A Federiciana, the only Italian in the SPES Commission.

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC ) is the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, which funds science and technology research in Canada's universities, colleges and research centers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. With an annual budget of about C$1.5 billion, the NSERC is the largest entity in the field and reports directly to the Canadian federal government.

Giulia Ricciardi, professor in the Department of Physics 'E. Pancini' was elected, the only Italian, for a three-year term on the Subatomic Physics Evaluation Section (SPES) Commission a specialized committee of 18 distinguished scientists. SPES is responsible for evaluating applications for research funding in the field of subatomic physics, with theoretical physics projects and experiments in areas such as elementary particle physics, nuclear physics and astro-particle astrophysics. The committee also evaluates projects proposed by large-scale international collaborations (e.g., CERN, SNOLAB, TRIUMF).

Applications that require significant funding (e.g., greater than C$500,000 per year) undergo additional evaluation. In 2024, Professor Giulia Ricciardi participated in a three-member subcommittee to evaluate the science strategy of theArthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute and its eligibility for funding requested from NSERC. The Arthur B. McDonald is Canada's national center for astroparticle physics research and coordinates a network of researchers, theorists and technical experts from 13 Canadian universities and research institutes, including McGill, Carleton, Université de Montréal, University of Alberta, University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, TRIUMF, SNOLAB and the Perimeter Institute.