Education
B.Sc. in Chemistry and Materials Chemistry (2014), M.Sc. in Chemistry (2016), and Ph.D. in Chemistry (2020), all obtained at the Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”, University of Bologna.
Academic Career
Since March 1, 2026, he has been a Tenure-Track Researcher at the Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician”. From March 2023 to February 2026, he served as a fixed-term Researcher (RTD-A) at the same Department. In June 2023, he obtained the National Scientific Qualification (Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale) for Associate Professor in the Physical Chemistry sector 03/CHEM-02.
Previously, he held a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician” (November 2019 – October 2021) and at the Scuola Superiore Meridionale, Naples (November 2021 – February 2023), within the research area “Molecular Science for Earth and Space”.
Teaching Activities
Since the academic year 2021/2022, Mattia has been lecturer of the undergraduate Laboratory Course in “Spectroscopic Methods” within the B.Sc. in Chemistry and Materials Chemistry.
From 2016 to 2020, he served as teaching assistant for the same course and for the Laboratory Course in “Laser and Computational Methodologies” within the M.Sc. in Photochemistry.
Since 2025, he has also been lecturer of the Laboratory Course “Chemistry Education” within the initial teacher training programs (A034 and A050 classes).
Scientific Activity
Since 2017, he has published 78 papers in international peer-reviewed journals in the fields of physical chemistry and molecular astrophysics. His publications have received over 3,000 citations, and his current h-index is 19. His research has led to the identification of new interstellar molecules, including propanol and 1,2-ethenediol, and has contributed to the expansion of the HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database.
Institutional Service
Since May 2024, he has been a member of the Knowledge Valorization Committee.
Since June 2024, he has served as the Researchers’ Representative on the Department Board.
Awards and Honors
- Kirkbright Bursary Award (2021) – awarded as a promising young researcher.
- “Premio Spada” (2020) – awarded by the Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician” for the best Ph.D. thesis in physical chemistry (32nd doctoral cycle).
- UVa Prize (2018) – best oral presentation by a young researcher at the 25th International Conference on High Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy.
- Young Physico-Chemist Award (2017) – best oral presentation by a young researcher at the XXVI National Congress of the Italian Chemical Society.
Periods abroad
- Visiting Scientist, Department of Chemistry, King’s College London, UK (March 20–29, 2023), Molecular Spectroscopy Laboratory (Dr. Sanz).
- Visiting Scientist, Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d’Orsay, France (November 20–30, 2022), laboratories of Dr. Martin-Drumel and Dr. Pirali.
- Visiting Ph.D. Student, SOLEIL Synchrotron, Saint-Aubin, France (January 28 – February 1, 2019), AILES beamline.
- Visiting Ph.D. Student, Laborastrophysik, Institute für Physik, University of Kassel, Germany (June 4 – November 30, 2018), group of Prof. Thomas Giesen.
- Visiting Ph.D. Student, Center for Astrochemical Studies, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, Germany (February 19–23, 2018; October 7–11, 2019), group of Prof. Paola Caselli.
Research Projects (Principal Investigator)
- “Far Infrared Spectra of HOCN and HO(13)CN for Astronomical Observations” (proposal no. 20230352), SOLEIL Synchrotron, AILES-A beamline. February 5–12, 2024.
- “Far Infrared Spectroscopy of the CCCN Radical” (proposal no. 20210378), SOLEIL Synchrotron, AILES-A beamline. December 6–12, 2021.
- “High-Resolution Far-Infrared Spectrum of Aminoacetonitrile (NH₂CH₂CN)” (proposal no. 20191573), SOLEIL Synchrotron, AILES-A beamline. June 1–8, 2020.
- “Hyperfine Effects in Vibrational Transitions of the Water Molecule: H₂¹⁷O” (proposal LLAMS002654), Laserlab-Europe, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. March 1–6, 2020.
- “High-Resolution Far-Infrared Spectrum of Amidogen Radical ¹⁵NHD” (proposal no. 20190128), SOLEIL Synchrotron, AILES-A beamline. November 25–30, 2019.
Schools and Workshops
“Laboratory Astrophysics: Tracking the Evolution of Cosmic Matter towards Molecular Complexity”, Les Houches, France (February 5–10, 2023).
Physical Sensing and Processing Summer School, Department of Physics “Augusto Righi”, University of Bologna, Italy (July 3–10, 2019).
Conference Participation
Since 2017, Mattia has participated in numerous national and international conferences as an invited speaker and as a contributor of oral and poster presentations. He also contributed to the organization of the Winter Modeling 2022 Meeting (Scuola Superiore Meridionale, February 14–15, 2022) and the 27th International Conference on High Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy (Bologna, September 2–6, 2024).
