Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI) is one of the largest universities in Italy and it is well acknowledged in Europe as a technical school for engineering. POLIMI is committed to achieving excellence in research. The path towards excellence is developed along the following actions: support advanced and fundamental research activities; develop strategic partnerships with academia and industry around the world to make significant contributions to society; develop new interdisciplinary research lines to tackle societal challenges; embed scientific developments and research results into university education. The Departments of POLIMI are responsible for the implementation of the mission in their scientific domains. POLIMI is the first university in Italy for projects funded in the context of Seventh Framwework Programme (272 projects + 9 ERC Grants). Since the programme Horizon 2020 has started, 255 projects have been funded: 66 as Coordinator, 184 as Partner, 5 as Third Parties (total amount: 115.076.454,05€). In particular, in the context of the ERC Subprogramme, the University won 3 Advanced Grants, 7 Consolidator Grants, 7 Proof of Concept Grant plus 6 Starting Grants (2 as Partner). The Department of Physics at POLIMI carries out research on time-resolved diffuse optical spectroscopy and imaging systems with single-photons sensitivity and picoseconds resolution by pioneering novel technologies (pulsed laser, single-photon detectors, gating electronics) and presents long-lasting expertise in simulations of diffuse optics paradigmatic cases, thus allowing instruments performance validation in novel unexplored applications in the biomedical field (e.g. optical mammography, functional brain imaging for rehabilitation, oxygenation monitoring in neonates and adults).
Prof. Alessandro Torricelli is born in Modena (Italy) in 1968. In 1994 he graduated cum laude in Electronic Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. In 1999 he obtained the PhD title in Physics at Politecnico di Torino. From March 2005 to January 2017 he was Associate Professor in Experimental Physics at PoliMi. Since February2017 he has been a Full Professor in Experimental Physics at PoliMi. He has published more than 300 papers (more than 160 on international peer-reviewed journals) and presented more than 200 contributions to international congresses. In the PLS project he is Project Manager for partner POLIMI and he will support the development and implementation of noninvasive optical sensors for monitoring cerebral oxygenation.
Prof. Davide Contini is born in 1978. In 2003 he graduated in Electronic Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. In 2007 he obtained the PhD title in Physics at Politecnico di Milano. In 2008 he got a permanent position as Assistant Professor in Experimental Physics at PoliMi. Since 2010 he has been responsible for the functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Lab. Since 2014 he has been Associate Professor in Experimental Physics at PoliMi. He co-authored more than 200 publications on international peer-reviewed journals and congress proceedings. In the PLS project he is Leader of WorkPackage 5 Development of noninvasive monitoring and model-predictive decision support system.