Dr. Luis Alberto Zapata González, Director of the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics (IRyA) at UNAM, Campus Morelia, delivered his 4th Activities Report, with the Rector of UNAM, Dr. Enrique Graue Wiechers and various academic authorities of UNAM in attendance.
In his presentation, which summarized the most outstanding achievements of the last four years, Dr. Zapata González highlighted the very high academic productivity of the Institute, including an average of 4.6 articles per researcher per year and 43,000 total citations in the period; 22 awards and distinctions received by the academic staff during the period, the increase in size and gender parity of the student body, the nearly 350,000 people reached at outreach activities, and the achievements of the technical and administrative community.
“I want to thank all of you for all this work that we did together during these four years,” said Dr. Zapata González at the end of his presentation. “We have done it with great enthusiasm, we reached a lot of people and we have been very productive in our research”, he commented, addressing the entire IRyA community.
Afterwards, Dr. William Lee Alardin, Scientific Research Coordinator at UNAM, said that the IRyA "is not the largest institute at UNAM, but it does have a very strong academic quality." He commented that "astronomy can have many impacts both in scientific outreach and in attracting people to the importance of science and higher education, and also for instrumentation and technological development."
Dr. Graue Wiechers commented that the 43,000 citations to the academic production of IRyA “are impressive,” and that UNAM has increased "almost 50% in the number of citations in the last eight years, and this contributed to increase the international rankings of our University. For this I want to congratulate the Institute.” He also mentioned the large projects in which the Institute participates, such as the Event Horizon Telescope and the Next Generation Very Large Array, commenting that he was "impressed by the ability of Astronomy to see the way ahead."
About IRyA, UNAM
The Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica (IRyA), or Institute for Radioastronomy and Astrophysics is an academic unit at UNAM, Campus Morelia, Mexico. We perform high-level and high-impact research in the areas of interstellar medium, star formation, evolved stars, high energy astrophysics, Galactic dynamics and structure, extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. We contribute to the education of high-level human resources through a postgraduate program, and we have close contact with society through diverse outreach programs.
If you are interested in our Institute, visit the English version of our webpage, www.irya.unam.mx/web/en
Media contact:
Dr. René A. Ortega Minakata
Outreach and Science Communication
IRyA UNAM Campus Morelia
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Text: IRyA UNAM