the institute
a SMALL INSTITUTION, a GREAT OPPORTUNITY
The Enrico Fermi Historical Physics Museum and Study and Research Centre (CREF) is located in the building that housed the historic Royal Institute of Physics in the 1930s, where Enrico Fermi and a group of young physicists carried out the first experiments on neutron-induced radioactivity, fundamental for the future development of nuclear energy. It was here that the history of physics and the entire twentieth century was written.
A new research facility
In 1999, to honour the historical memory of the place, Parliament unanimously approved a law to create a new research institution, the “Historical Museum of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Study and Research Centre”, under the supervision of the Ministry of University and Research. (MIUR)
With the official handover of the restored building in November 2019, the CREF will begin its real operational, scientific, and museum phase.
A double mission
The mission of the organisation is, therefore, twofold:
- Developing a modern historical physics museum dedicated to Fermi’s scientific legacy aims to ensure the widespread dissemination and communication of his life and discoveries. The Museum’s activities also include various initiatives for disseminating and promoting scientific culture aimed at a wide and varied audience, with particular attention to schools and universities.
- In the spirit that characterised Enrico Fermi’s activities, it aims to develop original and influential lines of research based on physics methods with a strong interdisciplinary character.