Ornella Piccinni
- Dr, Associate Investigator
- University of the Baliaric Islands
I am a Ramón y Cajal tenure-track fellow at the University of the Baliaric Islands since October 2025. I previously held postdoctoral positions with the OzGrav group at the Australian National University (ANU) and with the Sapienza Virgo group in Rome, Italy, where I led research on gravitational-wave astrophysics. I earned my PhD from Sapienza University, focusing on searches for continuous gravitational waves and detector characterization.
My research focuses on continuous gravitational-wave searches from neutron stars and dark matter candidates, as well as studies of black hole physics and tests of General Relativity. I am an active member of the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA and Einstein Telescope collaborations, contributing to high-impact searches, the development of data analysis pipelines, and detector characterization tools that are widely used in the field. I have co-developed algorithms and analysis frameworks for both canonical and exotic sources of gravitational waves, including boson clouds and dark photon dark matter.
I have led international collaboration papers, authored invited reviews, and received several awards, including the L’Oréal–UNESCO For Women in Science prize. I actively mentor PhD and master’s students and supervise international research projects. I am also engaged in outreach and public engagement, delivering talks and workshops to promote science to broader audiences. My work bridges theory, observation, and instrumentation, and I am passionate about advancing gravitational-wave astrophysics while contributing to the growth and scientific impact of the next generation of detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope.’
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