PANTANO ORNELLA

Ornella Pantano, since 2006 is associated professor at the Department of Physics and Astronomy (DFA), University of Padova (Italy). Graduated in Physics at the Padova University in 1983, she got the Ph.D. in Astrophysics at SISSA in Trieste (Italy) in 1987.
The research work has been in the area of astrophysics and physics education. The research In cosmology and relativistic astrophysics has covered the following topics: dynamics of first-order phase transition in primordial universe, structure of relativistic jets, non-linear evolution of cosmic structures, hydrodynamic simulations of galaxy clusters and cosmological reionization. Many of these studies have required the development and implementation of 1D and 3D numerical hydrodynamical codes.
Since 2004 the research focus has moved to physics education. She is the Department coordinator of the National Project PLS-Piano Lauree Scientifiche (PLS) and of pre-service training for secondary school teachers in physics and mathematics. She was local coordinator of the European project HOPE (HOrizons in Physics Education, 2013-16, coordinated by the the Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris). She was coordinator of the Physics Group in the EU project CALOHEE (Measuring and Comparing Achievements of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education in Europe, 2015-18, coordinated by Groningen University) and presently she have the same role in the CALOHE2 (Calohee - phase2) EU Erasmus+ project. Since 2011 she is the coordinator for the DFA of pre- and in-service teacher training in physics for the various school levels. She has taught a large variety of university courses, in recent years mainly focused on pre-service teacher training. She has been the supervisor of about 130 theses both in astrophysics and physics education and has designed physics laboratories and outreach activities for students at different school levels.