ESSC Members

Roberto Battiston
ESSC Chair
Research Interests
Cosmic rays, dark matter searches, and advanced detector technologies for space‑based and particle‑physics experiments
Professor Roberto Battiston is an Italian physicist internationally recognised for his contributions to fundamental physics, astroparticle physics, and cosmic‑ray research. A graduate of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, with a doctorate from the University of Paris‑Sud, he has spent more than three decades working on major international experiments exploring strong and electroweak interactions, antimatter, and dark matter.
He is one of the leading figures behind the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station, developed in collaboration with Nobel laureate Samuel C. C. Ting to investigate the composition of cosmic rays and search for dark matter signatures.
Battiston has held several prominent leadership roles, including President of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) from 2014 to 2018 and Chair of the INFN Committee on Astroparticle Physics. He has also founded research groups and laboratories dedicated to advanced detector technologies and radiation‑effects studies for space applications.