Laura Manenti

• Experimental particle physicist, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney

In short
Experimental particle physicist. Born in Milan in 1987 (so you don't have to do any complicated calculation to guess my age). Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Università degli Studi di Milano. PhD from University College London (UCL). Postdoc at UCL between 2016 and 2018-although during those years, I spent most of my time at CERN working inside various multi-ton liquid argon cryostats. Researcher at New York University Abu Dhabi from 2018 to 2024, where I worked on dark matter detectors, CubeSats, synchrotron light measurements, and quantum sensors for single-photon detection. Moved to the University of Sydney as a lecturer in 2024.

A bit more about me
I am a mum to three kids. "Mother" and "scientist" have long been two words I found hard to accept together, and there were moments when I felt I was doing both“jobs” poorly.

The academic world can be challenging when it comes to work-life balance. There's this idea that“you can have it all,” but the reality is often more complex. After childbirth, you deal with sleep deprivation, breastfeeding, and even physiological changes in the brain-apparently gray matter decreases to make room for enhanced emotional processing. Nature's way of making you a better parent, but it can take years to fully adjust. Even with excellent time management, having children naturallyshifts your productivity, and I've learned to be gentle with myself about that.

My parents have become accidental world travellers thanks to my career and their grandchildren-they've come to Abu Dhabi, Sydney, and various conference cities to help with childcare while I gave talks or attended meetings. My husband has moved across continents with me, first to the Middle East, then to Australia, and I'm deeply grateful for his support and partnership.

I have had mentors who recognised potential in me before I fully saw it myself. Prof. Cham Ghag, my PhD supervisor, and Prof. Francesco Arneodo, my supervisor in Abu Dhabi, encouraged and supported me in ways that went far beyond traditional academic metrics. Their belief in me helped me realise that being a good physicist isn't just about mastering equations-it's about curiosity, persistence, creativity, compassion, and the ability to inspire and connect with others. These are qualities I try to bring to everything I do.I also have a talent for recognising potential in people, valuing and nurturing them, and fostering collaborations that allow everyone to flourish-including me.

Book author
Beyond academia, I also write for children! I am the co-author of The Littlest Girl Goes Inside an Atom(with astrophysicist Ethan Siegel). The main character is actually my daughter, Caterina, and I appear in the story as the mother guiding her on a journey to explore the building blocks of matter. Endorsed by Arthur McDonald(Nobel Prize in Physics 2015), the book presents accurate, accessible particle physics in a playful and imaginative way for young readers and their families. I have read it to more than 2,000 children, bringing science to life in classrooms and libraries.

The book is available on Amazon, in local libraries in the UAE (where I lived before moving to Australia), and in the US at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural Historyand the National Air and Space Museum. It has been translated into Italian and Arabic, and a Persian translation-aimed specifically at girls in Afghanistan and Iran-is now complete and ready to be published. The book was also recognized by the Italian Physics Society, which awarded me a prize for my efforts in making particle physics accessible to children through storytelling. You can find out more on the book's website.

• –present Experimental particle physicist, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney

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