Roberto Cerbino is a Full Professor of Experimental Soft Matter Physics at the University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics. He obtained his PhD in Applied Physics from the University of Milan under the supervision of Marzio Giglio, and subsequently held academic positions in Milan and Fribourg, as well as visiting appointments in UOttawa, ENS Lyon, and ESPCI Paris.
His research lies at the interface of soft matter physics and biophysics, with a strong emphasis on quantitative microscopy, phase imaging, scattering, and rheology, combined with advanced image- and data-analysis methods. In this framework, he has made seminal contributions to differential dynamic microscopy (DDM), now widely used alongside Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) to characterise dynamics in crowded, active, and biological systems, and applies these approaches to investigate the structure, dynamics, and phase behaviour of passive, active, and living soft-matter systems, including cytoskeletal networks, biomolecular condensates, collective cellular assemblies, and non-equilibrium fluctuations in complex fluids.
Roberto has extensive experience in space-based soft-matter experiments, including ESA missions such as GRADFLEX, NEUF-DIX, and GTACS and has served as Coordinator of the ESA Facility Definition Team for Soft Matter & Biophysics. He is currently a member of multiple space advisory bodies, Associate Editor of Soft Matter (RSC), and series editor for Soft and Biological Matter (Springer).