In 2009, he obtained his PhD degree in earth science from the University of Pavia with a thesis on the characterization of the high-temperature and high-pressure behavior of several pyroxenes.

[4][5] In 2010, after concluding his PhD, Matteo Alvaro started working as a post-doc at Virginia Tech in the group of Ross J Angel and Nancy L. Ross to research the structural and elastic behavior of crystalline material at high-pressure conditions.

[6] In 2012, he moved to Italy at the University of Chieti where he conducted studies focused on the investigation of volcanic systems in the framework of the ExoMars 2018 mission.

[7] In 2013, Alvaro joined the research group of Fabrizio Nestola at the University of Padua.

[8][9] In 2017, Alvaro established the Experimental Mineralogy Laboratory in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Pavia dedicated to the memory of Fiorenzo Mazzi.