Professor Daniela Bortoletto, Head of Particle Physics at the University of Oxford, has been awarded the European Physical Society’s Emmy Noether Distinction 2024. The award recognises her work in revolutionising silicon detector technology, that enabled the discoveries of the top quark and Higgs boson, and pioneering key experimental methods now central to high-energy particle physics, as well as for her important engagement for female undergraduate students.
Professor Bortoletto played a pivotal intellectual role in two of the most significant discoveries in particle physics over the past 30 years: the discovery of the top quark at Fermilab near Chicago, USA, in 1995, and the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2012. These groundbreaking achievements were made possible, in part, by her visionary leadership in the development of silicon-based detector technologies.
From early in her career, Professor Bortoletto recognised the potential of silicon detectors –then an emerging technology – and was instrumental in advancing them into the highly sophisticated systems that now lie at the heart of modern particle physics experiments.
Professor Bortoletto harnessed the unique advantages of silicon integrated circuits – namely their speed, low power consumption, and radiation resistance – to design advanced particle detectors. She established a dedicated silicon detector laboratory at Purdue University where she spearheaded the development of the SVX II detector which was crucial to advancing top quark studies. She went on to make major contributions to the development of the radiation-hard silicon vertex detector for the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Her work was instrumental in enabling the high-precision measurements that culminated in the discovery of the Higgs boson and has had a transformative impact on experiments at CERN.
Beyond her research, Professor Bortoletto has been a member of many advisory panels to UK and US funding agencies, laboratories, and experiments, a leader in all the major community roadmap planning exercises in the US and Europe in the last decade. She has inspired future particle physicists by extensively teaching worldwide about silicon detectors. Professor Bortoletto has worked with resolve and continuous commitment for the recognition of women in physics and has created a unique yearly occasion for young women physicists in the UK, the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics in the UK, where they can feel their strength and become more confident thanks to meeting inspiring role models. These conferences have empowered over a thousand young women in the past decade.
‘The pursuit of fundamental knowledge has the power to transform both science and society,’ comments Professor Bortoletto. ‘I am proud that my work on silicon detectors helped unlock new frontiers in particle physics – and equally proud to help open doors for the next generation of scientists, especially women, who will shape the future of discovery.’
Professor Andrew Boothroyd, Head of Department, adds: ‘Daniela has led the way in silicon detector technology and she continues to play a leading role in shaping the future of the field. She has also worked tirelessly to support and encourage the next generation of physicists, in particular, women. She is a much-valued colleague and a worthy recipient of this award – congratulations!’