The focus of our research work is the quest for for new physics beyond the Standard Model, with particular interest in the understanding of Dark Matter nature. Our objective is to address some of the most intriguing questions in the field of particle physics, the existence of Dark Matter being one of the most exciting. We look for signatures of new particles and interactions at energy frontier, studying proton-proton collision data recorded by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We are pioneering unexplored experimental signatures characterized by final states with missing momentum and visible particles produced as collimated, probing a new class of Dark Matter hypotheses leading to such signatures. To handle the experimental challenges of this search and the enormous amount of data delivered by the LHC, we are working on developing anomaly detection algorithms based on advanced machine learning techniques.

We are also strongly involved in the commissioning and operations of the Phase 1 CMS pixel detector and play a leading role in the monitoring of detector functioning and conditions during data-taking, as well as during machine shutdown periods.