The next INAF PhD School Francesco Lucchin will be held in Agerola, during the week of October 26-31, 2025.
Registration will be open on 1 June. A preliminary program will be available in the next weeks.
The school is intended for students currently enrolled in any PhD program in Italy. Foreign students are also welcome to apply, but we require them to contact us first, as the school has a limited number of participants.
The topics covered by the school are:
Giant and variable stars:
Giant and variable stars play a crucial role as tracers of stellar populations in the Milky Way and in nearby stellar systems. They cover a wide range in stellar ages and in chemical compositions, and they can be used as beacons to investigate advanced evolutionary phases and to constrain their chemical enrichment history.
Variable stars and their observables offer a unique opportunity to constrain the physics of stellar interiors. Moreover, radial variable stars are excellent distance indicators thanks to relations connecting the pulsation period to their intrinsic brightness. Several of them are also age indicators and/or provide independent diagnostics to determine the stellar mass. A paramount observational and theoretical effort has been made in the literature to successfully exploit the huge multi-band, time-series data from current (Gaia, long-term variability surveys) and future (Vera Rubin Observatory, Roman Telescope) observing facilities. During the school, lecturers will introduce the most recent findings, open astrophysical and cosmological problems, together with near future opportunities and challenges (theory, observations). These lectures are focused on:
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Early formation and evolution of the Milky Way and nearby stellar systems.
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Pulsating stars as distance indicators and stellar population tracers.
Lecturers:
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Matteo Monelli (INAF-OAR)
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Vincenzo Ripepi (INAF-OACn)
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Elena Valenti (ESO)
Hands-on sessions:
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Giulia De Somma/Marcella Marconi (INAF-OACN)
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Vittorio R. Braga (INAF-OAR)/Giuseppe Bono (Univ. Tor Vergata)
Compact objects:
Compact objects — neutron stars and black holes — both in X-ray binaries and as (isolated or binary) radio pulsars are fundamental laboratories for exploring physics under the most extreme conditions of gravity, density, and magnetic fields, offering critical tests of our understanding of matter at supranuclear densities. In high-energy astrophysics, compact objects drive some of the most energetic phenomena in the universe, including accretion-powered X-ray emission, relativistic jets, and the emission of gravitational waves.
Neutron stars observed as radio pulsars play a pivotal role in probing the fundamental properties of neutron stars, such as their masses, radii, and internal composition. Precise pulsar timing has enabled some of the most stringent tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity in the strong-field regime, and radio pulsars are now at the forefront of gravitational wave detection through Pulsar Timing Array (PTA), which are beginning to unveil the nanohertz gravitational wave background.
The school will combine lectures, hands-on sessions, and discussions covering the latest theoretical models and multiwavelength observational results. Participants will gain a broad and deep perspective on how compact objects shape modern high-energy astrophysics and fundamental physics, from the microphysics of dense matter, the effects of magnetic fields and the study of the accretion flow around them. Lectures are focused on:
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Physical properties and evolution of X-ray binaries and accreting millisecond pulsars.
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Properties and (astro)physical applications of isolated and binary radio pulsars.
Lecturers:
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Alessandro Di Marco (INAF-IAPS)
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Alessio Marino (INAF-IASF Pa)
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Alessandro Papitto (INAF-OAR)
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Andrea Possenti (INAF-OACa)
Hands-on sessions:
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Sara Motta (INAF-OABrera)
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Marta Burgay (INAF-OACa)
SOC
Giuseppe Bono (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), Tiziana Di Salvo (Univ. Palermo), Marcella Marconi (INAF-OACapodimonte), Andrea Possenti (INAF-OACagliari)
LOC
Rosario Aiello, Romilda Cozzolino, Modestino Iafanti, Ilaria Musella (Chair), Teresa Sicignano, Maria Tantalo
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