Born in Rovigo (Italy) on January 5th, 1956. Married with two daughters.
I got my MSC in Physics at Padova University in 1979 and then followed a PhD programme in Astrophysics at SISSA Trieste (Italy).
I have been a research assistant (ricercatore) first at SISSA and then at the Department of Physics, University of Padova, where I held an Associate Professorship from 2002 to 2017. I'm presently Full Professor in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova. Since 2007 I'm Honorary Professor at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London (UK).
I have been working in relativistic astrophysics for all of my career. Much of my research efforts have been aimed at investigating the physical processes occurring in the vicinity of neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). This involved the acquisition, interpretation and modeling of observational data (chiefly in the X-ray and optical band). I have been Co-investigator of many successful proposals for observations with the major X-ray and optical facilities (Chandra, XMM-Newton, Swift, NuSTAR, HST and the VLT). I’m presently deeply involved in the development of forthcoming X-ray polarimeters (IXPE and eXTP, currently in the study phase for NASA and CAS) and I took part in the Science Team for the LOFT mission.
I have been a member of the Scientific Organizing Committee for several international conferences and I’m regularly acting as referee for the major international astrophysical journals. I served in the project evaluation panels of the National Science Foundation (US) and as referee for several funding agencies, including the Italian MIUR, the British SFTC, the Polish NSC, the Dutch NWO. I co-authored 194 refereed papers (h-index 41, total citations 5,167, as from ADS; total publications 286).
I taught several courses both at the undergraduate and graduate level on General Physics, General Relativity, Compact Objects Astrophysics, Fluid Mechanics. I have been Supervisor/co-supervisor of 10 graduate theses and of many undergraduate theses for the Laurea/Laurea Magistrale degree in Physics and Astronomy.

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