Bio
Bio
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Sofia Fatigoni is an Italian astrophysicist specialized in Experimental Cosmology.
Born in Perugia, Italy, in 1993, she attended Liceo Classico A. Mariotti, where she developed an early interest in physics, constructing batteries and circuits that are now displayed in the school's museum.
In 2012, she enrolled at La Sapienza University in Rome, earning a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in astrophysics. Her academic journey continued in 2017 at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, where she pursued a Ph.D. focusing on the BICEP Array telescope. Sofia’s research aims to detect B-mode polarization patterns in the CMB, which could provide insights into the early universe and test the theory of cosmic inflation. Her doctoral thesis, titled "Constraining the Inflationary Universe from the South Pole," details the design and implementation of the BICEP Array telescope, as well as innovative methods for atmospheric noise subtraction, which is a significant challenge for ground-based experiments.
In 2022, she joined the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) as a postdoctoral scholar, continuing her work on the BICEP Array and engaging in the development of new technologies for next-generation Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) telescopes. Today, she still works at Caltech as a Research Scientist.
As part of the BICEP Array hardware team, Sofia participated in four Antarctic missions and deployed three different telescope receivers to the South Pole.
Beyond her work on the early universe, Sofia has also made key contributions to the study of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).
In 2019, she was part of a team that discovered a new kind of radiation, the Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME), coming from Andromeda, observed using the Sardinia Radio Telescope (SRT).
In 2021, she led a study that produced the most detailed radio image of Andromeda ever taken at 6.6 GHz. Over 66 hours of observations with the SRT resulted in a high-resolution map that revealed star-forming regions within the galaxy’s disk, offering new insights into its structure and composition.
In recognition of her contributions, Sofia was a finalist for the 2023 ISSNAF (Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation) INFN Bruno Touschek Award. Her experiences working in the extreme conditions of the South Pole have been featured in publications such as Vanity Fair Italia, where she discussed the challenges and unique aspects of conducting research in Antarctica.
General information
General information
Citizenship: Italian.
Spoken languages: Italian (mother tongue), English (proficient), Spanish (beginner).
Mailing address: Sofia Fatigoni, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd, MC 367-17, 91125 CA (US).
Office: California Institute of Technology, Cahill Astrophysics (17).
E-mail address: sofiaf@caltech.edu.
Professional Experience
Professional Experience
August 2024 ‑ present: Research Scientist, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
November 2024‑ February 2025 Bicep Array Deployment Personnel, United States Antarctic Program (South Pole Station)
November 2023‑ February 2024: Bicep Array Deployment Personnel, United States Antarctic Program (South Pole Station)
October 2022‑ July 2024: Postdoctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
November 2022‑ February 2023: Bicep Array Deployment Personnel, United States Antarctic Program (South Pole Station)
September 2017 ‑ September 2022: Research Assistant (RA), University of British Columbia
November 2019 - December 2019: Bicep Array Deployment Personnel, United States Antarctic Program (South Pole Station)
June 2019 - October 2019: Visitor Research Student, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
September 2017 ‑ May 2019: Teaching Assistant (TA), University of British Columbia
Education
Education
Sep. 2017 - May 2023: Ph.D. student at University at British Columbia
Ph.D. in Physics
Thesis supervisor: Mark Halpern
Research Focus: Low temperature detectors; Time Domain Multiplexing; Readout electronics; Cryogenic Receivers; Data analysis; Atmospheric modeling.
Thesis title: "Constraining the Inflationary Universe from the South Pole”
Oct. 2015 - Jul. 2017: M.sc. student at La Sapienza, University of Rome.
M.Sc. in Astrophysics (cum laude)
Thesis supervisor: Prof. Elia Stefano Battistelli.
Research Focus: Radioastronomy; Observational astronomy; Data analysis.
Thesis title: “Andromeda Anomalous Microwave Emission: high resolution observations of Galactic and extra‑galactic regions”.
Oct. 2012 - Oct. 2015: B.Sc. student at La Sapienza, University of Rome.
B.Sc. in Physics
Thesis supervisor: Prof. Marco De Petris.
Thesis title: “A Study of Galaxy clusters with cosmological implications”.
Fellowships, Prizes and Awards
Fellowships, Prizes and Awards
2023: Bruno Toushek Award in Fundamental Physics (Young Investigator Award) Finalist, ISSNAF ‑ INFN
2021 ‑ 2022 : John I. Watters Research Fellowship, University of British Columbia
2020 ‑ 2022: President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD award, University of British Columbia (yearly)
2017 ‑ 2022: Faculty of Science PhD Tuition Award, University of British Columbia
2017 ‑ 2022: International Student Scholarship, University of British Columbia
2019: MITACS Globalink Research Award, MITACS
2017: Percorso d’eccellenza (Path of Excellence), La Sapienza, University of Rome
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