Order of the Star of Italy for Prof. Morganti
At a ceremony held yesterday at the residence of the Italian Ambassador, the Head of the Astronomy Group of ASTRON and professor of Astronomy at the University of Groningen, Prof. Raffaella Morganti, has received a knighthood awarded to her by President Giorgio Napolitano and presented to her by the Italian Ambassador Dr. Francesco Azzarello.
Prof. Morganti was appointed ‘Commendatore dell' Ordine della Stella d'Italia' which translates to 'Commander in the Order of the Star of Italy'. Knighthoods in the ‘Ordine della Stella d'Italia' are given to expatriates who have made an outstanding contribution to Italian prestige abroad. The Star of Italy is an old Italian identity symbol, it plays a similar role as 'de Nederlandse Leeuw'. It is the second Italian recognition Raffaella Morganti receives, after the Mondo Italia Award of last year.
Raffaella Morganti has been Head of the Astronomy Group of ASTRON since 2007 and was appointed professor at the Kapteyn Institute for Astronomy at the University of Groningen in 2011. The Astronomy Group has grown considerably and has become a very successful research group which plays a leading role in international radio astronomy. Raffaella Morganti received a prestigious Advanced Research Grant from the European Research Council in 2012.
Source: ASTRON press release.
| Last modified: | 03 February 2017 11.40 a.m. |
More news
-
17 April 2019
Why lightning often strikes twice
In contrast to popular belief, lightning often does strike twice, but the reason why a lightning channel is ‘reused’ has remained a mystery. Now, an international research team led by the University of Groningen has used the LOFAR radio telescope to...
-
16 April 2019
Still going strong after four decades
On March 29th professor of Applied Physics Jeff de Hosson was offered a farewell symposium, a few months after his official retirement date near the close of 2018. ‘But 29 March was the 100th birthday of Jan Francken, my predecessor.’ Besides, De Hosson...
-
11 April 2019
Ben Feringa in orbit around the Sun
Dozens of minor planets that used to orbit the Sun anonymously were named by the International Astronomical Union on 6 April 2019. The asteroid that used to be known as ‘minor planet 12655’ was named after Prof. Ben Feringa, winner of the 2016 Nobel...