Summary of the 9th SRAP Research Forum – A Connected World

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The 9th Australia-Spain Research Forum entitled “A Connected World“ was hosted at the Australian Hearing Hub, Macquarie University (Sydney, NSW) on Friday 3rd of November 2023.

The full recording of the event is available in our YouTube channel:

Some of the in-person participants of the 9th Australia-Spain Research Forum “A Connected World”.

Opening

The 2023 SRAP Research Forum commenced at 10:00am with registration and a morning tea. Following Macquarie University’s Acknowledgment to the Country”, the official opening took place at 10:30am by Montserrat Momán Pampillo, Deputy Head of the Embassy of Spain in Australia, who inaugurated the forum. Professor Sakkie Pretorius, Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie University, expressed gratitude to SRAP and the Ambassador of Spain in Australia for choosing Macquarie University again as the host venue for the SRAP Forum. After that, we were honoured to feature two special video recordings: the first one from H.E. Sophia McIntyre, Australian Ambassador in Spain, and then another recording by Ms Inmaculada Riera, General Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce (Madrid).

From left to right: Prof Samuel Muller, Head of the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Engineering, Macquarie University, Prof. Sakkie Pretorius, Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie University, Ms Montserrat Momán Pampillo, Deputy Head of the Embassy of Spain in Australia, and Dr Ángel López-Sánchez, SRAP President and Chair of the 9th SRAP Forum. Photo Credit: Nelson Cabrera (Semanario “El Español”).

SESSION 1: MULTIDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

Following the opening ceremony, Session 1 commenced. It was chaired by Dr Mariel Familiar López (Griffith University & SRAP).

Angel.Lopez-Sanchez

About Angel.Lopez-Sanchez

A/Prof Ángel R. López-Sánchez is an astrophysicist and science communicator working at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University (MQ). He is a recognised expert in the study of how the gas is converted into stars in galaxies and how this affects galaxy evolution. He graduated in Theoretical Physics at the University of Granada (2000) and completed his PhD Thesis in Astrophysics at the prestigious “Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias” (IAC, Spain) and the University of La Laguna (Spain) in 2006. He moved to Australia in 2007, joining CSIRO “Astronomy and Space Science” to perform radio-interferometric observations of gas-rich galaxies at the Australian Telescope Compact Array. In 2011 he joined the Australian Astronomical Observatory and Macquarie University combining instrumentation support, research, lecturing, and outreach. He was appointed as a full-time research academic at the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at Macquarie University in May 2023. He is the president of the association of Spanish Researchers in Australia-Pacific (SRAP), the vice-president of the Astronomical Association of Córdoba (AAC, Spain), representative in the Andalusian Astronomy Network (RAdA), and member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the Spanish Astronomy Society (SEA), and the Australian Astronomy Society (ASA). He is a globally-recognised science communicator, with visibility in Spanish and Australian printed, broadcast, and social media. He is also a passionate amateur astronomer that uses his own equipment for capturing the beauty of the Cosmos. His stunning astronomy time-lapse videos and photos have received +1/2 million views in YouTube and have been seen in TV channels in USA, Australia and Spain, science museums worldwide, and textbooks.