The via Panisperna boys were the young scientists led by Enrico Fermi who, in 1934 in Rome, made the famous discovery of slow neutrons that opened the way to the realization of the nuclear reactor and the atomic bomb. They are named after the street where their University of Rome La Sapienza Physics Department laboratory was located.

In addition to Enrico Fermi, the other "boys" were: Edoardo Amaldi, Oscar D'Agostino, Ettore Majorana, Bruno Pontecorvo, Franco Rasetti and Emilio Segrè. All but D'Agostino, the chemist of the group, were physicists.

In the years following their famous experiment, after the dramatic events of those times (discrimination against the Jews during the late years of Fascism in Italy, then the Second World War), the group was dispersed and the majority of the via Panisperna boys emigrated from Italy.

Nuclear physicists