Patrizia Caraveo

After graduating in Physics from the University of Milan in 1977, Patrizia Caraveo spent some time abroad: first at the Service d'Astrophysique of the CEA in Saclay , France, then as a Research Assistant at the Catholic University of America at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. In 1978, she joined the Institute of Cosmic Physics and Related Technologies of the CNR in Milan, which later merged with INAF.

Since 1997, she has been a contract professor at the University of Pavia and a research director since 2002. She was Director of the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Cosmic Physics in Milan from July 2011 to December 2017. She is currently a research director at INAF in Milan, an INAF representative on the CTAO Council, and an Associate Editor of the Journal of High Energy Astrophysics. Since 2025, she has also been President of the Italian Astronomical Society.

Her main field is high-energy astrophysics and the study of neutron stars at multiple wavelengths. She contributed to the understanding of Geminga, recognized as the first pulsar without radio emissions, by developing a multiwavelength strategy for identifying galactic gamma-ray sources.

She has collaborated on international space missions dedicated to high-energy astrophysics, including COS-B, Integral, Swift, AGILE, and Fermi, and coordinated INAF's participation in the Cherenkov Telescope Array. She shared the Bruno Rossi Prize with the Swift, Fermi, and AGILE teams. In 2009, she received the National President of the Republic Award, in 2013 the Outstanding Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace-Europe, and in 2021 the Enrico Fermi Award from the Italian Physical Society, jointly with Elena Aprile.