Votano named director of underground lab

In September, Lucia Votano becomes director of Italy’s Gran Sasso National Laboratory, the world’s largest underground laboratory. She is the first woman to hold the post. Her predecessor, Eugenio Coccia, plans to return to research in astroparticle physics and teaching after two three-year stints at the lab’s helm.

Since 1985 when Votano came to Gran Sasso, she has worked on two experiments and also served in management roles, most recently as chair of the OPERA (oscillation project with emulsion-tracking apparatus) collaboration, which studies neutrino oscillation using a beam from CERN.

One challenge facing Votano will be dealing with the aftermath of the magnitude 6.3 earthquake of last April. Gran Sasso escaped damage, but the area was hit hard, with more than half of the lab’s staff rendered homeless and the nearby University of L’Aquila devastated. Those who lost their homes have been staying in nearby hotels or with relatives, and in June some moved into temporary housing on the lab’s grounds. The lab is helping people find and pay for such housing and for travel to the lab. Gran Sasso also opened its doors to the university, which is holding physics classes there. “This operation to have lectures in a research center is quite rewarding,” says Coccia. “More students are attending than when the lectures are at the university.”

Since the area is unlikely to have recovered from the earthquake by September, Votano says, “I have to continue the effective job of the present director.” So effective, she adds, “that less than one month after the earthquake, all the experiments were fully operative.”

Gran Sasso hosts more than a dozen international experiments, devoted mainly to investigating neutrinos and dark matter. “The role of Gran Sasso in astroparticle physics is quite relevant,” says Votano. “We have experiments that address the fundamental questions. My challenge will be to preserve and improve this rich legacy.”

Votano took the top job because, she says, “I feel I can do something for the lab. Due to my long experience there, I feel fairly aware of the needs of the lab. I can promote physics and at the same time support the people working there.”