Teresa Guerrero Izaña / La Laguna (Tenerife)

Izaña / La Laguna (Tenerife)

Updated Wednesday, March 13, 2024-02:12

Around six in the afternoon, approximately an hour before the sun sets, the domes of the telescopes at the Izaña Astronomical Observatory in Tenerife begin to open to prepare for a night of research under one of the best skies in the world. .

We are at about 2,400 meters above sea level.

Partially hidden by the clouds, the peak of El Teide majestically presides over this area dotted with the numerous telescopes installed in recent decades.

Two of them are from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) - to which both this El Teide observatory and the Roque de los Muchachos observatory (in La Palma) belong - and the rest are operated by centers in countries around the world. , from Italy to Japan, who have chosen the sky of Tenerife for their astronomical studies.

It is not surprising that the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands is the place that astrophysicists from all over the world dream of, veterans and young people, like five of the researchers who in 2023 obtained one of the 105 doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships from the Foundation The Caixa.

On Tuesday, the award ceremony for these grants, designed to

retain local talent and attract excellent researchers from other countries, was held in Madrid.

In this latest promotion, 49 Spaniards and 56 foreigners have been the beneficiaries of this program that offers 120,900 euros to doctoral researchers and 305,100 euros for those completing the Junior Leader postdoctorate.

"For me, researching in Tenerife is a dream come true, it has one of the best skies in the world," says Brazilian João Pedro Benedetti

,

25, who studies the evolution of the so-called massive dead galaxies and is passionate about astronomy. since I was a child: "Neither my family nor anyone I knew in my town, Veranópolis, was dedicated to science. But

my parents have always encouraged me a lot, with books or documentaries.

I remember that when we had dinner my mother would put television programs on science. I think that was super important for me, I always loved mathematics, physics and chemistry."

I have been gone for 10 years, now I am returning and I would like to stabilize in Spain

Ana Escorza

A few days before the scholarship awards in Madrid, we tour the IAC facilities in Tenerife with João and other scientists awarded scholarships by the La Caixa Foundation who have chosen the Canary Islands for their research projects.

The Riojan

Ana Escorza Santos

(Calahorra, 1989) and the American

Michael Abdul-Masih

(Voorhees, New Jersey, 1992) are married and disembark in Tenerife after spending three years at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, another of the meccas of astrophysics world championship with Hawaii.

"We met when we were doing our doctorate at the University of Louvain, in Brussels," says Escorza, whose doctoral thesis concluded on March 3, 2020 and "it was the last one that was read in person at the university before confinement due to the pandemic."

Michael defended his thesis two months later and in November 2020, even with the restrictions due to the pandemic, they moved to Chile, which has made it easier for this American to speak Spanish.

They got married in Santiago de Chile and their careers have run parallel.

Now, Ana, who studied Physics at the University of Zaragoza, returns to Tenerife, where she did her first night of astronomical observation when she enjoyed another scholarship years ago: "

When you go around the world and you meet Spanish astronomers at different institutions, 80% spent their first night of observation here

," he points out.

M. Abdul-Masih, J. Benedetti and A. Escorza, inside one of the IACEmeterio SuarezF telescopes.

The Caixa

Regarding the possibility of settling in Spain, this astronomer from La Rioja considers that pursuing a career exclusively in our country is very difficult, but she also sees it as very difficult to do so in Belgium: "The current academic system requires a lot of mobility, and you have to move.

I I have been away for 10 years, now I am returning and I would like to stabilize in Spain".

In fact, he emphasizes, "half of the scholarships of each type from the la Caixa Foundation are to attract talent, no matter where you are from. Many of the Spanish scientists who have been away for a long time use them to return but it is a very good window for everyone".

In addition, the Junior Leader postdoctoral program that she and her partner, Michael, enjoy, offers them the opportunity to be leaders of their own project: "You have money to hire someone, buy material or travel as your own boss. You develop the project as you want, which gives you independence and a possibility of leadership that other

post docs

do not have," he points out.

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The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, she says, is an ideal place to study its "little stars", as she says, the binary stars (which are born and evolve in pairs, and not alone, like our sun): "

The stars are the factories chemicals of everything that surrounds us.

The oxygen we are breathing or the iron we have in our blood was made inside the stars, without that chemistry we would not be here, and there would be nothing more than hydrogen, helium and a little bit of lithium. And one of the things I try to learn is how they make those chemical elements.

Understanding how a star works is understanding what we are made of,

how we breathe and how we live. It is fundamental knowledge," he points out.

Michael began studying biochemistry in the US and ended up dedicating himself to astronomy, turning a hobby he had since he was a child into his profession: "I study binary systems of massive stars in contact, which are so large and so close that they touch each other. I am interested in understanding the physics that occurs in this fusion phase, and also in understanding why we know so few systems of this type, when the models tell us that there should be many more," he summarizes.

Atanas Stefanov (l) and Desmond Grossmann, this Tuesday in MadridLa Caixa Foundation

"For me,

the IAC constitutes a reference point for astronomy in Europe,

with experts working on all topics, from the physics of the Sun to the analysis of planets like ours, to the investigation of the most distant galaxies and holes. This, combined with the unique facilities of El Teide and the La Palma Observatory, offers an incredible workplace with a unique work atmosphere, and I feel very honored to be part of it," says Desmond Grossmann (27 years ) via email.

His field of research is Asteroseismology, which studies the oscillations of stars.

"Similar to how geologists use earthquakes to study the Earth's interior, we

use earthquakes in stars (also known as vibrations) to learn more about their structure and history."

The youngest of the five, Atanas Stefanov (Smolian, Bulgaria, 2001) is dedicated "to detecting and characterizing exoplanets around cool stars, many of which are neighbors of our solar system."

His interest in astronomy arose from a NASA mission.

"I am from a small mountain town, and our region is famous for its rich folklore, to the point that

one of our traditional songs was included in the golden records carried into space by the Voyager spacecraft,

launched in 1977, so that possible forms of extraterrestrial life. That's how I learned about what was beyond our planet," reviews this young man who graduated in Astrophysics at University College London in 2023 and that same year joined the IAC with the scholarship of la Caixa: "Tenerife and the IAC introduced me to an environment that offers me a lot, and I feel motivated to give back a lot in return and give my best," he says.

Here there are experts on all topics, from the Sun to the analysis of planets, distant galaxies or black holes

Desmond Grossmann

For João, one of the things he is enjoying the most is the contact with the other researchers in his class, from other areas, scholarship recipients from Caixa, and the possibilities of making contacts, since they periodically take joint courses in which they receive complementary training.

"There are many

networking

opportunities and they train us to develop skills in negotiation, leadership, teaching or science communication, which is very important and is something that other scholarships do not offer you," Michael agrees.

All of them are aware of the importance of scientific dissemination.

Ana has a meeting scheduled with the Calahorra City Council to organize an astronomical day during the total solar eclipse that will take place in 2026, and that the residents of her town will be lucky enough to enjoy, like other areas in northern Spain where it will be visible.

This scientist wants to continue combining her research with this type of astronomical talks that she does whenever she can: "Once, after a talk at the Borobia Science Museum, in Soria, a child

asked me where God fit into all this.

"It's the most difficult question I've ever been asked. And well, his parents were with him, I told him it wasn't my place to answer it," he recalls.

There are many networking

opportunities

and they train us to develop skills in negotiation, leadership, teaching or science communication.

Michael Abdul-Masih

For his part, João highlights the need to communicate to people the usefulness of investments in science but also the difficulties and how it is carried out: "If you want to build a building, you put money and you build it. But science doesn't work like that "Advances are not linear. And there

is knowledge of physics that over time has been used to develop medical or communications techniques."

These talks can also help awaken scientific vocations: "A message that I try to convey to young people of 16 or 18 years is that, although they make us think that what you decide to study at that moment in your life is super important, I now work with people who are just like me are doctors in astrophysics, but who come from chemistry, engineering, mathematics. The paths are much more flexible than we think and I

think that at 18 years old people should do what they are passionate about at that time. moment and then the roads will come out,"

says Ana.

Most of the workday of these young researchers takes place at the IAC Center in La Laguna

, very close to Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

In the cafeteria we chat about how they are adjusting to the island they will live on for the next three years.

"It has been much easier than I thought, because the people are super friendly, there is a very warm energy and I feel at home," says Brazilian João.

"Everyone tries to help you,"

Ana agrees. "We have had bureaucratic problems because, in the end, we are an American and a Spanish woman who have worked in Chile but for Europe, since we were part of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), without paying taxes because it was a tax-free program, and when you come to Spain to live, to get into Social Security and so on, you have to do a lot of paperwork. Every time we have found someone behind a counter they have helped us or asked to help us." , he maintains.

"For me, beyond the bureaucracy, coming to Spain from Chile has been a very smooth transition, much less so than when I moved from the US to Belgium. The language is what I need to learn the most," admits Michael.

Regarding language, the Austrian Desmond admits that at the moment he only speaks "a little bit of Spanish", although "enough to order a beer" on an island that he considers "a unique place to live, due to the combination of ocean, beaches , forests and all the infrastructure and amenities you need.