Pasquale Calabrese, record-breaking quantum physicist receives third Erc grant

The aim of the MOSE project will be precisely to understand the relationship between symmetry and entanglement in quantum mechanical and statistical systems. The project will use highly advanced theoretical approaches, for example to study entanglement in black hole phenomena. The project will also explore the so-called 'Mpemba effect': a counterintuitive phenomenon in which a hot system can cool faster than a cold one, looking for links between quantum and classical dynamics through symmetries.

While Professor Calabrese's group will handle the theoretical part, an experimental part will be conducted by other groups of researchers to test whether the predictions made can be observed in the laboratory. This interdisciplinary approach will help to better understand fundamental quantum phenomena and their potential applications in quantum devices of the future, such as quantum computers.

Pasquale Calabrese, 49, after a degree in physics from the University of Pisa and a doctorate from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, worked at the University of Oxford and Amsterdam. Returning to Pisa, he then moved to Trieste in 2014, bringing with him his first Erc, entitled Edesqs. His second Erc came with a 2018 Consolidator Grant for the NEMO (New states of Entangled Matter Out of equilibrium) project. "The new funding," Calabrese explains, "will allow me to continue doing research at the highest level and to contribute to making our School even more international and competitive.

Calabrese also appears in the top 0.2 per cent of the world's best-performing scientists according to the 'Career Long' ranking. In the most recent edition of this ranking, published in September 2024 and referring to data updated to 31 December 2023, Pasquale Calabrese occupies position 19,096 out of the 217,097 total scientists taken into consideration and representing, precisely, 2% of the active scientists globally.

Looking at the ratio between the number of male and female scientists and the number of ERC grants received, Sissa Trieste ranks first among research institutions in Italy. In fact, the number of ERCs achieved to date in relation to the number of lecturers is by far the highest in Italian universities with approximately one ERC for every three lecturers, a success rate 25 times higher than the average for the Italian academy.

'That a university institution with fewer than 90 lecturers manages to obtain such a high number of European grants,' comments Sissa Director Andrea Romanino, 'is a sign of the quality and international profile of its teaching staff, of which Professor Calabrese is a particularly prominent exponent. It is a figure that goes hand in hand with that of the percentage of so-called 'top-scientists', also the highest in Italy'.

The funding received by Calabrese is part of the Erc's Advanced Grant call, which has reached 281 European researchers for a total of EUR 721 million. One of the European Union's most prestigious and competitive calls, it offers senior researchers the chance to pursue ambitious projects that could lead to important discoveries. The new funding is part of the Horizon Europe programme.