Profile
Profile
Sara is a specialist in the area of integrable systems, a lively area of mathematics bringing together algebra, analysis and geometry to tackle fundamental problems often motivated by mathematical physics.
Her research has been supported by a wide range of funding bodies, both in pure and applied mathematics. She has received three fellowships, from the EPSRC, from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and from the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET).
Sara is a keen advocate of the role of mathematics in the society, and of the unique contribution that mathematical sciences bring to other STEM disciplines and to the economy. She believes that it is important to promote interdisciplinary research as well as to emphasise the importance of fundamental research.
Equally, she believes that embracing diversity – in all its aspects – is key to successfully tackle research challenges and ultimately to good science. This has driven her to work closely with the Institute of Mathematics and Applications (IMA), where she is a member of the Research Committee, as well as with the London Mathematical Society, as IMA representative in the Women in Mathematics Committee and member of the Good Practice Scheme steering group. Sara has led many Equality, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, both nationally and internationally. She occasionally chairs panels for the Athena SWAN awards and in her previous position at Northumbria University she has successfully led the Institution towards their first institutional Athena SWAN award.
Sara read Physics at the University Rome La Sapienza, arguably one of the most prestigious schools of Physics in Italy, graduating cum Laude in Mathematical Physics (MSc). She obtained her PhD in the School of Mathematics at Leeds University in 2004. She held various positions in Leeds, Manchester, Rome and Amsterdam, before returning to the UK in 2010. Prior to Loughborough, Sara was Head of Mathematics at Northumbria University Newcastle.
Sara joined the School of Science at Loughborough University in November 2017; between 2017 and 2022 she held the role of Associate Dean with Teaching responsibilities. Sara is currently a member of the Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Edinburgh and the (Executive) Dean of the School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at Heriot-Watt University, UK. Sara is a Visiting Professor of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, School of Science