CURRICULUM VITAE of Giovanni Fabrizio - IASF Milano

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CURRICULUM VITAE
of
Giovanni Fabrizio BIGNAMI
Milestones
Born: April 10, 1944, Desio (Italy). Liceo Classico “G.Parini”, 1962, Milan, Italy, Italian citizenship
-1968:
Laurea in Physics Milan U. with G. Occhialini (part of thesis at Imperial College, London)
-1971-1990:
Research Scientist at the Italian Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milan
-1973-1978:
ESRO and U.S. Academy of Sciences Senior Fellowships, NASA/GSFC
-1979:
Visiting scientist at the Max-Plank Institut fuer Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany
-1981:
"Doctorat d'Etat es Sciences", Université Paris VII (mention:“très honorable”)
-1989:
Visiting Professor at the Université de Paris VII
-1990- 2014
Full Professor of General Physics, U of Cassino , of Astronomy, U of Pavia and IUSS
-1997-2002:
Director of Science, Italian Space Agency, Rome
-2003- 2006
Director of the Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS, Toulouse, France
-2007- 2008
President, Italian Space Agency, Rome
-2009- 2011
President, Scientific Council, “Groupment d’Interet Scientifique P2I”, Paris
-2010 :
Président, Comité d’évaluation du CNES de l’AERES, Paris
-2010- 2014
President, COSPAR (world-wide Committee on Space Research)
-2011-2015
President, INAF (Italian National Institute for Astrophysics)
-2013
Professor “Honoris Causa”, State University, Moscow
-2015Chairman of the Board, SKA, world-wide organization for radio-astronomy
Advisory and Policy-Making Appointments
1984-1988
1988-1999
1994-1995
1994-1995
1994-1998
1995
1995
1998-2002
1998-2002
2001-2003
2002-2007
2003-2006
Astronomy Working Group of ESA
NASA's Gamma Ray Observatory Users' Committee
ESA's Survey Committee "HORIZON 2000+"
Scientific Committee, Italian Space Agency
ESA's Space Science Advisory Committee
Chairman, ESA INTEGRAL Science Evaluation Committee
Chairman, the INTEGRAL Spectrometer Review Team of CNES, France
Italian Delegate and Vice-Chair, ESA's Science Programme Committee
Board of Trustees, International Space University, Strasbourg, France
Scientific Council, CNRS (France).
Scientific Council, "Federation de Recherche" APC, Université de Paris VII.
Scientific Council, International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Berne, Switzerland
2004-2006
Chairman, ESA’s Space Science Advisory Committee
2004-2006
2005-2006
2007-2008
2008- 2010
2009- 2010
20102012-present
2013-present
2013
2014-present
2014-present
2014-present
2015-present
Member, CERES (Comité d’Evaluation Recherche et Exploration Spatiale), CNES, France
Coordinator, ESA new Decadal Plan “Cosmic Vision 2015-2025”
President, ELV (European Launch Vehicles, a public-private space company), Italy
Member, Max-Planck Evaluation Committee for Inst. Director, MPE Garching, Germany
Aerospace Coordinator, Italian National Programme for Research, MIUR
Ministerial Expert, Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, MIUR
Member, Science Advisory Committee, Korean Space Agency, South Korea
Italian Delegate, Council of the European Southern Observatory (ESO)
Member, ESA Senior Survey Committee (for L mission selection)
Chair, ESO “Tripartite” Committee for General Organization and Staff Management
Member, ESO ELT Committee
Member, ESO Committee on “The future of Astronomy”
Advisor to the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs for Intergovernmental Organization
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Selected Scientific Projects
1970-1984
1973-1975
1979-1985
1981-1995
1986-1988
1989-2002
1990-1991
1996-1997
1988-1998
1997-2002
2000-present
2002-present
2005- 2009
2006-present
2007-present
2010
2012
2013-present
2014-2015
ESRO/ESA COS-B experiment (-ray astronomy). Data Reduction Group Coordinator
NASA SAS-2 experiment (-ray astronomy). Prototype calibration. Flight data analysis.
NASA Einstein Obs. NASA SAS-3, ESA EXOSAT, NASA/ESA IUE. Flight data analysis.
CNES/IKI : Gamma-1 mission, Italian coordinator. SIGMA mission, “Observateur Invité”
ESA GRASP experiment (X/-ray astronomy) : mission design, study member .
NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope: P.I. of several proposals.
P. I. of the ESO Key Programme on Optical Identification of High Energy Sources.
ESA Hipparcos (astrometry): Flight data analysis.
Principal Investigator on the EPIC (European Photon Imaging Camera) on XMM-Newton,
ESA cornerstone mission. A European Collaboration of 13 institutes in four nations.
Initiator at ASI of the Italian gamma-ray astronomy mission AGILE
ESA XMM/Newton: P.I/Co-Pi of several proposals. Flight data analysis.
NASA GLAST (now “FERMI”) gamma-ray astronomy mission. Associate scientist
Co-initiator of the French-Italian Simbol-X mission for X-ray Astronomy
ESA INTEGRAL (gamma-ray astronomy): Flight data analysis and interpretation
ASI Agile mission (gamma-ray astronomy): Flight data analysis and interpretation
Initiator within Italy of the Cherenkov Telescope Array ultrahigh-energy Gamma-ray
Astronomy project (CTA), one of the ESFRI priorities.
Initiator of the Italian participation in the ESO ELT Project
Vice-Chair of the international CTA Scientific and Technical Committee
Italian Scientific Delegate to the Board of the SKA Radioastronomy Project
Selected Prizes and Honours
1993
2000
2002
2004
2006
2007
2010
2010
2012
2013
2013
Bruno Rossi prize of the HEAD, American Astronomical Society
Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite de la République Française
Royal Society/COSPAR “Massey Medal” Award for leadership in Space Science
Astronomy Prize, Italian Culture Ministry (prize given every four years)
Officier de la Légion d’Honneur de la République Française
“San Valentino d’Oro” for excellence in Science, Regione Umbria, Italy
“Blaise Pascal Medal” for Astrophysics, European Academy of Sciences
“Von Karman Award” International Academy of Astronautics
Premio APE (Milan, Italy), for excellence in Science
Professor “Honoris Causa”, State University, Moscow
Premio “Vittorio de Sica per le Scienze”, Roma
Academies
1997:
2000:
2004:
2005:
2008:
2008:
2009:
2013:
2015 :
2016:
Member, Corresponding, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
Member, International Astronautics Academy
Member, European Academy of Sciences
Member, Academia Europaea
Member of the « Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti », Venice, Italy
Membre Titulaire, Académie de l’Air et de l’Espace, Toulouse, France
Membre Associé étranger , Académie des Sciences, France
Member, Accademia della Scienze, Turin, Italy
Full Member (Socio Nazionale), Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Sciences
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Scientific Publications
See list: http://www.iasf-milano.inaf.it/~gfb/personal.html
(Citations: >12,700, (3 papers with >1,000 cits each) source: ADS) h index = 49
-Papers in international refereed journals: >220 (incl. 28 in Nature and 18 in Science)
SUMMARY OF GFB’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO SPACE RESEARCH IN ITALY AND IN
EUROPE: FROM PROJECT-MAKING TO POLICY-MAKING
GFB has been involved in scientific space projects and their management from his thesis (1968) until today.
He contributed to every European (and many U.S.) space mission in astrophysics, and was active in
promoting and directing space research in Italy, France and Europe in general.
Since his first missions - ESRO’s TD-1 (1968-72) and NASA’s SAS-2 (1973-5) - his scientific and management
roles continuously increased. For ESA’s first satellite, COS-B (1975-1982), he represented Italy and was later
mission Data Reduction Coordinator (1981). In parallel, he led the Italian hardware participation to the
Franco-Soviet Gamma-1 mission (1981-1986).
In 1987, he was selected as Principal Investigator for the main focal plane instrument of ESA’s cornerstone
mission in X-ray astronomy “XMM-Newton” (flown in 1999). He named the instrument EPIC (European
Photon Imaging Camera) and was its P.I. until 1997, leading the European collaboration of a dozen institutes
(more than 100 scientists and engineers), four National Space Agencies and many industries to a delivery on
time and within budget (about 50Meuro). After more than 16 years in orbit, EPIC is arguably the most science
productive X-ray astronomy instrument ever flown.
Starting in 1983, he was a member of various scientific advisory bodies of ESA, NASA (GRO), CNES, COSPAR
and ASI, taking part in agencies policy-making and mission selections such as that of ESA’s INTEGRAL, for
which he chaired the Payload Selection Committee. (INTEGRAL has been in orbit since 2002, and is highly
successful).
In 1997, GFB joined the Italian Space Agency (ASI) as Director of Science, a position he held until 2002. In
that capacity, among other duties, he started a series of scientific missions, the first of which, AGILE (a SMEXclass mission), has been doing breakthrough gamma-ray astronomy since it ins launch 2007. He was also
responsible for the Italian-Dutch X mission BeppoSAX (1996-2002), well-known for its discoveries on gammaray bursts. The ASI Science Directorate budget was about 50 Meuro/year, plus the responsibility for the Italian
participation to ESA’s Science Programme.
At ASI, GFB was thus also responsible for approving Italy’s policy for ESA missions (e.g. PLANCK/
HERSCHEL) and for starting an important collaboration with NASA’s SWIFT and FERMI, both
successfully in orbit since 2004 and 2008 also thanks to the Italian participation.
From 2003 to 2006, GFB was Director of the Centre d’Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements (Toulouse), one of
the most important French space science laboratories (over 120 scientists and technicians, about 10 Meuro/year
budget), including management of hardware contributions, data analysis of missions and interactions at al levels
with the French CNRS and the French and European Space Agencies.
From 2004 to 2006, GFB was Chairman of ESA’s Space Science Advisory Committee. In his mandate, he
chaired ESA’s Cosmic Vision, Europe’s long term (2015-2025) programme of space science, in
consultation with European political bodies, the science community and Europe’s National Space
Agencies (e.g. CNES and DLR), as well as NASA. The Cosmic Vision programme is now being carried out by
the European scientific community, in collaboration with NASA and other Space Agencies.
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In April 2007 he was nominated by Prime Minister Romano Prodi as President of ASI. ASI had a budget of
800 M€/y and was ESA’s third largest contributor. As Head of the Italian Delegation in ESA, GFB was
instrumental in supporting all European space research and applications. He also strengthened ASI’s
collaboration with NASA for several missions, including HST and FERMI.
At the end of 2008, the Max-Planck Gesellschaft nominated GFB to the Evaluation Committee for the selection
of the Director for their Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching.
In 2009, the Italian Research Minister nominated GFB as Aerospace Coordinator for Italy’s National
Programme for Research.
In 2010, the Agence d’Evaluation de la Recherche et de l’Enseignement Supérieur (AERES) nominated
GFB as President of their Evaluation Committee for the CNES (French Space Agency). He also acted as an
expert for the French Agence National de la Recherche.
In July 2010, the 44 Member States elected GFB (first Italian) as President of COSPAR, the world-wide
Committee on Space Research, which has been planning and evaluating world space research since 1958, acting
for the UN thorough ICSU, the International Council of Scientific Unions. As COSPAR President, he was
responsible for two General Assemblies, in Mysore, India (2012) and in Moscow, Russia (2014), the latter
requiring some political skills in a difficult international context.
In August 2011, GFB was nominated, for a 4 year mandate, President of INAF, the Italian National
Astronomy Institute, with 17 Institutions nationwide, a budget of over 100 Meuro/year and a personnel of
about 1,200.
One of the first moves of GFB at INAF was to ensure, within the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the
Italian participation to the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), the biggest future programme in
optical astronomy from the ground. Since 2012, Italy, through INAF, is a full partner of EELT. This has already
generated a very important return in terms of contracts to Italian industries and to INAF Institutes, for an amount
significantly bigger than Italy’s investment in the project.
In June 2013, GFB became Head of the Italian Delegation at responsible for Italy’s 12% contribution to ESO. At
ESO, GFB was asked (and continues) to serve on strategic science and project-developing Committees, notably
for the ELT.
In 2013-2014, GFB was part of the ESA selection process which led to the choice of ATHENA Plus as the
next of ESA’s L-class missions. As a consequence, at INAF GFB has started a programme of basic
research and development for the Italian contribution to the instrumentation of this great mission.
During 2014, at INAF, GFB has secured increased financing for Astronomy in Italy’s National Budget
Law through a special addendum dedicated to a programme of “Industrial Astronomy” of 30 Meuro for
2015-17. In parallel, he is starting a programme of privileged European Investment Bank loans possibly reaching
20 Meuro/year for 10 years.
Through such financing, significantly increasing INAF’s standard budget, in 2015 Italy’s participation in
the CTA and SKA programmes has become a reality.
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SUMMARY OF GFB’S SCIENCE CONTRIBUTIONS TO ASTROPHYSICS
GFB was instrumental in developing gamma-ray astrophysics as a new high-energy discipline.
After taking part, in the early seventies, in the understanding of the diffuse gamma-ray emission from our
Galaxy in terms of cosmic-ray protons and electrons interacting with interstellar gas, and in the first detection of
a gamma-ray pulsar (the Crab, 1974), he later (1981) led the work yielding the discovery of the first extragalactic
gamma-ray source, the QSO 3C273.
He took part (early eighties) in the original discovery of the population of gamma-ray sources in our
Galaxy, and, in particular, his research (1973-1993) on the identification and understanding of Geminga
(which he named) as the first of a new class of gamma-ray neutron stars remains a template until today.
He led the X-ray and optical observations as well as their interpretation.
GFB created a new school on the multiwavelenght phenomenology and physics of neutron stars
Combining, over the last 15 years, gamma- and X-ray astronomy (using the XMM/NEWTON mission), optical
and other types of data, the observational and interpretative work of GFB’ group has yielded a number of
important first results, like the first in situ measurement of an isolated neutron star magnetic field, the first
evidence of high-energy particle acceleration by a gamma-ray pulsar, the tracking of a neutron star rotation from
its thermal surface emission, the first optical parallax of a neutron star (Geminga) and the optical proper motion
determination of several other neutron stars.
The most important optical results on Geminga were obtained from 1993 to 1996 thanks to HST GO
observations, with GFB as the PI, also correlating them to HIPPARCOS data for absolute astrometry.
Currently, GFB participates also in the analysis of data of the AGILE and FERMI observatories, now showing
that many of the galactic gamma-ray sources, unidentified for decades, are in fact “Geminga-like”, i.e. isolated
neutron stars only emitting gamma-rays. Moreover, he took part on the discovery of gamma-ray variability of
the Crab pulsars as well as of gamma-ray emission from the CygX3 microquasar.
In 2008, GFB, exploiting INTEGRAL data, contributed to another first result in high-energy astronomy: the
gamma-ray evidence for the galactic antimatter content, interpreting it as being due to neutron stars in special
binary systems, located in the central regions of our Galaxy.
In 2013, GFB co-authored the discovery of the most intense magnetic field so far observed in a celestial object.
The result came from a combination of X-ray astronomy data and a study of the detailed physics of a magnetar,
or a special type of neutron star.
GFB stimulated, and continues today, theoretical work based on high-energy astrophysics data.
From 2005 until today, theoretical work of GFB explored the possibility of quantum vacuum lensing and
quantum vacuum friction (QVF) around magnetized neutron stars, discussing the creation of light pseudoscalar
bosons and predicting their observability in a specific neutron star-neutron star binary system. In a similar vein,
his group also explores QVF-related physical limits to neutron stars fields.
Currently, GFB is working on a model capable of explaining some apparent anomalies arising from the
VHE/UHE gamma-ray data of the extragalactic population of AGNs seen at high-energies. One possible
interpretation leads to the presence of axion-like particles for energy transport.
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SUMMARY OF GFB’S CONTRIBUTION TO SCIENCE COMMUNICATION
FOR THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC AT LARGE
GFB is a strong believer in presenting science to a wide audience and is active in science policy and in
opinion making as an interdisciplinary science advocate towards governments and the public. A
scholar and language enthusiast, GFB loves humanities as much as sciences.
In Italy, GFB has written more then 400 newspaper (Corriere della Sera, Il Messaggero, Il Sole, La
Stampa, La Repubblica, etc.), magazine (e.g.Le Scienze) and encyclopaedia (e.g Treccani) articles.
Currently, he has a rubric on the weekly l’Espresso and contributes to the Opinion Page of La
Stampa and La Repubblica (frequently on the front page).
He has created and talented several TV series, for RAI (as a guest of Piero Angela on RAI 1) and for
National Geographic Channel, Italy. (see samples in www.giovannibignami.it) He has also worked
with the ESA and CERN TV programmes, and with Antenne 2 in France.
Worldwide, he was a regular contributor to Nature (27 pieces), Science (18), the McGraw-Hill
Encycl.(3), and he contributed to the opinion page of the International Herald Tribune (7).
GFB has published eleven books, translated in seven languages:
 Against the Donning of the Gown, the first English version (in jambic pentametrs) of a long
(301 lines) poem written by Galileo Galilei in 1590 (Moonbooks, London, 2000, reprinted Pisa,
2009). This work stands as a concrete testimony of GFB’s literary interests.

La storia nello spazio (Mursia, Milano, 2001), published in French as: Explorer l’Espace pour
Remonter le Temps (Odile Jacob, Paris, 2006)

L’esplorazione dello spazio (Il Mulino, Bologna, 2006).

I Marziani siamo noi (Zanichelli, Bologna, 2010), now published in German (Wir sind die
Marsmenschen, Spektrum, 2012), French (Des etoiles et des hommes, Cherche-Midi, Paris
2012), English (We are the Martians, Springer, Berlin, 2012), Chinese (Science Press, Beijing,
2013) and Iranian (2014). A new, fully revised edition is imminent (2017).

Cosa resta da scoprire (Mondadori, Milano, 2011, reprinted in 2012 in the best-seller “Oscar”
series), in English as: Imminent Science (Springer, 2014), soon in Russian (2017)

Il futuro spiegato ai ragazzi (Mondadori, 2012, reprinted 2013), with C. Bellon, now published
in Spanish as “El futuro explicado a los ninos” ( Siruela, Madrid 2014).

Il mistero delle sette sfere (Mondadori, Milano, 2013, reprinted 2013 for “Mondadori
Bookclub”), now published as “The mistery of the seven spheres” by Springer (2015)

A Scenario for Interstellar Exploration (Springer, Berlin, 2013), with A. Sommariva

Oro dagli asteroidi e asparagi da Marte (Mondadori, 2015), with A. Sommariva

The Future of Human Space Exploration (MacMillan, 2016), with A. Sommariva
 Progetto Marte Storia di uomini e di astronavi (dedalo, 2016)
Three of GFB’s books, i.e.: I marziani siamo noi, Cosa resta da scoprire and Il mistero delle sette
sfere, have all been rendered for the TV in Nat Geo and RAI serials. GFB is also currently very active
in science popularization programmes in various RAI Channels, also in collaboration with the
Accademia dei Lincei.
In recent years, GFB has received in Italy a number of local and National prizes (e.g the 2006 Premio
“Lacchini” for the furthering of astronomical culture and the 2012 Premio Fermi)