Nominations for the II Malaspina Award are now open


On the occasion of the 5thAustralia-Spain Research Forum, the Association of Spanish Researchers in Australia-Pacific / Investigadores Españoles en Australia-Pacífico (SRAP-IEAP) in collaboration with the Spanish Embassy in Canberra are pleased to announce that the nominations for the II Malaspina Award are now open.

The Malaspina Award is an honour bestowed by the Spanish Embassy in Canberra and the Association of Spanish Researchers in Australia-Pacific (SRAP) awarded to individuals who have made an important contribution to the advancement of the scientific and/or cultural relationships between the two countries. This year, the price will be awarded on November 7th in Canberra.

This award is named after Alejandro Malaspina who led the Spanish World Scientific Expedition 1789-1794 that carried out studies in natural history, cartography, ethnography, astronomy, hydrography and medicine in Latin America and the Pacific.

The prize is awarded annually. This year we are delighted to announce that the award will be designed and handed over by famous and successful Spanish artist Óscar Martín de Burgos, well known for his designed sculptures for different national awards.

Nominations are open to any Australian or Spanish citizen regardless of the Country of residence, with the condition that the prize-winner should be able to attend the Prize Award Ceremony on November 7th in Canberra. Nominations should be forwarded to the Embassy and to the SRAP mailbox from now until September 30ththrough the following e-mails:

  • canberra@maec.es-    srap.ieap@gmail.com

The letter of nomination should include the full contact details of the nominator, the nominee and the reasons for the nomination, including the following nomination criteria:

  • Significant contribution to the cultural and/or scientific links between Australia and Spain
  • Demonstrated excellence in their field
  • Personal, academic and/or cultural and professional achievements
  • Demonstrated impact of the contribution
  • Availability and commitment to promote bridging and to enhance cultural and/or scientific exchange in the future

Additional documents should include a list of two contact references (preferably one from Australia and one from Spain), the candidate’s CV and a list of other relevant sources of reference to be considered. Self-nominations are not considered.


 


Angel.Lopez-Sanchez

Acerca de Angel.Lopez-Sanchez

Dr Ángel R. López-Sánchez is an astrophysicist and science communicator working at the Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) and the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the Macquarie University (MQ) in Sydney (NSW, Australia). His research is focused in the analysis of star formation phenomena in galaxies of the Local Universe, especially in dwarf starbursts and spiral galaxies, using multi-wavelength (UV, optical, IR, radio) data. He presented his PhD Thesis at University of La Laguna and the Instituto Astrofisica de Canarias (Spain) in 2006. In 2007 he joined CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science (Sydney) with a postdoctoral position. He then joined the AAO (formerly the Australian Astronomical Observatory) and MQ in 2011. In July 2018 he was appointed as Senior Lecturer at AAO-MQ. He has been providing instrument and observing support at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT, Siding Spring Observatory, NSW) since 2011, being the instrument scientist of several instruments: the multi-fiber spectrograph 2dF+AAOmega and the near-infrared imager and spectrograph IRIS2. He also has large experience with integral-field spectroscopy (IFS), being a very active member of the SAMI collaboration at the AAT and part of the HECTOR Science Team. He currently is the Instrument Scientist of KOALA+AAOmega at the AAT, and leads the international astronomy survey "HI KOALA IFS Dwarf and irregular galaxy Survey" (Hi-KIDS), that is getting unique, high-quality IFS data of a sample of 100 nearby dwarf and irregular galaxies for which 21cm H I interferometric data is available He has large experience teaching undergraduate and PhD students and giving lectures and classes about Astronomy. Dr. López-Sánchez is passionate science communicator who continuously gives talks and public lectures, writes popular science articles and organizes science communication events and stargazing activities. He is very active in social media, his Twitter feed is @El_Lobo_Rayado.