After completing his university studies in Chemistry in 1979 "cum laude", he held post-doc positions at the University of Durham and at Daresbury Laboratory in England and, from 1987 to 1989, at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

In his earlier career at the University of Perugia he was appointed research scientist from 1984 to 1992 and associate professor from 1992 to 2000.

His scientific interests are in the field of theoretical and computational chemistry. Almost since the beginning of his career he has been particularly concerned with the theory and computational simulation of molecular single and multiple ionization processes. In this context, he has also developed powerful computer programs, implementing the theory of Green's functions, to study very accurately ionization and electronic decay spectra. This has led to numerous applications and the discovery (in collaboration with others) of new interesting phenomena such as the Intermolecular Coulombic Decay.

In more recent years, his scientific research has also turned to the theoretical chemistry of systems containing heavy atoms, studied in particular by means of relativistic Dirac-Kohn-Sham density functional theory, and to the study of the reaction mechanisms of prototype organic reactions which are at the core of biological processes.

He is (co)author of over 130 scientific papers published in the most important journals of chemistry and physics.