Associate Professor of the sector CHEM-06/A (Chemical Foundations of Technologies, formerly 03/B2 SSD CHIM/07) at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering of the University of Cagliari.

Education and research

– Graduated cum laude in Chemistry at the University of Cagliari (1998), she carries out research activities at the Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences (formerly Dept. of Chim. Inorganic and Analytical) of the University of Cagliari as a scholarship holder ('98/'00), PhD student ('00/'03), research fellow (05/03-05/04) and Co.Co.Co. (05/04-12/04);

- From 01-2005 to 12/2019, Assistant Professor (RTI) of the SSD CHIM/03 at the Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences (2005-2017) and Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (2017-2019);

- From 12-2019 to 9-2022, Associate Professor of the sector 03/B1 SSD CHIM/03 (General and Inorganic Chemistry) at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering;

- '16 -'17: Visiting Researcher at Imperial College London, group of Dr. James Wilton-Ely, Department of Chemistry (in collaboration with Dr. Jason Hallett, Department of Chemical Engineering and Prof. James Clark, Department of Chemistry, University of York, UK) working on the recovery of metals and the valorization of complexes recovered by catalysis.

- '01 and '02: research activity at the University of Valencia, group of Prof. Eugenio Coronado (properties of functional materials); ICCOM-CNR Florence, group of Dr. Carlo Mealli (theoretical calculation on metal complexes).

– 2008-2016: Executive Vice President of 3R Metals Srl (Research in the Recovery and Recycling of Metals), a spin-off of the University of Cagliari, active in the technology transfer of patented research results in the field of sustainable recovery of PD from catalysts (EP1964936A1) and Au and Cu from electronic waste (EP1964936A1, owner: Sardegna Ricerche);

– He has participated in numerous regional, national and European research projects, also as scientific manager, in particular related to the field of metal coordination chemistry and the valorization of the metal component of Hi-Tech waste.

– The research activity, documented by over 90 articles in international journals, 3 international patents, 3 book chapters, 5 contributions in conference proceedings and numerous communications at conferences, is carried out in close collaboration with renowned Italian and foreign universities and research centers.

Awards

- October 2024 awarded by IPA2023 (Intellectual Property Award), special mention for female entrepreneurship, as Co-inventor of the patent “Production of a leaching mixture from dairy waste”.  

– She was awarded the "Best Inventor of Italy 2010" Award by the ITWIIN Association (Italian Women Innovators and Inventors Network) (Bari June 2010) and the "Special Recognition Aword for Innovative Achievements" by the EUWIIN Association (European Women Innovators and Inventors Network) (Reykjavik, September 2011);

– In 2005 she received, together with the Research group of the University of Cagliari and the group of Prof. Mauro Graziani of the University of Trieste, an award for the best business idea in the 'Start-Cup Trieste 2005' competition thanks to the 'Palladio' project on the technology transfer of the international patent EP1743044B1 concerning the recovery of Palladium from exhausted automotive catalysts, which was ranked 9th in the national competition 'Innovation Award'  (Padua, 2006);

– Testimonial of the presentation event of TIM's third crowdfunding campaign withyouwedo.

– Invited speaker at round tables, scientific and popular conferences on the theme of metal recovery and protection of natural resources.

Assignments, teaching and organizational activities

– Member of the Patents and Spin Off Commission of the University of Cagliari;

- Member of the Internationalization Commission of the Degree Courses in Environmental and Land Engineering and Civil Engineering;

– Judicial Police Auxiliary in the context of investigations into environmental crimes, in particular through activities of management of prohibited waste (Art. 256, DL no. 152 / 03.04.2006) and organized activities for the illegal trafficking of waste (Art. 260) with particular reference to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

– Lecturer of the courses at UniCA: "Chemistry" – Bachelor's Degree in Environmental and Land Engineering and Civil Engineering; "General Chemistry with Laboratory" - Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology with a focus on Pharmaceuticals; "Laboratory of Chemistry for Environmental Engineering" - Master's Degree in Environmental and Land Engineering"; "Recovery of critical metals from secondary resources", PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, and "Environmental Chemistry", postgraduate school in occupational medicine.

- Docente del corso "Metal recycling from waste", MRes programme in Green Chemistry, Imperial College London (2016-oggi)

- Supervisor of bachelor's and master's degree theses in Chemistry, Environmental and Land Engineering (UniCA) and co-supervisor, with Prof. James Wilton-Ely, of MRes Green Chemistry degree thesis (ICL, UK).

CV updated March 2026