Dr. Aina Palau Puigvert, researcher at the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics (IRyA) at UNAM, Campus Morelia, was presented today with the 2024 Michoacan State Science Prize in the Female State Researcher subcategory, by Dr. Alejandra Ochoa Zarzosa, director of the Institute of Science, Technology and Innovation of the State of Michoacán (ICTI), and Dr. Gabriela Molina Aguilar, the State’s Secretary of Education.
“Receiving this news was very exciting and I am deeply grateful to the ICTI and the State of Michoacán for promoting this type of recognitions, specifically that of Female State Researcher,” said Aina Palau on the occasion of the award presentation in a solemn ceremony at the José María Morelos Theater in Morelia, Michoacan.
According to the statement issued by the ICTI, which awards the 2024 Michoacan State Prizes for Science, Technology, Dissemination, Outreach and Recognition of Innovation on behalf of the State of Michoacán de Ocampo, the goal of these prizes is to recognize scientific, technological and innovation research and development in the State, the work of dissemination of science and technology, as well as achievements in outreach that will contribute to the scientific, economic and social development of Michoacán.
“Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are areas where men prevail, and giving visibility to women who work in these areas is a great stimulus for girls who, from an early age, aspire to work in these types of professions,” said Aina Palau. “The ICTI has a great commitment to promote and support girls and women who are captivated by the richness and mysteries of science and, in this way, contribute to the development of a more just society where each person has the same opportunities and can achieve their dreams,” she added.
Aina Palau has been a researcher at IRyA for ten years, studying star formation processes using very high-resolution radio wave interferometry, a technique that allows for obtaining a high level of detail when observing the regions where stars are born, such as the dense cores in the cold gas clouds of our galaxy.
Upon receiving the highest recognition awarded by the State of Michoacán as a Female State Researcher, Aina Palau expressed that “being part of the winners of the 2024 State Science, Technology and Innovation Prizes is a great honor for me; it is like joining the list of those researchers who have preceded us in this noble profession, and who have shown us the way forward.”
“Receiving this award makes us feel part of the great building of Knowledge, which we human beings are constructing with our dedication, commitment and enthusiasm, and which leads us to tirelessly search for the truth hidden in this wonderful Universe. Receiving this award makes us feel small and great at the same time, it is a conjunction of feelings that drives us to continue on the path of daily and everyday effort to build a better society and State day by day,” concluded Aina Palau.
Image: Aina Palau Puigvert, researcher at IRyA, receives the 2024 State Science Prize, in the Female State Researcher subcategory. Credit: Unidad de Vinculación, UNAM Campus Morelia.
Dr. Aina Palau Puigvert’s career
Dr. Aina Palau obtained her undergraduate degree in physical sciences at the University of Barcelona and her PhD from the same institution in 2006, working as a predoctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She has been a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) since 2014.
She uses very high resolution radio-interferometric observations to study the fragmentation of molecular clouds and the formation of very low mass dense pre- and proto-stellar cores. She has also contributed to explaining the process of formation of stellar clusters, the discovery of the origin of complex chemistry in very embedded young stellar objects, and she has shown that brown dwarfs can form in the same way as low-mass stars.
Dr. Palau is president of the editorial committee of the Technical Publications of the Institute of Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics. She also organizes the meetings of the radio astronomy group in the Institute. In March 2022 she received the “Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” Recognition given by UNAM,
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. The Institute’s personnel 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. They also contribute to educate high-level human resources through a postgraduate program, and maintain a close relationship with society through diverse outreach and science communication programs.
If you are interested in our Institute, visit the English version of our webpage, www.irya.unam.mx/web/en
Text: IRyA UNAM
Media contact:
Dr. René A. Ortega Minakata
Outreach and Science Communication
IRyA UNAM Campus Morelia