June 19 – It’s time to toast to the research group of the Matter Physics Department at the University of Siena, coordinated by Professor Emilio Mariotti. The journal Measurement Science and Technology selected a Siena research project among the 5 best articles of 2013. The Siena article describes an innovative aspect of the research project that some Siena researchers carried out with their colleagues in Pisa and Ferrara in the laboratories of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics in Legnaro. Their project searches for new methods to measure with precision the energy levels of “cooled” atoms “trapped” in a optical-magnetic field. This cutting-edge research is currently being studied in few laboratories in the world: “Currently there are only two more projects working on the topic: one, not yet completed, in Japan; and one that has just begun in Canada – says Professor Mariotti of the Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment at the University of Siena – Our small research group is composed of young researchers and graduate students, including undergraduates and graduates of the three-year course, who are trained in the Siena laboratories and have the opportunity to work with advanced technologies. Given their often non-negligible contributions, they are cited as co-authors for al publications of international relevance. So we hope that this is the beginning of a brilliant career, even outside academia.”