Francesca Ferlaino studied physics in Naples, Trieste, and Florence, specializing in ultracold quantum gases. Since 2006 she has been at the University of Innsbruck; since 2014 she has been a professor of experimental physics and director of IQOQI at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. A recipient of three ERC grants and numerous other awards, she founded the Atom*innen network to promote women in physics. She received the Grete Rehor Staatspreis (2023), was named Austrian of the Year in the Research category by Die Presse (2024), and Scientist of the Year (2025) by the Klub der Bildungs- und Wissenschaftsjournalist:innen. Her work explores quantum simulation with gases of strongly magnetic atoms: in 2012 she achieved the first Bose–Einstein condensate of erbium and observed exotic phases of matter, including the supersolid state. Outside the lab, she has visited over 60 countries, often behind the camera, together with her family.