APPOINTMENTS
• 2022 -: Full Professor in Theoretical Physics, Physics Department, Sapienza University of Rome
• 2013 - 2022: Associate Professor in Theoretical Physics, Physics Department, Sapienza University of Rome
• 2013-2014: Visiting Professor, Initiative for the Theoretical Sciences, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York
• 2003-2013: Researcher, Institute for Complex Systems - CNR, UOS Sapienza, Rome
•2002-2003: Assistant Professor “Rientro dei Cervelli”, Physics Department, Sapienza University
• 1999-2001: Postdoctoral fellow, Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, Centre Energie Atomique CEA-SACLAY, France
• 1998 -1999: Postdoctoral fellow, Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics Group, Department of Theoretical Physics, Oxford University
EDUCATION
• May 1998: PhD in Theoretical Physics, Sapienza University of Rome.
• July 1994: Laurea Degree in Physics (MSc.), University of Pavia (110/110 cum laude)
• 1989-1994: Undergraduate fellow at Collegio Ghislieri, Pavia
AWARDS AND HONORS
• 2021 Delbruck Prize in Biological Physics, American Physical Society
https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/delbruck.cfm
• 2013 National Habilitation for Full Professor in Theoretical Physics (02/A2) and
Theoretical Condensed Matter (02/B2)
• 2012 Member of the Young Academy of Europe
• 2010 ERC grantee – European Research Council
• 2002 MIUR ‘Rientro dei Cervelli’ - Italian Ministry for Scientific Research (2002)
• 1989 Alfiere del lavoro
RESEARCH GRANTS AS PI
• 2022-2025: PRIN2020, National Interest Research Grants, MIUR, IT
• 2021-2024: DYNSYSMATH, National Specific Initiative, National Institute for Nuclear Physics
• 2019-2021: Bando Ricerca 2019, Progetti Medi, Sapienza University, IT
• 2017-2019: Bando Ricerca 2017, Progetti Medi, Sapienza University, IT
• 2016-2018: PROCEEDS, Proof of Concept Grant, European Research Council, EU
• 2010-2015: SWARM, Starting Grant (Consolidator level), European Research Council, EU
• 2010-2013: ARTSWARM, SEED Project, Italian Institute of Technology, IT
• 2010-2012: PASSAROLA, Marie Curie Fellowship (IEF) (Scientist in charge for S.Duarte), EU
INVITED TALKS AND LECTURES
Key invited talks and lectures in the last 5 years
• Delbruck Symposium, APS March Meeting, webinar (2021)
• Canes Seminar Series, King's College, webinar (2020)
• Simons Webinars - Cracking the glass problem (2020)
• Higgs Colloquium – Higgs Center for Theoretical Physics, Edinburgh (2019)
• Micromotility, SISSA and Istituto Veneto, Venezia (2019)
• ANTS 2018, CNR, Rome (2018)
• 23rd Rencontres Itzykson: Statistical Physics of Disordered and Complex Systems, CEA-Saclay (2018)
• APS March Meeting, Delbruck Session - Los Angeles (2018)
• 27th Solvay Conference for Physics `The Physics of Living Matter: Space, Time and Information in Biology’, Brussels (2017)
• Advances in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Rome (2017)
• Fismat 2017, Rome (2017)
• Extended Workshop “Active Living Matter”, Aspen (2017)
• SISSA Physics Colloquium, Trieste (2017)
• MECO42, Lyon (2017)
• Microswimmers – From Single Particle Motion to Collective Behaviour, Bonn (2016)
• STATPHYS2016, Biological Physics Section, Lyon (2016)
• Statistical physics methods in biology and computer science, ENS, Paris (2016)
• Collective Motion, Uppsala University (2016)
• Dynamics and information processing: from cells to tissues, Les Houches 2016
• ICMS Complexity Science Winter School, TU Eindhoven (2015)
• Active Liquids, Leiden Lorentz Center, Leiden (2015)
• 113th Statistical Mechanics Conference, Rutgers University (2015)
• Workshop ‘Flowing matter across the scales’, Rome (2015)
TEACHING AND TUTORING
• Coordinator of the Master Program in Biosystems, MSc in Physics, Sapienza University
• University Courses:
Statistical Physics (since 2017, BSc in Physics, Sapienza);
Theoretical Biophysics (since 2016, MSc in Physics, Sapienza);
General Physics (2014-2017, BSc in Earth Sciences, Sapienza);
Physical and Mathematical models for economy (2010, MSc in Physics, Sapienza);
Disordered systems and anomalous diffusion (2004-2009, PhD in Physics, Sapienza)
• Invited Courses
Collective behaviour in biological groups, Cargese (2017)
Collective behavior in animal groups, Beg Rohu (2014)
Metastable States in Glassy systems, Les Houches (2006).
Econophysics, Les Houches (2006).
Minority Game, Nordita, Copenhagen (1999).
• Tutoring: > 10 Postdocs; 4 PhD students; 9 Master students; 7 BSc students
CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION AND NETWORKING
• Network grants:
2019-2023: GDRI Network `Predictability, Adaptation and Navigation', CNRS, FR
2015-2019: GDRI Network Evolution, Regulation and Signalling, CNRS, FR
2014-2018: COST Action Flowing Matter (member of managing committee), EU
2005-2008: STREP Network STARFLAG, EU FP6
• Conference Organization
XXIV Convegno Nazionale di Fisica Statistica e dei Sistemi Complessi, member of the scientific committee, Parma (2018)
ICTP workshop on Collective Behaviour, Director for the Physics section, Trieste (2018)
Conference Disordered Serendipity, member of the organizing committee, Rome (2018)
Extended Workshop “Theoretical physics and the phenomena of life: Optimization and emergent behaviour”, member of the organizing committee, Graduate Center, CUNY, New York (2011)
COMMISSIONS OF TRUST
2021 - Member of Strategic Committee, Center for Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Rome
2019-2022: Appointed Member of the External Academic Advisory Council, Princeton Physics Department
2018 Member of the International Advisory Committee of IUPAP StatPhys27
EDITORIAL AND REVIEWING ACTIVITY
•Editorial work
2020-today: Advisory Editorial Board, Papers in Physics
2019-today: Reviewing Editor, eLife
2018-today: Editor in Chief, Journal of Statistical Physics
2011-2017: Mathematics consulting Editor, Animal Behaviour
• Journal Referee for: Nature Phys., Nature Comm., PNAS, PRL, PRE, PRB, PRX, J. Phys. A, EPL, Physica A & D, EPJB; J. Stat. Phys., Quant.Finance; J. Econ. Behav. & Org.; PRSCB; Neur. Comp. & Appl., Ethology; Ecol. Lett.; Anim.Behav., Plos One, Plos Comp. Biol., Robotics and Auton. Syst.; Swarm Intell.
• Project Reviewer for: European Research Council (2020), National Science Foundation (2012-2016), Human Frontier Science Program (2015-2017), The Einstein Foundation (2016-2017), VQR-ANVUR (2012), Alliance Sorbonne University (2021)
• PhD Committee: ICTP - Physics (2020); Universite' de Toulouse III – Biology (2015), Applied Mathematics (2009); King's College London - Applied Mathematics (2009); Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7 - Physics (2009)
PUBLICATION IMPACT
google scholar
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Irene Giardina has a background in theoretical and statistical physics. For several years she worked mainly on disordered and glassy systems, applying analytical and numerical techniques to models in condensed matter physics. Her main results in this field concern the topological characterization of complex landscapes and its connection to non-equilibrium dynamics [6,9,10]. Along the years, she exported and applied techniques developed in statistical physics to complex behaviour in other contexts, from stochastic growth processes, multi-agent models and biological problems [5,7,8].
About ten years ago, her interest focused on the collective behaviour of living systems. She founded with Andrea Cavagna the COBBS Lab (Collective Behaviour in Biological Systems, - www.cobbs.it). Her lab was the first to collect 3D large-scale experimental data in the field and to do theory starting directly from the data [1,2,3,4,5]. Their approach, based on the statistical physics of interacting systems, has opened an entirely new field of research bringing the biophysics revolution – well-established on microscopic systems – to the behavioural scale. Since then, her group is devoted to developing new experimental, analytical and numerical tools to investigate collective phenomena in living aggregations. In 2021 she has been awarded, together with A.Cavagna, the Delbruck Prize for Biological Physics, `for the incisive combination of observation, analysis, and theory to elucidate the beautiful statistical physics problems underlying collective behavior in natural flocks and swarms.'
1. Ballerini et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 1232 (2008).
2. Cavagna et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 107, 11865 (2010).
3. Bialek et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, 13 (2012).
4. Ballerini et al., Anim Behav 76, 201 (2008).
5. Attanasi et al.,Nature Physics 10 (2014), 691-696.
5. Cavagna et al., Phys. Rev. Lett.83, 4429 (1999).
6. Broderix et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5360 (2000).
7. Giardina, HFSP journal 2 (2008), 205-219.
8. Giardina & Bouchaud, Eur. Phys. J. B 31, 421 (2003).
9. Grigera et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 055502 (2002).
10. De Dominicis & Giardina, Random Fields and Spin Glasses: a field theory approach. Cambridge University Press (2006).