A short video about me (in Italian) "Nata a Torino, da bambina sognava di fare la ballerina. Oggi invece Maria lavora a Melbourne al Monash Centre for Astrophysics, dove studia le reazioni nucleari che avvengono dentro le stelle." watch the video

When the Sun was born, the radioactivity pervading the material around it may have helped to create conditions for life in the rocks that formed the planets. Understanding the origin of this radioactivity could tell us how likely it is that life could exist elsewhere in the universe. read more

A team of international astrophysicists, including Dr Maria Lugaro from Monash University, has discovered a new explanation for the early composition of our solar system. The team has found that radioactive nuclei found in the earliest meteorites, dating back billions of years, could have been delivered by a nearby dying giant star of six times the mass of the sun. Read more here and here

"I am very curious and like to learn about many different topics. This is why I like nuclear astrophysics, which is a multidisciplinary field involving astronomy, astrophysics, nuclear physics, as well as chemistry and planetary science. I try to understand where the elements that make us and our world come from. I like to be able to spend my day just thinking about why nature behaves the way it does. It is a very creative activity, almost like performing an art." read more

"A more personal reason that drove me to becoming an astrophysicist has been the opportunity to travel and meet people from all over the world. To move overseas and experience life in different countries has always been a special and wonderful adventure." read more

An interview with Dr Maria Lugaro on the topic of pre-solar grains. The many questions covered include - What are pre-solar grains? - Do they only exist in our solar system? - How big are they? - How do we capture pre-solar grains on Earth? - How do we determine if grains are pre-solar? - How do the grains form? - What percentage of material in the solar system is pre-solar? - How is the information from these grains useful in understanding the solar system, and the evolution of the solar system? - The age of this area of study. - How these grains are studied and analysed. here

A speck of crystal that fell to Earth in a meteorite has been traced back to a red-giant star. Press release in Dutch

• Mineralogical Society of Antwerp (Belgium), November, 2007
• Utrecht Geologists' Society, Utrecht (The Netherlands), March, 2007
• Loughton Astronomical Society, Theydon Bois (UK), February, 2005
• Astronomical Society of Victoria, Melbourne (Australia), April, 1999