Roberta Sessoli

Roberta Sessoli was born in Florence on the 23 June 1963.{{Cite web|url=https://www.urp.cnr.it/copertine/formazione/form_concorsi/CV_Commissari/CV%20Sessoli%20Roberta.pdf|title=Curriculum Vitae di Roberta Sessoli|last=Sessoli|first=Roberta}} She attended Liceo Scientifico Guido Castelnuovo in Florence.{{Cite journal|date=2009-03-16|title=Roberta Sessoli|journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition|volume=48|issue=13|pages=2265|doi=10.1002/anie.200900389|issn=1521-3773}} She graduated in Chemistry from the University of Florence in 1987. In 1992, she obtained her PhD from the same university, under the supervision of Professor Dante Gatteschi. She conducted a part of her studies at the Institut d’Electronique Fondamentale – Université Paris-Sud, France. Her PhD thesis was on "Molecular Magnetic Materials" (original title in Italian: "Materiali Magnetici Molecolari").{{Cite web|url=https://www.unifi.it/p-doc2-2015-0-A-2b333a2e3b2a-1.html|title=Roberta Sessoli - Università degli Studi di Firenze - UniFI|website=www.unifi.it|language=it|access-date=2019-02-15}}

Sessoli began working at the University of Florence in 2000, and became full Professor of General and Inorganic Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry "Ugo Schiff" at the University of Florence in 2012. She has been an invited professor at Pierre & Marie Curie University, Paris, in 2001, and at Otago University, New Zealand, in 2017. From 2018 to 2019, she was awarded a visiting professorship at Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.

Sessoli is interested in molecular and low-dimensional magnetism. She also worked on the spin dynamics of nanostructured materials. She investigated the nature of single molecules magnets.{{Cite web|url=https://erc.europa.eu/projects-figures/stories/when-molecules-become-magnets-%E2%80%93roberta-sessoli-alla-giornata-informativa|title=When molecules become magnets –Roberta Sessoli alla giornata informativa dedicata all'ERC|date=2012-06-22|website=ERC: European Research Council|access-date=2019-02-15}} Part of her research also focusses on quantistic technologies and spintronic molecular materials. More recently, her studies concentrated on the characterization of magnetic materials through the use of unpolarised light.{{Cite journal |last1=Rogalev |first1=Andrei |last2=Wilhelm |first2=Fabrice |last3=Poggini |first3=Lorenzo |last4=Mannini |first4=Matteo |last5=Caneschi |first5=Andrea |last6=Boulon |first6=Marie-Emmanuelle |last7=Sessoli |first7=Roberta |date=January 2015 |title=Strong magneto-chiral dichroism in a paramagnetic molecular helix observed by hard X-rays |journal=Nature Physics |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=69–74 |doi=10.1038/nphys3152 |pmid=25729401 |pmc=4340522 |issn=1745-2481 |bibcode=2015NatPh..11...69S}} She uses a range of characterization techniques such as magnetometry, electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray absorption.

Sessoli's most influential publication is "Magnetic bistability in a metal-ion cluster", published in Nature in 1993 only one year after the completion of her PhD. This was a particularly influential article in the field of molecular magnetism, and was co-authored with Dante Gatteschi, Andrea Caneschi and Miguel A. Novak.{{Cite journal|last1=Novak|first1=M. A.|last2=A. Caneschi|last3=Gatteschi|first3=D.|last4=Sessoli|first4=R.|date=September 1993|title=Magnetic bistability in a metal-ion cluster|journal=Nature|volume=365|issue=6442|pages=141–143|doi=10.1038/365141a0|issn=1476-4687|bibcode=1993Natur.365..141S|s2cid=4235125}} Since then the article has received more than 2770 citations. In 2018, Sessoli was nominated as one of the most highly cited researchers by Clarivate Analytics.{{Cite web|url=https://hcr.clarivate.com/|title=Highly Cited Researchers - The Most Influential Scientific Minds|website=HCR|access-date=2019-02-15}}

Sessoli co-authored the book "Molecular Nanomagnets" with Dante Gatteschi and Jacques Villain, which was published by Oxford University Press in 2006.{{Cite book|title=Molecular Nanomagnets|last1=Villain|first1=Jacques|last2=Sessoli|first2=Roberta|last3=Gatteschi|first3=Dante|date=2006-03-02|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780191718298|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198567530.001.0001}}

For her work in chemistry, Sessoli received a wide range of awards:

• 2000 Medaglia Nasini for best young inorganic chemist in Italy{{Cite web|url=http://www.inorg.it/awards.html|title=Albo d'Oro, premi e premiati|website=www.inorg.it|access-date=2019-02-15}}
• 2002 Gonfalone d’argento from the Regional Council of Tuscany{{Cite web|url=http://www1.adnkronos.com/Archivio/AdnAgenzia/2002/09/09/Cultura/SCIENZIATI-PREMIATI-GATTESCHI-E-SESSOLI-PER-NUOVA-SCOPERTA_141400.php|title=SCIENZIATI: PREMIATI GATTESCHI E SESSOLI PER NUOVA SCOPERTA|website=www1.adnkronos.com|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2002 Agilent Technologies Europhysics Prize{{Cite web|url=https://www.investor.agilent.com/news-releases/news-release-details/agilent-technologies-presents-europhysics-prize-pioneering-work|title=Agilent Technologies Presents Europhysics Prize for Pioneering Work on Quantum Behavior of Molecular Nanomagnets|website=Agilent Technologies Inc.|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2012 Beller lectureship of the American Physical Society{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201202/bellermarshak.cfm|title=Four Distinguished Scientists to Give Beller, Marshak Lectures|website=www.aps.org|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2013 French-Italian Prize from Société Chimique de France{{Cite web|url=http://www.societechimiquedefrance.fr/Franco-Italien.html?lang=fr|title=Société Chimique de France|website=www.societechimiquedefrance.fr|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2013 Linceo Prize for Chemistry from Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei{{Cite web|url=http://vis.sns.it/roberta-sessoli-10febbraio2016-chimica/|title=Roberta Sessoli 10/febbraio/2016 Chimica {{!}} VIS|language=it-IT|access-date=2019-02-15}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.lincei.it/files/documenti/Premiati_2013.pdf|title=Premi Accademia dei Lincei 2013}}
• 2015 Lecoq de Boisbaudran Award from the European Rare Earths Society{{Cite web|url=https://axial.acs.org/2018/11/15/inorganic-chemistry-and-organometallics-welcome-new-associate-editors/|title=Inorganic Chemistry and Organometallics Welcome New Associate Editors|date=2018-11-15|website=ACS Axial|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2015 Fiorino d’oro from Florence City Council{{Cite web|url=https://www.lanazione.it/firenze/cronaca/foto/fiorino-doro-1.1089195|title=Fiorino d'oro della Città di Firenze, la consegna a Palazzo Vecchio|last=Nazione|first=La|website=La Nazione|language=it|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2015 IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry award{{Cite journal|date=2015|title=IUPAC 2015 Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering|journal=Angewandte Chemie International Edition|volume=54|issue=30|pages=8593|doi=10.1002/anie.201505537|issn=1521-3773}}
• 2017 Visiting Professorship at the Otago University, New Zealand{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/brooker/visitors-2/|title=Visitors {{!}} Brooker's Bunch|website=blogs.otago.ac.nz|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2018-2019 Visiting Professorship at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz{{Cite web|url=https://www.lamm.unifi.it/vp-129-roberta-sessoli.html|title=Roberta Sessoli - LaMM's Staff - LaMM: Laboratorio di Magnetismo Molecolare - UniFI|website=www.lamm.unifi.it|access-date=2019-02-16}}
• 2019 RSC Centenary Prize for world-leading research on molecular magnetism{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsc.org/ScienceAndTechnology/Awards/CentenaryPrizes/2019-Winner-Sessoli.asp|title=RSC Centenary Prize 2019 Winner|website=www.rsc.org|access-date=2019-06-20}}
• 2023 Honorary Doctorate from the University of Barcelona{{Cite web |title=University of Barcelona |url=https://web.ub.edu/en/web/actualitat/w/la-ub-investeix-doctora-honoris-causa-roberta-sessoli-pionera-en-la-recerca-sobre-magnetisme-molecular}}

Sessoli has three sons.

The fire station in via La Farina in Florence is named after Sessoli's grandfather, Giuseppe Sessoli, who was a fireman during the Second World War and died trying to save a woman and a little girl who were on a mined bridge.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vigilfuoco.it/sitiVVF/firenze/viewPage.aspx?s=1221&p=7183|title=Storia del Comando Prov.le di Firenze|website=www.vigilfuoco.it|access-date=2019-02-15}}

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Category:Italian women chemists

Category:21st-century Italian women

Category:21st-century chemists

Category:1963 births

Category:Living people

Category:Scientists from Florence

Category:21st-century women scientists

Category:Rare earth scientists

Category:Academic staff of the University of Florence