Xavier Luri, researcher of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB-IEEC) and director of the Institution since 2018, has officially joined the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) as a member, the only Catalan, of the Astronomy and Fundamental Physics Panel.
The ESSC was established in 1974 as a mean to give European space scientists an independent voice in the field. It provides independent scientific advice on space science matters to the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission (EC), national space agencies, and other stakeholders and has become the reference body in Europe on space sciences matters.
ESSC members are drawn from reputed experts active in all fields of space research. They are selected based on scientific expertise, recognition within the community and their experience on boards.
“We can be the bridge between the Space Sciences community and the political decision-making bodies. I hope to contribute with my experience to scientific missions and space astrometry in particular”, says prof. Luri.
A tenured lecturer in the Department of Quantum Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Barcelona (UB), Xavier teaches Physics and Astrophysics. He is also director of the University of Barcelona Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB-IEEC). His professional career has been in the field of space missions, especially the Gaia mission of the European Space Agency, which will produce a 3D map of our galaxy with more than a thousand million stars, a project for which he was one of the proponents. He is a member of the executive committee of the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) and is joint head researcher in the Barcelona Gaia group. He also enjoys science popularisation as speaker, author of articles and books and as member of Big Van Science group. Since 2013 he has been a founder-member of the data services company DAPCOM SL, a spin-off from UB and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), in which he is a scientific consultant and business adviser.
We are very proud to contribute to this committee and make an impact on Space Science policies.
