Three prominent Italian scientists were honoured at the Quirinal Palace for mentoring and inspiring a generation of young scientists, receiving the 2013 Nature Award for Mentoring in Science.
Biologist Michela Matteoli (University of Milan) received the mid-career award and €10,000 prize. Chemist Vincenzo Balzani (University of Bologna) and Physicist Giorgio Parisi (University of Rome I, La Sapienza) were jointly presented with the lifetime achievement award and €5,000 each.
The prizes were presented by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano; Editor-in-Chief of Nature, Philip Campbell; and chair of the judges for 2013 Awards, Luciano Maiani.
Giorgio Parisi is known globally for his contributions to theoretical physics and his research on disordered systems, including the development of a systematic theory for spin glasses and glass transition. Currently professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Rome I, La Sapienza, Parisi has inspired up-and-coming physicists for more than 40 years.
Vincenzo Balzani has been described by many as a pioneer working in photochemistry and photo physics, and is one of the world's most cited chemists. He graduated from the University of Bologna in 1960 and went on to teach Chemistry there for more than 30 years between 1973 and 2011. He has been an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of Bologna since 2011.
Michela Matteoli is an internationally respected neuroscientist and a Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Milan. She started her own research laboratory at the CNR Institute of Neuroscience in 1992 and has since taught researchers from across the globe.
Launched in 2005, the annual Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science recognise outstanding scientific mentorship and focus on a specific country or countries each year, and 2013 focused on Italy. Nature is the leading weekly, international scientific journal.
More information about the Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science is available at www.nature.com/nature/awards/mentorship/.
