ICCUB researcher Marc Ribó, professor of the Quantum Physics and Astrophysics Department of the University of Barcelona and member of the Institute of Spatial Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), has been elected as the new director of the Observatori Astronòmic del Montsec. After being the Observatory’s scientific director since 2017, Ribó will now occupy the director’s position for the next two years. He is also a member of the IEEC’s managing team.

Ribó obtained his PhD in High Energy Astrophysics in 2002 at the University of Barcelona. Afterwards, he moved to France as a postdoctoral researcher at the CEA-Saclay for three years, and then returned to the University of Barcelona through a Juan de la Cierva contract, which in 2008 was replaced by a Ramon y Cajal contract.In 2012, Ribó became an interim associate professor of the University, and since 2014 he has been a Serra-Húnter associate professor. He teaches and coordinates several graduate and master courses, and is a member of the coordinating committee of the Master in Astrophysics, Particle Physics and Cosmology. He has directed three doctoral theses and published more than 350 scientific articles, some of them in the Nature and Science journals.

Marc Ribó researches about the high energy astrophysics sources, mainly those of galactic origins. In particular, he has studied X-ray and gamma ray binary systems, that contain black holes and neutron stars, and show emissions across all the electromagnetic spectrum, from the radio waves to high-energy gamma-rays. He participated in remarkable discoveries such as the first gamma-ray-emitting microquasar, and the finding of the first Be-typestar with a black hole companion.

Ribó is a member of the international collaborations of MAGIC, where he is the Deputy Physics Coordinator, and CTA,where he is responsible of the technological unit. He has also collaborated with several international research centres.