The common thread of my research activity is the development and application of asteroseismology (i.e. the study of global, resonant pulsation modes in stars) to improve our understanding of stellar physics, and to infer global stellar properties with unprecedented precision and accuracy.
While my initial career focused primarily on theoretical aspects of asteroseismology and stellar structure, I then developed a strong interest in the direct comparison between models and the exquisite data delivered by space-borne photometric missions. Since the first data from CoRoT became available, I have actively participated in the community-wide exploitation of seismic data, with major contributions in a large number of papers.
At the same time, while continuing detailed studies of local features in the stellar interior, I have followed a definite and distinctive path in recognising the potential, and starting to exploit, asteroseismic constraints to inform studies of the Milky Way galaxy.
This line of research represents the main scientific thrust behind the ERC Consolidator Grant I was awarded in late 2017: the asterochronometry project aims at reconstructing the assembly history of our Galaxy by significantly improving the precision and accuracy of current methods used to age date stars. For this purpose, we are working in an interdisciplinary team combining experts in stellar evolution, stellar seismology and in models of the chemical and dynamical evolution of the Milky Way (https://www.asterochronometry.eu/).
