Dr. Giorgio Angelotti is a theoretical physicist and AI researcher, and Project Lead of the Vesuvius Challenge — the global open-science project that uses artificial intelligence to read the carbonized papyri buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. In June 2026, under his direction, the Challenge read a sealed Herculaneum papyrus, PHerc. 1667, end-to-end for the first time, revealing a previously unknown Stoic treatise on ethics. He is first author of the accompanying preprint (arXiv:2606.29085). National Geographic featured and quoted him in its June 2026 story on the recovery of the Herculaneum scrolls, and the Vesuvius Challenge appears in the magazine’s August 2026 cover issue. In coverage of the result, Angelotti was quoted as project lead by Forbes, The Washington Post, CBS News, Gizmodo, la Repubblica, RAI, NRK, Spektrum der Wissenschaft and the University of Kentucky. In October 2025, New Scientist had profiled him as the Challenge’s research project lead. He studied physics at the University of Naples Federico II, Politecnico di Torino and Sorbonne Université before earning his PhD in Artificial Intelligence at ISAE-SUPAERO in 2023. His research spans reinforcement learning and computer vision.
Distilling myself
A theoretical physicist specializing in Artificial Intelligence who does funny things:
- 100% Neapolitan, hate pineapple pizza
- Love dogs, and animals in general
- In June 2026, under my direction, the Vesuvius Challenge read a sealed Herculaneum papyrus end-to-end for the first time (first-author preprint · the announcement)
- Speak seven languages
- Lived in Napoli, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Toulouse, Trieste and Torino
- My dissertation (2023) was Advances in Risk-Aware Offline Reinforcement Learning: A Study of Data Augmentation, Explainability, and Policy Selection, with applications to human-robot interaction
- Expertise in Large Language and Computer Vision models
- Play chess for fun
- Love kayaking
- Taught for 3+ years at ISAE-SUPAERO, a leading French aerospace engineering grande école
- Supervised master's students' research projects
- Led a 15-person committee at the Cité Universitaire of Paris
- Organized both scientific and recreational events, including a concert by a Japanese pianist
- Did tech consulting for an international risk advisory firm
- Writing a psychological novel
- Overcame depression
- Survived a potentially fatal mountain accident
- Working out at the gym with a personal trainer
- Enjoy exploring: 47 countries visited as of February 2026
- Fastest physics graduate in Naples of the previous 7 years
In the News
Most of the coverage below centers on one result: in June 2026, the Vesuvius Challenge read a sealed Herculaneum scroll end-to-end for the first time, revealing a previously unknown Stoic treatise on ethics.
National Geographic: Inside the stunning recovery of the lost Herculaneum Scrolls (June 2026) · Vesuvius Revisited: A New Story of the Day the World Exploded (July 2026) · August 2026 Vesuvius cover issue · National Geographic Italia (June 2026)
Featured & quoted: Forbes · The Washington Post · CBS News · Gizmodo · la Repubblica · RAI News · NRK · University of Kentucky · Spektrum der Wissenschaft
Also covered worldwide: Reuters · CNN · NBC News · Scientific American · Smithsonian · Il Mattino
Earlier coverage: New Scientist (profile, Oct 2025) · Live Science (Feb 2025) · Le Journal des Arts (Feb 2024)
Publications
A selection of my papers:
- Complete virtual unwrapping and reading of a rolled Herculaneum papyrus. arXiv:2606.29085, 2026. First author.
- Ink detection from surface topography of the Herculaneum papyri. Scientific Reports 16, 27835, 2026. First author.
- An offline risk-aware policy selection method for Bayesian Markov decision processes. Artificial Intelligence 354, 104519, 2026. First author.
- Offline Risk-sensitive RL with Partial Observability to Enhance Performance in Human-Robot Teaming. AAMAS 2024. First author.
- Data-Efficient Offline Reinforcement Learning with Approximate Symmetries. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, 2024. First author.
- Towards a more efficient computation of individual attribute and policy contribution for post-hoc explanation of cooperative multi-agent systems using Myerson values. Knowledge-Based Systems 260, 110189, 2023. First author.
- Dynamical heart beat correlations during running. Scientific Reports 10, 13627, 2020. Co-author.
For the full list and citations, see my Google Scholar profile or ORCID.
Contact
For business inquiries, consultations, or general questions, email me at giorgio@thegiorgio.org.