Maria (Marilena) Longobardi

SCIENTIFIC COORDINATOR AND MANGING DIRECTOR

Maria (Marilena) Longobardi holds a Ph.D. in Quantum Physics from the University of Salerno, Italy, under the joint supervision of the University of California, Berkeley. She conducted postdoctoral research at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genova before moving to the University of Geneva, where she worked as a researcher in the Department of Quantum Matter Physics from 2011 to 2021. Her research primarily focused on the electronic properties of low-dimensional systems, semiconductor nanostructures, and hybrid magnetic/superconductor systems.

Marilena moved to the University of Basel in 2021, where she currently serves as the Managing Director of the NCCR SPIN and leads the Young Researchers Area. She is recognized as an expert in international scientific relations and holds multiple leadership roles on various boards. From 2019 to 2021, she worked as the Chief of International Relations at the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Science in China, working to advance global scientific collaborations in Quantum.

Since 2012, Marilena has been actively involved with the American Physical Society (APS). In 2016, she founded the Forum on Early Career Scientists, which has grown into one of APS’s largest units. She has also chaired the Group on Data Science and the APS Committee for Public Engagement and currently serves as the Chair of the APS Forum on Industrial and Applied Physics. She is also a member of the Committee on International Physics.

Her contributions to science and technology have earned her widespread recognition. In 2021, Inspiring Fifty named her one of Italy’s 50 most inspiring women in tech and science, and in 2024, she also received the Inspiring Fifty UK award. In 2022, Marilena was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a prestigious honor recognizing her significant contributions to the field.