The 2023 “Enrico Fermi” Prize of the Italian Physical Society (SIF) has been awarded to Massimo Ferrario (INFN, National Laboratory of Frascati), Lucio Rossi (University of Milan) and Frank Zimmermann (CERN), for their outstanding developments in various advanced particle acceleration technologies, ranging from plasma acceleration to the realisation of ultra-high energy particle colliders.
The Prize was established by the Society in 2001, to mark the centenary of Fermi's birth, and is awarded annually to one or more members who have particularly honoured physics with their discoveries. A Commission of experts appointed by SIF and major Italian research institutions, chooses the winners from a shortlist of candidates, and then forwards its judgement to the Society's Presidency Council for approval.
Massimo Ferrario, who leads the EuPRAXIA project at INFN's Frascati National Laboratory, was cited for “his significant and innovative contributions in the field of high-brilliance photoinjectors, of FEL physics and of particle acceleration with plasma.”
Lucio Rossi has played a key role in research and development activities for large superconducting ultra-high-field magnets and was responsible for their production for the Large Hadron Collider. He also proposed, founded and initially directed the High-Luminosity LHC upgrade.
Frank Zimmermann is recognized as one of the most prolific and creative authors in accelerator physics, author of seminal discoveries that have made it possible to realise the most modern high-luminosity, high-energy colliders.
Massimo Ferrario says: “I am extremely honored to receive this award named after Enrico Fermi, an award as prestigious as it was unexpected for me, and to share it with two other colleagues / friends of high scientific status such as Lucio Rossi and Frank Zimmermann. I thank all the colleagues of the Accelerator Division who have played a fundamental role in ensuring the running of the experiments and of course the Director of the LNF, Fabio Bossi, for his continuous support and enthusiasm towards this project. I would never have achieved this result without the help of a wonderful group of young scientists who have carried out the activities of SPARC_LAB and EuPRAXIA with so much passion and dedication over the years. I would like to acknowledge them one by one but it would be too long a list, including researchers from the INFN of Milan, the ENEA of Frascati, the CNR of Pisa and the Universities of Rome and Milan. Thanks anyway to all of you!”
The award ceremony will take place at the opening session of the 109th National Congress of the Society, in Salerno, Italy, on 11 September 2023.
To the three winners, the warmest congratulations from EuPRAXIA!