This week on 11 September 2018, AIAS Fellow Federica Bertolotti was awarded the ‘NEST Prize 2018’ at the NanoInnovation 2018 Conference and Exhibition in Rome, Italy. The NEST (National Enterprise for nanoScience and nanotechnology) Prize is awarded by the Scuola Normale Superiore and Laboratorio NEST to young researchers to promote and recognize their research in nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The Debye Scattering Equation

The award was conferred on the basis of a scientific article published in 2016 (Nature Materials,  15, pages 987–994; DOI: 10.1038/nmat4661) in which Federica Bertolotti is first author.

The main finding associated to the research project beyond this article is the discovery of a structural distortion of lead sulfide quantum dots obtained using advanced total scattering methods of characterization based on the Debye Scattering Equation. These methods are developed within the framework of the To.Sca.Lab (Total Scattering Laboratory, http://toscalab.uninsubria.it) of which Federica is a former member and continues a close collaboration.

Lead sulfide quantum dots are very important (nano)materials also on the technological point of view (e.g. they are embedded into devices for photovoltaic applications and photodetectors), therefore shading light into their structure is of fundamental importance in order to better understand their functional properties and to properly drive future synthetic protocols. 

About the award

The Scuola Normale Superiore and Laboratorio NEST award the PREMIO NEST 2018 for research in nanoscience. The objective of the NEST Prize is to promote and recognize the activity of young scientists (less than 35 years old) working in Italy in the fields of nanoscience, represented by a submitted publication in the last two years in a peer reviewed international journal in the field. The prize is sponsorized by Rivoira, a company of the PRAXAIR Group. It is awarded by an evaluating committee composed by the Directors and/or Coordinators of the NEST centre of Scuola Normale Superiore, Istituto Nanoscienze of Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) and Center for Nanotechnology Innovation of Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). The NEST Prize consists of a € 5,000 Euros prize for the winner, a trophy and support (fees, travel and sojourn expenses) to attend the conference (NanoInnovation) where the prize is awarded and, finally, the opportunity to present the research activity of the winner.

Contact

Federica Bertolotti, AIAS Fellow
fbertolotti@aias.au.dk
Phone: +4587153681

Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS) and
Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center - INANO-Chemistry,
Aarhus University,
Denmark