The Cagliari Unit, active for 25 years, is among the youngest and smallest INFN Sections.
In spite of the dimensions in Cagliari there are activities in all the 5 research areas in which INFN operates. The main laboratories involved are CERN (expressing ALICE and LHCb at LHC and SHIP at SPS) and the Gran Sasso National Laboratories (DARKSIDE experiment – ARIA Project).
Cagliari has the national coordination of the LHCb, SHIP and TIMESPOT experiments and has had in the past the coordination of ALICE and the international guide of the NA60 experiment.
The theoretical group is active in two relevant national initiatives.
In Cagliari, the activity in external projects has always been very marked, with particular relevance in the ICT sector and both international and local impact. Its researchers have been leading EU projects in the Infrastructures Program, Major Relevance Projects of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CERN Projects in ICT (LHC Computing Grid), major national and regional initiatives (National Operational Program of Research, PRIN, POR etc.)
The Cagliari unit today consists of about 40 employees, more than half of the researchers or technologists, as well as 10 scholarship holders and grant holders. The staff associated with the Cagliari section, made up mainly of staff of the University of Cagliari, is made up of about 20 units.
The unit is organized within it with equipment and personnel dedicated to support the research activity and the development of technologically advanced equipment through the services of electronics, mechanical workshop and design, calculation, in addition to the presence of the management service and all ‘administration.
The Cagliari unit is involved in various activities in the field of particle physics, astroparticles, nuclear physics, theoretical physics and development of new technologies.