The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a Synergy Grant with a total value of 14 million euros to the researchers Daniel Bemmerer of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR, acting as coordinator), Alba Formicola of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (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 objective is to revolutionise the model of our Sun.
“We are honoured to have received this prestigious ERC Grant”, comments Alba Formicola. “LUNANOVA proposes unified research that combines experimental and theoretical expertise in a synergistic way, in which progress in one field will directly stimulate progress in the others. We will have the opportunity to attract young 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 for the European scientific community a position of leadership in nuclear astrophysics of global relevance. I would like to thank the LUNA collaboration for its ability to always create interesting scientific insights, open new paths of knowledge, and support its collaborators”, concludes Formicola.
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 stars similar to the Sun. For the Sun, the model can be verified through the observation of solar neutrinos, of the seismic waves on its surface, and of the abundances of the elements present in its atmosphere. However, there is a problem that may appear surprising: the computational model of the Sun proves to be much less precise than these observations, which are themselves extremely difficult. One of the main causes of this problem is the uncertainties in nuclear physics.
“The success of the LUNANOVA project and the trust placed in me and in my group represent an important recognition and, at the same time, an incentive to continue with renewed enthusiasm”, declared Gianluca Imbriani, Principal Investigator at the University of Naples Federico II. “This result is the fruit of shared commitment and of the constant support of the University Federico II, which believed in our vision and enabled us to contribute significantly to this international initiative. LUNANOVA will be, more than anything, 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 candidates and postdocs – united by the common desire to advance knowledge and to carry forward research with passion and a sense of responsibility. The Naples group, working together with all the participants in the project, will contribute to achieving the objective of reducing – and ultimately eliminating – the uncertainties that still influence the solar model”.
Starting from 2026, LUNANOVA aims to solve this issue. The four scientists who have obtained the ERC Synergy Grant and their research groups will conduct experiments with particle accelerators in the underground halls of the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories, in the Felsenkeller laboratory in Dresden, and in other laboratories in Germany and Italy. They will study the solar fusion reactions, interpreting the data first in the nuclear context and subsequently in the solar and astrophysical one, with the aim of building a completely new model of the Sun. Over the six years of the project’s planned duration, LUNANOVA promises to eliminate the current dominant uncertainty related to the nuclear physics of the solar model.
Alba Formicola is a researcher at the INFN Rome division and international spokesperson of the scientific collaboration of the LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) experiment at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories, where she has also served as head of the Research Division. Her scientific activity, documented by around 100 publications, is focused on nuclear astrophysics. Over the years she has developed new experimental approaches and introduced innovative analysis methods for the study of nuclear processes of astrophysical interest. She is also a mentor to numerous young researchers and students, contributing to the training of new generations in the field of nuclear physics and astrophysics.
Gianluca Imbriani is 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 on the evolution of stars, fields in which he has published over 150 articles in international journals. He has held important roles in the LUNA collaboration at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories and in research projects funded by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR) and by the INFN.
