An ERC Synergy Grant to LUNANOVA.

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a Synergy Grant worth a total of €14 million to researchers Daniel Bemmerer of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR, who serves as coordinator), Alba Formicola of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Gianluca Imbriani of the University of Naples Federico II, both in Italy, and Aldo Serenelli of the Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (ICE-CSIC) in Spain, for the LUNANOVA project, whose ambitious goal is to revolutionize the model of our Sun.

The European Research Council has funded with 684 million euros 66 research groups involving 239 scientists, 16 of whom work in Italy and many outside Europe. Italy has been awarded 9 Synergy Grants to pursue as many studies.

"The success of the LUNANOVA project and the trust placed in me and my group represent an important recognition and, at the same time, a stimulus to continue with renewed enthusiasm," said Gianluca Imbriani, Principal Investigator at Federico II University. "This achievement is the result of a shared commitment and the constant support of the Federico II, which believed in our vision and allowed us to contribute significantly to this international initiative. LUNANOVA will be, more than anything else, an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration: a project that will continue to rely on the commitment and expertise of researchers and students - from undergraduates to PhD students and postdocs - united by a common desire to advance knowledge and to pursue research with passion and a sense of responsibility. The Naples group will, in particular, play a central role in developing procedures for interpreting experimental data, with the goal of reducing - and eventually eliminating - the uncertainties that still affect the solar model."

Starting in 2026, LUNANOVA aims to resolve this issue. The four scientists awarded the ERC Synergy Grant and their research teams will conduct experiments with particle accelerators in the underground rooms of the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Felsenkeller laboratory in Dresden and other laboratories in Germany and Italy. They will study solar fusion reactions, interpreting the data first in the nuclear context and then in the solar and astrophysical context, in order to build a completely new model of the Sun. Over the project's expected six-year duration, LUNANOVA promises to eliminate the current dominant uncertainty related to the nuclear physics of the solar model.

"We are honored to have received this prestigious ERC Grant," commented Alba Formicola."LUNANOVA proposes unified research that synergistically combines experimental and theoretical expertise, where progress in one area will directly stimulate progress in the others. We will have the opportunity to attract young male and female researchers, promoting international collaboration and ensuring a continuous exchange of knowledge. In this way, the project will not only advance fundamental science, but will also represent a strategic investment, ensuring the European scientific community a leadership position in nuclear astrophysics of global significance. I would like to thank the LUNA collaboration for its ability to always create interesting scientific insights, open new avenues of knowledge and support its collaborators," Formicola concluded.

At the heart of the Sun, nuclear reactions fuse hydrogen, the lightest chemical element, into helium, the second lightest. These fusion processes and their implications are described by the so-called standard solar model. This model is the benchmark for understanding thousands of Sun-like stars. For the Sun, the model can be verified through observations of solar neutrinos, seismic waves on its surface and the abundances of elements in its atmosphere. However, there is a problem that may seem surprising: the computational model of the Sun turns out to be much less accurate than these observations, which are themselves extremely difficult. A major cause of this problem is uncertainties in nuclear physics.

Gianluca Imbriani is full professor of physics at the University of Naples Federico II, where he coordinates the Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics group. His scientific activity focuses on stellar nuclear physics and star evolution, areas in which he has published more than 150 papers in international journals. He has held leading roles in the LUNA collaboration at the Gran Sasso Laboratory and in research projects funded by the MUR and INFN.

Alba Formicola is a researcher at the INFN section in Rome and international head of the scientific collaboration of the LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) experiment at INFN's Gran Sasso National Laboratories, where she also served as head of the Research Division. His scientific activity, documented by about 100 publications, is focused on nuclear astrophysics. Over the years he has developed new experimental approaches and introduced innovative methods of analysis for the study of nuclear processes of astrophysical interest. He also mentors numerous young researchers and students, contributing to the education of the next generation in the field of nuclear physics and astrophysics.