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National Institute for Nuclear Physics | Padova Division
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Research at Padova Division
How does nature work at its most basic and intimate level? What are the last constituents of the subject? These are the main questions to which our research aims to find answers.
After the war, the protagonists of the scene were the atomic nuclei, together with their proton and neutron constituents. This is why our Institute, founded in 1951, is called the National Institute of Nuclear Physics.
Today, fundamental physics has identified quark and leptons as the fundamental building blocks of matter and has built an extremely powerful model capable of accounting for an enormous amount of phenomena and experimental data.
However many questions remain unanswered to fully understand the origin, characteristics and fate of our universe.
Technology
In order to go beyond the present knowledge frontier we often need to develop and manufacture totally new devices, that take advantage of the newest available technologies and initiate progress toward new and unexpected directions.
Over the years we have gained a large range of competences in various technological fields: from mechanics to material science, from electronics to informatics. Thus we can create autonomously, in our laboratories and workshops, new prototypes and manufacture components of accelerators and experimental devices unique in the world.
Please visit the dedicated webpage for a brief presentation of the technological research activities at INFN Padova.
Connection with Industry
The collaboration between INFN and industry plays a crucial role in the construction of large and complex detectors, like the ones at Large Hadron Collider at CERN. The components to be manufactured often have very peculiar technical characteristics and require our suppliers to adopt innovative approaches and to develop original solutions. In other cases the industries themselves are interested in our expertise and equipment to develop new products or processes. In both situations the interaction with industry generates an effective knowledge transfer and a strong impulse toward innovation.
Please visit the dedicated webpage about opportunities and other useful informations for industry or navigate through by using the main menu to Opportunities -> Opportunities for industry.
Participation of Young people
We are in touch with many schools in the Veneto Region and each time the students come to our premises to take part in dedicated events, it is a very special moment for us. Their curiosity and interest to discover new subjects are indeed a strong input for us to describe our work and to create participation opportunities.
We offer several occasions: from traineeships for Secondary School students, to direct involvement in research activities during the Master Classes.
Competition and Excellence
Several of our research activities are funded by external resources that our Reserarchers and Technologists obtain through the participation in different kinds of calls, at a European, International or local level. In particular, two of our researchers have been awarded the prestigious grants of the European Research Council, after a long and challenging selection procedure.
Meet our researchers and their projects, that address the most different subjects, from fundamental physics to medical applications.