics and growth of black holes across the mass spectrum, and the diversity of explosive stellar deaths.
About Him
To keep a strong connection with his hometown and his passion for soccer, he named his research group "ATALab" - the Andreoni Transient Astronomy Lab
DIANA SCOGNAMIGLIO
Diana Scognamiglio is an observational cosmologist working at the interface between cosmology and galaxy evolution, combining observations from ground- and space-based telescopes with simulations and machine learning techniques. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University and was previously a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology.
She earned her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the Argelander Institute for Astronomy and the International Max Planck Research School in Bonn, Germany, following her studies at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia.
She leads the Weak Lensing Working Group of the COSMOS-Web collaboration and serves as Science Principal Investigator of a Caltech/JPL-funded project developing generative AI methods for three-dimensional dark matter reconstruction. She is also actively involved in the Euclid mission and NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission.
Research Focus
Diana's research focuses on understanding how matter is distributed across the Universe and how cosmic structures form and evolve over time.
Her main research uses weak gravitational lensing, the subtle distortion of distant galaxy shapes caused by gravity, to map the distribution of matter, including its invisible dark component. By developing high-resolution dark matter maps, she investigates cosmic structures on smaller scales, where physical processes become increasingly complex. These maps provide new opportunities to test our understanding of cosmic structure formation. She is also developing generative artificial intelligence methods to reconstruct the three-dimensional distribution of dark matter and trace its evolution across cosmic time.
In parallel, she studies the formation and evolution of ultra-compact massive galaxies through imaging and spectroscopy. Some of these galaxies formed most of their stars early in the Universe and have remained remarkably compact for billions of years, avoiding the substantial growth experienced by other massive galaxies. Understanding why these galaxies evolved differently, and how their environments may have influenced their evolution, provides valuable insights into the processes that shape galaxies.
Together, these studies investigate how matter shapes the Universe, from the cosmic web to individual galaxies.
About Her
Outside of work, Diana loves spending time in nature, discovering new places, and cooking, especially Italian food. She is also passionate about science communication and enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for astronomy with students and the wider public, inspiring curiosity about the Universe and encouraging younger generations to pursue careers in science.
Having pursued her scientific career across Italy, Russia, Germany, and the United States, Diana values the importance of international collaboration and the exchange of ideas across scientific communities. She hopes to continue strengthening connections between researchers in Italy and abroad, fostering new collaborations and opportunities for younger scientists.
DAVIDE TERZANI
Davide Terzani is a theoretical physicist in the Accelerator Technology and Applied Physics Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). After earning his master’s degree at Sapienza University of Rome, he moved to Naples for his Ph.D., where he began working on laser–plasma interactions and plasma acceleration. He then joined the ILIL laboratory at INO-CNR in Pisa as a postdoctoral researcher. He later moved to LBNL, where he is now a Research Scientist in the BELLA Center’s theory group.
Research Focus
How can we make particle accelerators smaller and more capable? Davide Terzani studies the theory and modeling of laser-plasma interactions, numerical methods, and particle-matter interactions to help answer that question. Particle accelerators are essential tools in science and medicine, but their size can limit where and how they are used. Plasma-based acceleration could reduce their size dramatically. At the BELLA Center, Davide models experiments and has helped develop computational methods that make simulations of laser-plasma interactions less costly. His current work explores how electrons accelerated in laser-produced plasmas can be used to generate muon beams to be used as imaging sources for large, dense objects.
About Him
Davide Terzani’s Monte Carlo simulations helped establish the feasibility of producing muons with laser-plasma accelerators. This work helped secure DARPA funding for a study at Berkeley Lab, which he led. The study resulted in an experimental demonstration of muon production and the first measurements of the energies and trajectories of individual muons generated using a laser-plasma accelerator. Following these first studies, he also helped secure ARPA-E funding to investigate the use of these muons for imaging in mining applications.
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