Born and raised in Siracusa, Italy, Chiara Trovatello moved to Milan, Italy, at the age of 18 for her studies at Politecnico di Milano (Bachelor and Master of Science in Engineering Physics, and Ph.D. in Physics).

Chiara Trovatello did the Ph.D. within the Graphene Flagship network under the supervision of Prof. Giulio Cerullo and Prof. Stefano Dal Conte, and received the title of Ph.D. in Physics in 2020, with a doctoral thesis entitled “Ultrafast Spectroscopy of 2D Materials and Related Heterostructures”. Her research activity focuses on ultrafast spectroscopy and nonlinear optics of layered semiconductors, like Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

During her doctoral studies, Chiara visited the University of Wurzburg (March 2018). Additionally, she was awarded a Marie Curie RISE Fellowship to visit Columbia University (March-September 2019). After the Ph.D., she returned to Columbia University as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the group of Prof. P. James Schuck, and was awarded the Bernard J. Couillaud Prize by the Optica Foundation and Coherent Inc., a merit-based award for an early career professional to pursue a compelling and innovative project that has the potential to make a meaningful and positive impact on the science and applications of ultrafast lasers. Chiara Trovatello was recognized for the challenges and the innovative solutions associated with her work in the field of ultrafast optics with 2D materials.

In 2023, Chiara Trovatello received the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship PIONEER by the European Union’s Horizon Europe (HORIZON) research and innovation programme to conduct independent research at Columbia University. The goal of PIONEER is developing and characterizing ultracompact platforms for quantum optics based on layered semiconductors.

She has delivered >30 among invited and contributed talks, published >25 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, and she has been part of the organizing committee of international conferences, e.g., MRS, CLEO.

Chiara Trovatello is the Founder and the former President of the Optica Student Chapter of Milan (2019-2021). Within the Chapter and beyond, she passionately advocates for open science, ethical research, equal representation and opportunities in STEM, particularly for historically underrepresented categories.

Since 2023 she is also a representative on the Mechanical Engineering DEI Committee of Columbia University.

More at: https://chiaratrovatello.com