Hi!
My name is Vittorio Aita.
I am a Physicist and I like to think of myself as a
Science communicator.
About
I come from the breathtaking place in the photo above: Napoli (Italy).
Apart from a brief period in Spain (at Universidad Complutense de Madrid), I did all my studies in Napoli, graduating with my Masters in Physics in 2019. During those years at Università di Napoli Federico II, in the off time in between exams, I started what would become my long journey in science communication. I joined the Optica student chapter funded there in 2006 (PONYS). Back then, they got me on board for sorting out the graphics they needed for events and online content, but it later became a long series of public engagement events around the city. From science fairs to school visits, it also provided me with my first two jobs while still a student and brought me to understand that I wanted to work in Optics and be an experimentalist.
The experience that I was gathering with outreach made me even more passionate about Physics than studying it was. It made me see beauty in explaining to the general public the complicated concepts I was studying in books.
I slowly started to realise how much I was enjoying the experience and I could see it was meant for me.
These feelings made me want pursue an academic career, with the desire of learning more and facing new challenges to bring to the public.
I landed in London, on September 2019, where I started my PhD at King’s College London, under the supervision of Prof. Anatoly Zayats. Here I started working on my research on structured light and its use in the world of Nanophotonics.
Not too long after, I started missing the strong outreach community I came from and – together with a few fellow PhD students – we funded an SPIE student chapter at King’s, to have the chance to organise events ourselves and for me to still put to a good use what volunteering with PONYS had taught me.
Even while working on my PhD thesis, I have filled my off time with advocacy, engaging with the local community at every chance I got offered. A special mention to the London Centre for Nanotechnology for creating said network. I defended my PhD in March 2024 and have worked as a post-doc with Prof. Zayats shortly after that.
In January 2025 I have started a new journey that seems to be joining all the aspects of science that I like. I became an editor for Nature Reviews Methods Primers, experimenting the publishing world to hopefully put my skills to use for the scientific community!
I now find myself being a full-grown scientist with a science career ahead and a big passion for communicating the science that I like so much. I decided to open this page to have – and give – an overview of all the things that I enjoy doing: public speaking, demonstrating, writing, illustrating, and sometimes even dancing!
Vittorio Aita, PhD 