News

IRAM congratulates Rafael Bachiller (OAN, Spain) and Bertrand Lefloch (IPAG, France), the winners of the SEA-SF2A prize 2014 for outstanding achievements in a French-Spanish scientific research cooperation.

The winners received special recognition for addressing one of the key questions of modern astrophysics: trace our solar system all the way back to the chemical origins. Rafael Bachiller and Bertrand Lefloch led an international team of astronomers to enable ASAI (Astrochemical Surveys At IRAM), an IRAM Large Program at the 30m telescope to survey the chemical imprints of several star formation regions in our Galaxy, from the earliest stage of dense molecular clouds to prestellar condensations, protoplanetary disks and ultimately to the bodies of the Solar system and the origin of life on Earth. The outcome of the winning French-Spanish collaboration will ultimately be made public on the IRAM Large Program webpage.