Dr Catalina Curceanu—Reflections on my research stay at UWA
Catalina Oana Curceanu, Research Director at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN-LNF), Italy, visited the QDM Lab at UWA in July/August 2025 as an Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellow. She reflects on her whirlwind visit to Perth and cultivating new collaborations.
It has been a great pleasure to spend time at the University of Western Australia in the Quantum Technologies and Dark Matter (QDM) Lab, part of the Centre for Dark Matter Particle Physics.
During my stay, I had the opportunity to explore potential collaborations with your great group, building on your outstanding technologies. In particular, we discussed and carried out an experimental test of quantum collapse models, an exciting direction probing possible fundamental limits of quantum physics. These studies not only deepen our understanding of quantum foundations, but also have potential applications in quantum technologies (including quantum computing), Dark Sector searches, and cosmology.
At the same time, I was fortunate to learn about a range of fascinating experiments underway at UWA, including searches for dark matter, investigations of Aharonov–Bohm effects and Berry phases, and gravitational wave detection. Several of these research lines intersect with my group’s work in Frascati on quantum gravity, providing an excellent basis for continuing and expanding our collaboration.
I was also delighted to contribute to the academic community through three lectures: at the UWA EZONE Industry Hub (30 July), for the Forrest Foundation (13 August), and for the Australian Institute of Physics (19 August).
following the lecture at the Industry Hub, EZONE at UWA
It has been a real pleasure to meet so many of you, and I look forward to continuing our collaborations in the future.
A heartfelt thank you to the Institute of Advanced Studies, to UWA and to the entire QDM Lab team and family: Mike and Virginia, Maxim, William, Jeremy, Jevon, Emma, Michael, Robert, Aaron, Steve, all the team from UWA, and of course, Linda, for the inspiring discussions, support, and warm welcome.
Catalina Curceanu received an Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellowship to visit UWA from 28 July to 20 August 2025
Short bio: Catalina Curceanu was born in Transylvania, Romania, and from an early age gazed at the stars with curiosity and wonder. Today, she is a Research Director at the National Laboratories of Frascati (INFN) in Italy, where she leads a team of 20 scientists—whom she fondly calls explorers of the universe—conducting cutting-edge experiments in nuclear and quantum physics, both nationally and internationally.
She is spokesperson of the SIDDHARTA-2 collaboration (kaonic atom spectroscopy) and the VIP-2 experiment (testing the foundations of quantum mechanics), and has authored over 500 scientific publications in international journals, as well as the popular science book “From Black Holes to Hadron Therapy: A Journey into Modern Physics” (Springer – I Blu series).
Catalina coordinates numerous European and international research projects and has received several prestigious awards, including the 2016 Australian Institute of Physics Women in Physics lecturer, the 2017 Emmy Noether Distinction from the European Physical Society and the 2019 Fundamental Physics Innovation Award from the Betty Moore Foundation. In 2018, she was bestowed the Order of Cultural Merit, Knight Rank, by the President of Romania for her outstanding contributions to the exact sciences.
Catalina is passionate about sharing the beauty of physics and the wonders of the universe with everyone, convinced that science is humanity’s greatest adventure.
with Prof. Michael Tobar and Dr Maxim Goryachev
with Dr Will Campbell in the QDM lab
IAS Visiting Fellowships
Institute of Advanced Studies Visiting Fellowships aim to foster Interdisciplinarity in research, by supporting visits from leading Australian and International scholars, as well as leading artists, activists, and public intellectuals to visit UWA.