Serena Margadonna has been awarded the 10th annual Young Scientist Prize (February 2005), for 2005 by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility - a highly competitive and prestigious award, presented to her in Grenoble on the 8th of February 2005. The award was made on the basis of outstanding contributions to the understanding of the fundamental properties of complex electronic materials by innovative applications of synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction.