INFN was founded on the 8th of August 1951, to further the nuclear physics research tradition initiated by Enrico Fermi in Rome, in the 1930s.

In the early 1960s, it also constructed in Frascati the first ever electron-positron collider (ADA - Anello Di Accumulazione), under the scientific leadership of Bruno Touschek.

[1] In 1968, Frascati began operating ADONE (big AdA), which was the first high-energy particle collider, having a beam energy of 1.5 GeV.

[2][3] During the same period, the INFN began to participate in research into the construction and use of ever-more powerful accelerators being conducted at CERN.

The INFN has Sezioni (Divisions) in most major Italian universities and four national laboratories.