(Aug. 13) A talented, creative, and passionate woman, Sandra Savaglio is one of the most famous Italian scientists living abroad. The astrophysicist brought Italy into the world, from Munich in Baltimore. The "lady of the stars" chose a few months ago to return to Calabria after 23 years spent abroad among the largest telescopes on the planet, and is now preparing to receive the Casato Prime Donne prize, which will be delivered on Sunday 14 September in Montalcino. The Award goes to Savaglio for her ability to set an example for women and expats alike. In 2004, Time Magazine put her on the cover above the title "How Europe lost its science stars," upholding her as the symbol of new brain drain trends. Savaglio recently left, after eight years of cooperation, the Max-Planck Institute in Garching in Germany where she was a fellow and senior research scientist. Previously, she was associated with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, and before that, from September 2001 to February 2006, she worked at John Hopkins University. Today, the scholar is an example for women who choose to bet on the future of Italy. The jury that voted for Savaglio was composed by: Francesca Cinelli Colombini (chairman), Rosy Bindi, Anselma Dell'Olio, Anna Pesenti, Stefania Rossini, Anna Scafuri and Daniela Viglione.

AMONG THE STARS
The story of Sandra Savaglio sounds like a fairy tale: at 17, while still attending high school " in Cosenza, she first read Asimov and discovered her passion for astrophysics. A passion that would take her, years later, to work with the group of scholars who, in Hawaii, with the telescope "Gemini", discovered the most ancient origins of our galaxy. In 1991, after graduating in Physics Summa cum Laude and receiving PhD from the University of Calabria and the European Southern Observatory, she began working with the University of Baltimore. She expands her fields of interest to explore distant galaxies, study the chemical enrichment of the universe and of the explosive phenomena. She contributed to fundamental discoveries to help advance humanity’s understanding of galaxies hosting gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic explosions in the universe. She has authored and co-authored over 160 publications in the most prestigious international scientific journals, including Nature and Astrophysical Journal.