Dr Patrizia Tavella Receives I.I. Rabi Award
The BIPM is proud to announce that Dr Patrizia Tavella has been named the 2025 recipient of the I.I. Rabi Award, a prestigious international distinction in the field of time and frequency metrology.
Presented annually by the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, the award honours individuals who have made outstanding technical contributions to atomic and molecular frequency standards, time transfer and timekeeping science.
Dr Tavella was recognised “for excellence in leadership in the coordination and realization of UTC, and advances in the statistics of precise timekeeping.”
What is the I.I. Rabi Award?
Established in 1983 and named in honour of physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi—pioneer of atomic clock development and Nobel Laureate—the award recognises individuals who have demonstrated ingenuity, creativity and long-term technical impact in the field of frequency control.
Why this award matters
This honour highlights the strategic importance of metrology in today’s interconnected world. Through her leadership as the Director of the BIPM’s Time Department, Dr Tavella ensures that the realization of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) remains robust, transparent and inclusive—reflecting the best scientific practices and enabling trust in timekeeping across all continents.
Furthermore, Dr Tavella’s contributions support the global comparability of time measurements and have helped strengthen international collaboration among national metrology institutes, and with other international organizations and stakeholders—in line with the objectives of the CIPM Strategy 2030+.
The BIPM congratulates Dr Tavella on this well-deserved recognition.