This morning, July 25, 2024, at 00:30 CEST, the Gaia satellite reached a historic milestone by completing 10 Julian years of uninterrupted and successful science operations. This anniversary marks a decade of astronomical achievements, exceeding the most optimistic expectations. Since its launch, Gaia has collected more than 2.5 billion astrometric data, more than half a billion photometric data, and nearly fifty billion spectroscopic measurements.      

The Institute for Cosmos Sciences has been a key participant in the Gaia mission since its inception, contributing both on the theoretical side and in the exploitation of scientific data. This collaborative work has been essential to the continued success of the mission and has enabled significant advances in our understanding of our Galaxy, the Milky Way.    

The European Space Agency (ESA) has highlighted “10 SCIENTIFIC TOPICS TO CELEBRATE 10 YEARS OF GAIA IN SPACE” as an example of the groundbreaking discoveries facilitated by Gaia. These achievements not only represent a scientific breakthrough, but also reflect the dedication and effort of the team involved.    

We encourage you all to join in this celebration of discovery and cutting-edge science.

Happy summer and keep exploring the cosmos!  

Dr. Joan Solà Peracaula, full professor of theoretical physics at ICCUB, has been distinguished among the Highly Ranked Scholars by ScholarGPS for his academic contributions both in the last five years period and as Highly Ranked Scholar in the lifetime category.
ScholarGPS celebrates Highly Ranked Scholars for their exceptional performance in various fields and specialties. On this occasion, the selection committee highlighted Dr. Solà’s prolific publication record, significant impact, and outstanding quality of scholarly contributions.
The ScholarGPS platform evaluates scholars based on their productivity (number of publications), impact (citations), and quality (h-index). Their extensive database categorizes over 200 million scholarly publications into 14 broad fields, 177 disciplines, and more than 350,000 specialties.
 Highly Ranked Scholars™, such as Dr. Solà, are identified through rigorous analysis of over 30 million detailed scholar profiles. The rankings consider lifetime or recent five-year activity, appropriately weighting each publication and citation while excluding self-citations. This meticulous approach ensures that only the most influential and high-quality scholars are recognized.
 Dr. Solà’s remarkable achievement during the evaluation period underscores his significant contributions to the scientific community. The ICCUB congratulates Dr. Solà on this prestigious recognition and looks forward to his continued advancements in the field of cosmology.
 For further information, please visit the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) website.
 

The Spanish Royal Physics Society has announced today the “Real Sociedad Española de Física - Fundación BBVA 2023” Physics Prizes. Dra. Carla Marín Benito, a researcher in experimental particle physics at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and a Starting Grant awardee to carry out the CLIMB project, has been rewarded with the Young Researcher Award in Experimental Physics.

The jury highlights that her contributions are recognized both in data analysis and in the technologies that have been used to improve the LHCb experiment. Her contributions have been fundamental to the development of the rare baryon decay program, providing complementary sensitivity to potential new physics effects and the development of new instruments. In this context, the leadership of large work teams is valued.

"For me, this award is a recognition of the work done since I started my doctorate, from a technical point of view, but it also gives value to the topics I have focused on, specifically the studies of rare baryon decays and the development of algorithms for the reconstruction and selection of events in real-time, which are crucial to be able to make the measurements. It is also a prize shared with all the people who have accompanied me these years, especially my thesis directors and supervisors during the two post-doctorates. I have been fortunate to always work with people who have given me full support and encouraged me to overcome obstacles and go further no matter how difficult the projects I proposed to them seemed", says Dra. Marín Benito.

Dra. Marín Benito obtained a PhD in Physics at the University of Barcelona in 2018 and continued her career with two postdocs, first at the Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire (Orsay, France) and later at CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research). Since 2021 she has been a lecturer at the University of Barcelona.

Her research is framed in high-energy experimental physics, with the aim of experimentally testing the Standard Model, the current theoretical framework that describes fundamental particles and their interactions. Despite describing the results of the experiments with high precision, this model is not capable of explaining all the phenomena we observe in nature, such as the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, and is therefore incomplete. Her research focuses on the study of the properties of particles formed by a b quark, using data from the LHCb experiment, one of the main ones at CERN, where she is currently responsible of the Real Time Analysis project, including the online event selection (trigger), alignment and calibration, and reconstruction of the data.

Samuel Brieden, former predoctoral researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB-IEEC), has received the SEA Thesis Award 2023 in astronomy and astrophysics for his doctoral thesis “From the Precision Era towards the Accuracy Era of Cosmology with DESI”.

The Spanish Society of Astronomy (SEA) has just announced the resolution of the 2023 SEA Thesis Awards, which recognize the doctoral theses with the greatest present and future impact defended during 2022, in the areas of astronomy and astrophysics, and instrumentation, computing, and technological development in astronomy.

The SEA Thesis Award 2023 in astronomy and astrophysics has been awarded ex-aequo to Samuel Brieden for his thesis carried out at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) under the supervision of Dr. Héctor Gil Marín and Prof. Licia Verde, and to Jorge Hernández Bernal for the work "Meteorological pheno mena on Mars studied with Mars Express VMC images”, carried out at the University of the Basque Country / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), under the supervision of Prof. Agustín Sánchez Lavega and Dr. Teresa del Río Gaztelurrutia.

The SEA Thesis 2023 Award in instrumentation, computing and technological development in astronomy has been awarded to Francisco Javier Bailén Martínez, for his thesis “Spectropolarimetric and imaging properties of Fabry-Pérot etalons. Applications to solar instrumentation”, carried out at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) under the direction of Dr. David Orozco Suárez and Prof. Jose Carlos del Toro Iniesta.

The Board of Directors of the SEA has highlighted the very high level of the theses presented in the category and in view of the high quality of the work, has also decided to grant a special mention to Antonio Fuentes Fernández for the thesis “High-Resolution Imaging of Relativistic Jets and Supermassive Black Holes”, carried out at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC) under the direction of Dr. José Luis Gómez.

The 2023 awards ceremony will take place at the opening ceremony of the next SEA Scientific Meeting, which will be held in Granada from July 15 to 19, 2024.

Information about the winners

Samuel Brieden studied Physics at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), Aachen (Germany) and did his doctoral thesis at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the Univerisity of Barcelona (ICCUB-IEEC). He is currently doing a postdoctoral stay at the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) of the University of Edinburgh.

Jorge Hernández completed his degree in Physical Sciences at the University of Salamanca (Usal) and after defending his thesis he obtained a postdoctoral contract at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (Sorbonne University, Paris).

Francisco Javier Bailén has a degree in Physical Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM), a master's degree in optical and imaging technologies from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM); he currently works as an optical engineer in the solar system department of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC).

To all of them, congratulations!

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named the asteroid 2001 QH₂₂₀ after Jordi Portell, researcher at the Technological Unit of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) and the Institute of Space Sciences of Catalonia (IEEC) and member of the Quantum Physics and Astrophysics department of the UB.

The nomination of the asteroid after Dr. Portell is a recognition of his outstanding work on Asteroid Data Processing in the Gaia mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), where he coordinates several aspects of Gaia daily operations, including the detection of asteroids on the focal plane.  

The asteroid in particular, 2001 QH220, was discovered in August, 2001 in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS).

The organism responsible for naming comets, asteroids and minor planets is the Working Group Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) of the IAU, who publishes the new names on periodic bulletins. The Portell asteroid was included in the Bulletin #9 which was published on June 21^st.  

“This news came as a great surprise”, says Dr. Portell. “I feel really honoured and grateful to have a Solar System body named after me! I specially appreciate that such a recognition is related to my work on the daily data processing system of Gaia, where we faced quite a few challenges - but also had quite some fun, especially with the Solar System Objects team in Nice. This system, which processes millions of Gaia measurements every day, including known and yet unknown asteroids, is only possible thanks to the hard work of our team. Gaia is really an amazing project.”

Jordi Portell is an electronics engineer and Doctor in Applied Physics and Science Simulation from the UPC. He works on the Gaia mission by coordinating data processing activities. He is a specialist in compression algorithms and was in charge of aspects of Gaia daily operations, including the detection of asteroids on the focal plane.

He is the current deputy director of the Technology Unit for the software and massive data division, the operations and interface engineer of the Gaia mission Project Office, and is giving support to several projects, such as PLATO or NewSpace missions. He has published more than 50 articles in scientific journals, is co-inventor of a patent and has directed three doctoral theses. Portell is also the technology director of the spin-off company of the University of Barcelona and the Universitat Politècnica, DAPCOM Data Services, which markets its own data compression technology.

Could there be life on Mars? What are gravitational waves? What are the alternative theories to the Big Bang? How can we measure the rate of expansion of the universe? These and many other questions give life to La veu còsmica, an audiovisual podcast in Catalan that combines science, music and poetry. The first episode premieres today.

Throughout 12 chapters of 25 minutes, the researcher Lluís Galbany, from the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) and member of the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), accompanied by the poet Esteve Plantada and the musician Joan Garriga, interviews experts on different topics in physics and astronomy, such as space exploration, black holes, dark matter or supernovae.

“The project was born from the desire to bring science closer to the public in an artistic way”, says Lluís Galbany. “This format seeks to attract the public so that they can understand first-hand general scientific concepts, learn more about the scientific research that is currently carried out, and be up-to-date about the latest advances in physics and astronomy,” he adds.

Scientists from different research centers, such as the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the Institute of High Energy Physics (IFAE), the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB), participate in this audiovisual podcast, explaining how research is done in their field and why.

La veu còsmica interviews four researchers of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona such as Gemma Busquet, whose research focuses on the physical and chemical properties of the star formation process; Teresa Antoja, a specialist in Galactic Dynamics and Galaxy Formation; Licia Verde, an astrophysicist with interest in cosmology; and Jaume Garriga, whose research focuses on classical, semiclassical and quantum gravity (including string theory) and theoretical cosmology.

The poet Esteve Plantada and the musician Joan Garriga use the topics discussed in the interviews as inspiration for their artistic creations, which liven up the format while translating technical concepts. First, Esteve Plantada presents the topic to be discussed in the program and its historical context, traveling through time to explain how humanity discovered certain concepts. Later, after the interview conducted by Lluís Galbany, Joan Garriga and other invited artists end the program with a musical composition.

The project is funded by the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation (FCRI), thanks to the Joan Oró 2022 Grants for the promotion of scientific culture in Catalonia, as well as the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC), the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC), the Institute of High Energy Physics (IFAE) and the Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB).

More information

Find below the full list of episodes:

• Mars and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, with Guillem Anglada (ICE-CSIC, IEEC)
• Asteroids, with Josep Maria Trigo (ICE-CSIC, IEEC)
• Star formation, with Gemma Busquet (ICCUB, IEEC)
• Black holes, with Mar Mezcua (ICE-CSIC, IEEC)
• Neutron stars and pulsars, with Nanda Rea (ICE-CSIC, IEEC)
• Gravitational waves, with Alicia Sintés (UIB, associate member of the IEEC)
• The Milky Way, with Teresa Antoja (ICCUB, IEEC)
• Large-scale structure of the Universe and dark matter, with Andreu Font (IFAE)
• Inflation and expansion of the Universe, with Diego Blas (IFAE)
• Cosmic Microwave Background and Hubble Tension, with Licia Verde (ICCUB)
• The Big Bang and alternative theories, with Jaume Garriga (ICCUB, IEEC)
• Supernovae, with Lluís Galbany (ICE-CSIC, IEEC)

Podcast available on the following platforms:

• La Veu Còsmica, canal de YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@laveucosmica
• Ivoox: https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-veu-cosmica_sq_f11881181_1.html
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0QEROtx2gWi42wmm7BomhK

Contact

ICCUB Communication & Outreach Office

Anna Argudo and Esther Pallares

Email: secretariacientifica@icc.ub.edu

Five ICCUB researchers are recipients of the Consolidación Investigadora 2022 Call. The aim of the call is to promote the consolidation of the professional career of researchers, encouraging the creation of permanent positions in the affiliated institutions and facilitating the start or consolidation of a line of research by financing their own R+D+ project.

• Teresa Antoja, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Gaia group.
• Arnau Rios, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Hadronic, Nuclear and Atomic Physics group.
• Javier Virto, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Particle Physics Phenomenology group .
• Javier Menéndez, Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Hadronic, Nuclear and Atomic Physics group.
• Vincent Mathieu, Serra Hunter Lecturer at the Hadronic, Nuclear and Atomic Physics group.

Congratulations!

Héctor Gil-Marín, researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (ICCUB-IEEC) has won one of the seven 2023 Leonardo Grants in Physics awarded by the BBVA Foundation.

These grants are given to researchers with ages between 30 and 45 years old of exceptional talent that have highly interesting scientific projects. After thoroughly reviewing more than 100 applications, the BBVA evaluation committee decided to offer one of the grants to the ICCUB-IEEC physicist, to support his research on dark energy using the data of the DESI Survey with cutting-edge analysis techniques to maximize the return of information and characterize some of the properties of dark energy.

With this support, the Leonardo Grants aim to foster talent and originality in research. Each grant consists of a financial aid of 40.000€ that will help researchers carry out their project and strive towards professional consolidation.

The research project

The current understanding of the cosmos is governed by the standard model of LCDM cosmology, from its acronym Lambda-Cold Dark Matter, proposed at the end of the 20th century. This model postulates the existence of a mysterious fluid, dark energy, which would explain the accelerated expansion of the universe. According to the most recent observations, this fluid represents about 69% of the total energy content of the universe. However, despite being the dominant element and key to understanding the future evolution of the cosmos, we know very little about its dynamics or nature.

“Dark energy”, explains Héctor Gil-Marín, “is a label used to refer to something of unknown nature to us, but which is necessary to explain the accelerated expansion of the universe. During the first 6,000 million years of our Cosmos, approximately the first half of its existence, the universe expanded less and less rapidly, and we can easily understand this as a consequence of the gravity of galaxies pulling on each other. Later on, however, the universe began to expand in an accelerated way, and due to that we postulated the existence of something that counteracts the force of gravity and makes the universe expand more and more rapidly. We coined this phenomenon with the name dark energy and it is one of the great mysteries of physics”.

In his project, Gil-Marín aims to shed light on this enigmatic component of the universe. To achieve this, the project will combine the latest data from the DESI (Dark Energy Survey Instrument) massive galaxy survey with cutting-edge, innovative analysis techniques, to maximize information return and characterize the properties of dark energy with greater precision. "What excites me the most," he says, "is the possibility of discovering something that conventional theory cannot explain, and opening the door to a revolution in physics."

About the researcher

Héctor Gil Marín (Barcelona, ​​1985) is a Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB-IEEC). After obtaining his PhD in physics from the University of Barcelona in 2012, he was a postdoctoral researcher for three years at the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth in the UK. In 2015, he obtained a fellowship to continue his research at the Institute Lagrange in Paris and three years later, he joined the international project Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument from the University of Barcelona. In 2020, he received the Young Investigator in Theoretical Physics award from the Royal Spanish Physics Society and the BBVA Foundation for his outstanding contributions to the analysis and interpretation of galaxy mapping, which have allowed us to advance our understanding of the accelerated Universe.

The ICREA researcher from the Institute of Cosmos Sciences of the University of Barcelona (ICCUB) Licia Verde has been ranked among the top five Spanish female reseearchers of 2022 by the Research.com ranking of top female scientists in Spain, based on data collected from Microsoft Academic Graph on 06-12-2021.

Dr. Verde’s research focuses on the study of large-scale structure of the Universe and the analysis of galaxy surveys. Her research interests include theoretical cosmology, cosmic microwave background, large-scale structure, galaxy clusters, statistical applications and data analysis.

Her work has earned numerous recognitions, including the 2021 Rei Jaume I Award for Basic Research by the Rei Jaume I Foundation.

The research program coordinated by ICFO, with the participation of IFAE, ICN2, ICCUB, IN2UB, UPC and UAB, aims to develop technologies for the future Quantum Internet.