In brief
I am a physicist, and I got my degree at the university of Rome Sapienza and my Ph.D. at the University of Bologna. After spending about 10 years between the University of Geneva and the Sorbonne Université in Paris, I become researcher in 2010 and then research director in 2020 at the Enrico Fermi Research Center in Rome. In 2025 I was awarded of the title of honorary professor at the Institute of Technology of Sumatra (Indonesia). My research activity includes statistical physics of complex astrophysical and cosmological systems, self-gravitating systems, galactic kinematics and dynamics. Beyond my professional publications, I am author of several books about the problem of higher education and academic research in Italy and abroad and more generally about science and politics. I write comments on several Italian dailies (mostlty on Il Fatto Quotidiano)
Results of my research have been published in leading international peer-reviewed journals and have been reported, among others, in Nature, New Scientist, and Scientific American. I am one of the funders of the blog “Return on Academic Research and School” (Roars) which is one the most important Italian forums for discussions on research and higher education policies. I write op-ed for various Italian dailies, and I contributed to several journals and online websites with both articles on science vulgarization, science policy and politics. I am the author of several books on the challenges facing higher education and academic research in Italy and internationally, as well as on science communication and, more broadly, politics
Work experience I graduated in Physics in Rome and then obtained his PhD at the University of Bologna. I am currently a Research Director at the Enrico Fermi Research Center (CREF) in Rome, Italy. I have served as Director of the Museum ‘The Legacy of Enrico Fermi’ at CREF, and I have also acted as the General Director of CREF. I have held positions at several institutions in Italy and abroad, including the Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, Université Paris XI, Orsay, France, and the Department of Theoretical Physics, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Publications I am the author of more than one hundred publications in peer-reviewed journals, which have been cited over 3,000 times. I am also the author of 41 other scientific papers, 24 book chapters, one monograph on Statistical Physics and Cosmology (co-authored with A. Gabrielli, M. Joyce, and L. Pietronero) entitled Statistical Physics for Cosmic Structures (Springer Verlag Inc., New York – Berlin, 2005), and one proceedings of an international conference (co-authored with A. Campa, A. Giansanti, and G. Morigi) entitled Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Systems with Long-Range Interactions: Theory and Experiments, published by the American Institute of Physics.
In addition, I have authored 9 books on science communication and research policy, including:
- I ricercatori non crescono sugli alberi (with S. Zapperi, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2010)
- Università 3.0 (with several coauthors, Ecommons magazine, 2014)
- Paolo Sylos Labini: Economista e cittadino (Sapienza University Press, Roma, 2015)
- Science and the Economic Crisis: Impact and Lessons (Springer, Berlin, 2016)
- Rischio e previsione (Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2016, 2nd edition)
- Guida del Museo Storico della Fisica del CREF (with R. Giustozzi, CREF, 2021)
- Bussola per un mondo in tempesta (with M. Caravani, Futura Edizioni, 2024)
- Conflict, Climate and Inequalities: Convergence to a World Crisis (with M. Caravani, Springer-Verlag, China and Globalisation Series, 2025)
I wrote the preface to books on science diffusion and research policy including the “Discovery of Cosmic Fractals” (with L. Pietronero) by Y. Barsyhev and P. Teerikorpi, World Scientific (Boringhieri, 2006) and “Forecast: What Physics, Meteorology, and the Natural Sciences Can Teach Us About Economics” by Mark Buchanan (Malcor D’ , 2014)
Outreach Activities I am the President, Editor, and Co-founder of the association Roars, one of the most important Italian forums for discussions on research and higher education policies. Additionally, I serve as President, Editor, and Co-founder of the Paolo Sylos Labini Association (APSL), named in memory of his father Paolo Sylos Labini, an economist renowned for his contributions to sociological and political studies.
He regularly writes op-ed for the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, and, more sporadically, for Left, Scienza in Rete, Aspenia, EuroScientist and other
I have been interviewed for the main Italian dailies and journal and for many European ones, including Nature, Science, Research Europe, etc; and for national broadcasts in national televisions and radios: Rai, La7, Sky, Radio Rai, Radio Popolare, Radio 24
He is member of the Scientific Committee of the journal “Il Ponte” (from 2024)
Francesco sylos labini 