In 2008, Cifarelli was the first woman to be made President of the Italian Physical Society in 2008. That year she was also elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. In 2011 she was appointed President of the European Physical Society. Cifarelli was the first woman to be elected president of the European Physical Society. She was made President of the Enrico Fermi Center for Study and Research. She has spoken about the life of Enrico Fermi extensively. Cifarelli has acted as editor of the European Physical Journal. She serves on the editorial board of Elsevier 's Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research.