You will also find all the details about our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and the ICCUB's Technological Unit.

Here you can read or download all the ICCUB's annual reports, ordered from the newest to the oldest.

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.

The discovery of other lives far from the planet Earth would be a total scientific and intellectual revolution in our perception of nature and the Universe. “Life could have taken place in other places and times, but what we know about is that it took place and evolved here, in our planet Earth”, notes the emeritus professor of the UB Ricard Guerrero, in the prologue of the book. “And it did so because there was cooperation between the first inhabitants, instead of competition”, he adds.

With a multidisciplinary perspective, the book highlights the values of the astrobiogeology as a meeting point for several disciplines that take part in the debate on accepted paradigms and the most speculative speech. “It is a research field with an enormous growth. It is obvious that its development depends on technology and investments that only a few entities and countries can make, and which usually make consortiums to optimize resources”, says Andrea Butturini, lecturer at the Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences of the UB.

“The most crucial aspect of astrobiogeology –he continues–, is that it feeds from the interaction between physics, chemistry, geology and biology, a mix that is promoting the development of scientific works in which many researchers are involved, not necessarily linked to the research institutes in Space Sciences. This scientific literature has a speculative component –which is very attractive from an academic and didactic perspective–, which would be great to introduce in the university studies and promote the union of all these disciplines”.


Are we alone in the Universe?: a revolution in how we see the Universe

According to Ignasi Ribas, director of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC), “setting the context in which the life takes place in the Universe represents one of the biggest challenges of science for the next decades. In order to reach this objective, it is essential to have a multidisciplinlary approach since the many intervening factors cover knowledge areas that are traditionally separated from each other”. The researcher also notes that “this approach combining astrophysics, biology, and geology –all them to the extreme–, will have to allow us to respond to one of the big questions, not only in science but in humanity: are we alone in the Universe? The transcendence of its answer will involve a new revolution”.

Through this journey along the human knowledge in the Cosmos, “we look for the signals of life existence left by an exoplanet in its atmosphere. In order to find the chemical composition and thermal structure of the atmospheres we use the spectroscopy, and we take measurements in the moment when the planet passes in front of the star”, notes Professor Carme Jordi.

“The study of the exoplanet atmospheres is one of the scientific objectives of the future space telescope from the NASA and the European Space Agency, James Web, using infrared-spectroscopy. The next ESA ARIEL mission is the first to be exclusively dedicated to the same aim, and covering a wide range of exoplanets, in this case to be studied with optical ear infrared-spectroscopy”, adds Carme Jordi, also member of ICCUB, IEEC and the scientific team of the ESA Gaia Mission.

Geology of the Earth and exoplanets

In order to study and model the geological processes beyond the Earth “we apply what we learnt about our planet”, notes the expert Daniel García Castellanos, member of ICTJA-CSIC. The in situ exploration of other worlds and the proliferation of discoveries of planets outside our Solar System are a great chance to contrast what we think we know about the Earth, the processes that also take place there and the frequency as well. Also, the modelling or simulation of these processes allow us to make a better prediction of the situations a potential mission or planet or moon in the solar system -could face.

The erosion caused by the liquid water was essential in regulating the terrestrial climate so there could be life. “Does this mean there cannot be life without a water cycle similar to ours? We also know that the terrestrial magnetic field stopped the volatile loss of our atmosphere, including water. Could we predict, with what we learnt about the Earth, whether a faraway exoplanet has its well-developed magnetic field, before visiting it?”

Living matter: behind the hints of extreme life in the Cosmos

The study of microorganisms that live in extreme environments changed the way of considering the possibility of life presence in other places in space. The books sheds light on the research of life in Cosmos and it offers alternative situations on the potential alien biospheres.

“It has been found that life is tenacious and that it appears wherever it is possible in our planet, even in places where, due to the apparently inhospitable conditions, it seemed impossible. This led us to think there could be many extra-terrestrial environments where life could have taken place”, notes Jordi Urmeneta, lecturer at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Instiute (IRBio) of the UB.

As a direct invitation to speculative thinking, the book leaves room for doubt in a context in which the object of study in astrobiogeology -alien life- is absent. “Perhaps the day we detect its existence, astrobiogeologu will step into a more orthodox phase, and the speculative side will lose its relevance”, note the authors.

Our former PhD student José Luis Bernal wins the XVI Prize for the Spanish Doctoral Thesis in Astronomy and Astrophysics with his work "Cosmology on the Edge of the Λ-Cold Dark Matter”.

The Spanish Astronomy Society (SEA for its initials in Spanish) has just awarded the “SEA Thesis Award 2020” to our former PhD student José Luis Bernal, who has been selected as the winner over other 15 contestants. This award, for theses read in 2019, aims to distinguish the doctoral theses that potentially have a greater impact inthe field of astronomy, evaluating its contribution to the current state of knowledge. The Board of Directors has highlighted the high level of the 16 theses presented in this call.

Supervised by the cosmologist Licia Verde, José Luis Bernal defended his thesis last September, 13^th, and is currently doing a postdoctoral stay in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University (JHU,Baltimore, United States).

His research is focused in Cosmology. In particular, he researches about the use of different approaches to understand the nature of the early Universe, the dark matter and dark energy. These problems are approached both from a theoretical point of view and by analyzing observational data with new statistical techniques. In addition to his work on stress in determining the Hubble constant, he is also interested in large-scale observations of the Universe, mapped using line intensities, and in galaxy surveys.

The Technological Unit of the Institute of Cosmos Sciences is one of the research groups that has joined the initiative of the Fab-LabUB of the University of Barcelona, where researchers from the Faculties of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Fine Arts also participate.

The Fab-Lab UB group was organized during the month of March, when the authorities and the professionals of the sanitary facilities warned of the need to increase the stock of protective material fo rhealth technicians and professionals. The University of Barcelona, searched for those departments and research groups that had 3D printers, and organized working groups to produce and distribute material among the health centres that requested it. So far, the Fab-Lab UB hasmanufactured more than 695 protective screens, 98 door openers and 1270 ear protection units.

Licia Verde is a cosmologist and an ICREA professor at our Institute. She was awarded the Catalonian National Research Award of 2019, given by the Catalan Foundation for Innovation and Research, with the support of the Catalan Government.

She focuses on the large-scale structure of the Universe, and analyzes big galaxy surveys.

Liciais an ICREA professor since 2007, and belongs to the Cosmology and Large Scale Structure research group at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences. Cosmology is the field of astrophysics that studies the origin, evolution and composition of the universe. Her group focuses on finding explanations for some of the still unanswered questions of cosmology, such as what dark energy is, or what originated the universe’s primordial perturbations or if there are any indications for deviations for the model which may indicate our lack of understanding of the Universe. They also investigate if the current model of cosmology, known as the standard model LCDM properly adjusts to the cosmological observations.

Licia’s selected publications:

“Tensions between early and late Universe” Verde L., Treu T., Riess A.G., 2019.

“First-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Determination of Cosmological Parameters” Spergel, D.N., Verde, L. et al., 2003.

You can see all Licia’s publications ather ADS profile.

Anna Ferré-Mateu is an astronomer and “La Caixa”postdoctoral researcher at our Institute.

Anna Ferré-Mateu specialized in the study of the most massive galaxies when she was doing her PhD at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, and then she moved to Hawaii to work with the Japanese telescope Subaru. After that, she focused her interest in the study of the least massive galaxies while working in Melbourne, Australia. Now she is focusing on researching the dimmest galaxies of the Universe. She is especially interested in how the sizes, morphologies and stellar populations of galaxies vary over cosmic time, and their relation to the supermassive black holes found in their centers. When she is not at the Faculty of Physics, you will find her surfing or diving in the sea, walking or skiing in the mountains. If you cannot find her, she is travelling around the world.

Anna is a member of the Galaxy Structure and Evolution research group at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences. The group’s researchers study both galactic astronomy – inside the Milky Way- and extragalactic astronomy – beyond the Milky Way. This includes a large array of objects ranging from dwarf galaxies, quasars and clusters of galaxies, and spanning the last 13 billion years of the history of the Universe. The research in extragalactic astronomy includes the modelling of galaxy’s formation processes, the study of intergalactic matter and making predictions based on analytical models.

You will find her profile here.

You can find Anna’s selected publications below:

"Origins of ultra-diffuse galaxies in the Coma cluster - II. Constraints from their stellar populations"; Ferré-Mateu A., Alabi A., Forbes, D., Romanowsky, Brodie J., Pandya, V., Martín-Navarro, I., Bellsted, S., Wasserman, A., Stone, M. and Okabe, N.; 2018, MNRAS, 468, 3949

”Two new confirmed massive relic galaxies: red nuggets in the present-day Universe”; Ferré-Mateu A., Trujillo, I., Martín-Navarro, I., Vazdekis, A., Mezcua, M.,Balcells, M. and Domínguez, L., 2017, MNRAS, 467, 1929

“Massive Relic Galaxies Challenge the Co-evolution of Super-massive Black Holes and Their Host Galaxies”; Ferré-Mateu A., Mezua, M., Trujillo, I., Balcells, M. and van den Bosch, C.E., 2015, ApJ, 808, 79

Assumpta Parreño is a nuclear physicist, vice dean of our Institute and a professor of the Faculty of Physics of the University of Barcelona. She primarily researches the fundamental blocks that build the matter, known as quarks and gluons. The main research lines on which she investigates are both Strangeness physics and lattice QCD simulations of hadronic interactions at low energies.

Assumpta is a member of the research group in hadronic, atomic and nuclear physics at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences. Her group studies the basic properties of atomic nuclei and the interactions involving hadrons and nuclei. Assumpta’s research interests also include the description of weak interaction processes responsible for the decay of hypernuclei, exotic nuclei composed of neutrons, protons and their strange extensions, hyperons.

You will find her profile here.

Read Assumpta’s selected publications:

https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.87.034506

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.162001

https://journals.aps.org/prc/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevC.56.339

Mercè Romero is a postdoc researcher at the Galaxy Structure and Evolution Area of our Institute, where she studies the galaxy’s kinematics and structure through Gaia data, and makes predictions based on galactic models. She is currently involved in the Galaxy modelling using both test particle and N-body simulations, and also contributing in the creation of the Gaia catalogue under the CU9-Validation unit.

Mercè is one of the Gaia’s group members at the University of Barcelona. The group has a major role in the development of the simulations and the initial processing and photometric data from the mission. They also contribute to the software development, data management and its monitoring and scientific validation.

The Gaia Mission is an ambitious mission by the European Space Agency, aimed to chart a three-dimensional map of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, and in the process revealing the composition, formation and evolution of the Galaxy. It was send to space in 2013, and since then it has produce a detailed map of our galaxy and two data catalogues that several teams all over the world use in their research.

You will find her group's information and profile here.

See Mercè's latest publications at ADS.

The International Day of Woman and Girls in Science was decided by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The day recognizes the critical role women and girls play in science and technology.