All news

Last week (March 22 - 27, 2026), Alberto was invited to deliver a talk on the spin photophysics of donor-acceptor dyads at MATSUSSpring 2026 in Barcelona. It was great to reconnect with old friends and colleagues from the OPV field and visit the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO). 

In this article, we lay the first brick toward the realization of light-driven quantum gates. The idea is to use light to switch on, on demand, the exchange interaction between otherwise independent molecular qubits, and to provide a proof-of-concept application for the implementation of an entangling gate.

On 7 March 2026, a small expedition from LAMM successfully made it from Riomaggiore to Porto Venere....because to run from one lab to another, you need to train properly! 

It was a real pleasure to host Dr. Eleonora Isotta (Max Planck Institute), who delivered a wonderful PhD course  on "Thermal transport in materials and interfaces" for the Departments of Industrial Engineering and Chemistry  (Feb 17 - 20, 2026) - great discussions and a wonderful time in Florence! 

On 28 January 2026, Alberto had the pleasure of delivering an invited talk at the kick-off meeting of Prof. Francesco Zinna's FIS project, SUPERCHIM. Lots of interesting discussions on chirality, and its applications!

Alberto is the recipient of the 2026 Foresight Institute Fellowship, selected for a year-long program that empowers early-career scientists, engineers, and innovators to accelerate transformative technological progress.

Last week (Sept 22 - 26, 2025), Alberto was invited to deliver a talk on the CISS effect at the Beilstein Organic Chemistry Symposium 2025  in Frankfurt - amazing people, great connections, and top-notch organization! 

On 15 September 2025, Alberto received the NEST Prize (€5k), sponsored by NIPPON GASES Group, for his research in nanoscience. The award recognized his recent work on light-induced processes in molecular qubits based on vanadyl-porphyrins and celebrates outstanding young scientists under 35.

Alberto is awarded the ERC Starting Grant (€1.5M) LIGHT-QIS: "Light-driven molecular spin qubits".  The project will study spin-light interactions in porphyrin qubits, aiming at quantum technologies that operate at higher temperatures and integrate with current semiconductor devices.

On 16 September 2025, Alberto was invited to the Smart City podcast by Maurizio Melis to discuss his ERC StG project, LIGHT-QIS. It was a pleasure to meet Maurizio and exchange ideas on science and beyond!

Last week (Sept 3-5, 2025), Alberto has visited Prof. Stefano Carretta’s labs at the University of Parma for exciting new experiments… and some equally exciting culinary experiences ;-) Stay tuned!

On 11 August 2025, Alberto had the pleasure of giving a talk at MIT’s Quantum Engineering Group and connecting with Prof. Paola Cappellaro and her fantastic team. He also had the opportunity to visit the labs of Prof. Danna Freedman and meet her wonderful group. 

Last week (August 3-8, 2025), Alberto attended the Gordon Research Conference on Electron Spin Interactions with Chiral Molecules and Materials (New Hampshire, USA). New insights on CISS and great connections!

On 11 June 2025, Alberto delivered an online talk for the IVEM International EPR Seminars. If interested, you can watch it here! 

New perspective on the CISS effect at the molecular level. The paper reviews recent experimental and theoretical EPR studies and discusses future applications in quantum information science (QIS). 

Alberto secures a FIS2 grant (€1.325M) for SPIRO-χ: "Spin control through chirality: novel routes in organic optoelectronics". The project opens new routes towards efficient and stable organic optoelectronics through the use of chirality.

New work on the photophysics and spin polarization mechanisms in a meso-meso linked oxovanadium(IV) porphyrin–free-base porphyrin dimer. This study extends the chromophore–qubit architecture to transition-metal-based qubits. 

Last week (Dec 5-7, 2024), Alberto received the "Franco Scandola" Young Investigator Award from the Italian Group of Photochemistry for his work on the spin/photophysics of organic molecules and materials. He also delivered a keynote talk at the GIF conference in Rome. 

Last week (Aug 5-8, 2024), Alberto received the BRIDGE12 Best Talk Award at the Rocky Mountain Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Copper Mountain (Colorado, USA).  

Last week (Jul 28-Aug 2, 2024), Alberto received the Best Poster Award and was invited to give an oral presentation on CISS at the Gordon Conference on Electron Donor-Acceptor Interactions in Newport (Rhode Island, USA). 

New review on metalloporphyrins as building blocks for Quantum Information Science!