National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS
Gesellschaftsstrasse 6 | 3012 Bern | Switzerland
  +41 31 684 32 39

Mayer Lucio, Prof. Dr.

1.0_project-fr, 1.2_project-fr, Institut für Computergestützte Wissenschaften, Phase 3 – Domain A – Project 3, Universität Zürich
Senior Researcher
8057 Zürich
+41 44 635 61 98

Pourriez vous nous donner une citation d’un personnage célèbre (par exemple d’Albert Einstein) qui vous correspond ainsi qu’à votre vie et à votre travail.
“Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is mere intellectual play.” (Immanuel Kant)

Pourriez vous décrire votre travail en une seule phrase et nous dire quel est son objectif le plus important.
Designing virtual laboratories with supercomputers to understand the origin and nature of the most important components of our Universe, and their relation, from how whole galaxies come together to how individual planets form and evolve.

Qu’est-ce qui vous a décidé pour cette profession?
I have always been fascinated by science since my childhood. First fascination was the past of our Earth and its lifeforms. The Natural History Museum in Milan, where I grew up, was my second home when i was a kid. The beautiful Planetarium from the 1930s was next to it, and this is where I discovered astronomy. Then for a long time I was compelled to become a theoretical physicist and work on quantum gravity, but I chose astrophysics because of the good mentors I met later on in my studies. Then the interest towards planet formation came when I moved to the US just after my PhD as a fellow supported by the NASA Astrobiology Program.

Quelle serait la plus grande découverte à laquelle vous aimeriez assister dans votre vie?
Finding life on another planet and discovering the true nature of gravity.

Vous travaillez pour le PRN PlanetS. Que vous permettra de faire PlanetS que vous ne pourriez faire sans lui?
There is an immense potential for synergies between experts of diverse science domains. This is exciting not only because we can do things that we could not do otherwise, but also because we can start thinking in a different way. And this is usually what brings major progress rather than simply incremental steps.

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