Categoria: News

The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics is awarded co-authors of publications based on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider Run-2 data released between 2015 and July 15, 2024, at the experimental collaborations ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb. (ATLAS – 5,345 researchers; CMS – 4,550; ALICE – 1,869; LHCb – 1,744).

The $3 million prize is allocated to ATLAS ($1 million), CMS ($1 million), ALICE ($500,000) and LHCb ($500,000). In consultation with the leaders of the experiments, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation donated 100 percent of the prize funds to the CERN & Society Foundation. The prize money will be used by the collaborations to offer grants for doctoral students from member institutes to spend research time at CERN, giving the students experience working at the forefront of science and new expertise to bring back to their home countries and regions. The name of each winner can be found on the experiment pages below.

FLASH proton therapy: planning and delivery challenges – are we close to the clinics?

The discovery of the FLASH effect in radiotherapy has sparked an immense collaborative effort within the scientific community to tackle the new challenges and opportunities it presents. This effect occurs when radiation is delivered at ultra-high dose rates (UHDR >40 Gy/s), and it has been observed to differentially damage irradiated cells — effectively targeting tumor cells while sparing healthy ones. Although the underlying mechanism of the FLASH effect remains unclear, new approaches to dose delivery and treatment planning are being actively explored, with researchers patiently awaiting mechanistic insights.
Among the various radiotherapeutic techniques, in the next future proton therapy is expected to stand out as the most promising candidate method to deliver UHDR treatments for deep-seated tumors, maximizing the potential benefits of the FLASH effect. However, significant challenges remain in adapting proton delivery systems to operate under FLASH conditions, as well as in optimizing proton therapy treatment planning, where a clear definition of the key metrics is still lacking.
I hereby present an overview of recent advances in the field of FLASH proton therapy and how research and clinical practice have leveraged the FLASH effect in recent years. In this context, the Trento section of INFN (TIFPA) is playing a pivotal role, supported by the Trento Proton Therapy Center (APSS). An experimental FLASH proton beam is now available, and initial radiobiological experiments have already been conducted. Research on proton FLASH treatment planning is also progressing, paving the way for future clinical applications.

WORKSHOP AIFM-INFN Oltre la Diagnosi e la Terapia: La Ricerca che Rivoluziona la Clinica

Al giorno d’oggi la Fisica Medica rappresenta un esempio di come la ricerca di punta e la pratica clinica si combinino virtuosamente a beneficio del paziente, usufruendo dei rapidi e continui sviluppi tecnologici che caratterizzano il settore. Ciò ha un impatto particolarmente evidente sulle tecniche di imaging e di radioterapia, alimentando una serie di attività di ricerca ad ampio spettro, che guardano con crescente interesse agli aspetti traslazionali.

LHCb Masterclass

Le International Masterclasses offrono agli studenti delle scuole secondarie un’opportunità unica per esplorare la fisica delle particelle. La Masterclass di fisica, organizzata dall’INFN di Pisa e curata dai ricercatori dell’esperimento LHCb del CERN, è una delle tante attività promosse globalmente dall’International Particle-Physics Outreach Group, che coinvolge vari esperimenti di fisica delle particelle. La giornata include lezioni introduttive, esercitazioni pratiche su dati reali di LHCb e una videoconferenza con il CERN e altre scuole nel mondo. Un’esperienza immersiva nella ricerca scientifica! Per info: link