The international consortium Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V (SDSS-V) has appointed Dr Sebastián Francisco Sánchez, researcher at the Institute of Astronomy of the National Autonomous University of Mexico and senior scientist on leave from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), as director of the Local Volume Mapper (LVM) project, one of the three surveys that make up the SDSS-V. This appointment recognises Dr Sánchez's academic excellence and consolidates the collaboration with the IAC, with which the researcher has maintained a close scientific relationship for many years.
Dr Sánchez, born in Badajoz and naturalised Mexican, has a distinguished career in European and Latin American astronomy. He holds a PhD from the University of Cantabria and has deep ties to the observatories in the Canary Islands: in 2001, he worked at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING) in La Palma. This activity has been strengthened in recent years, participating in the Occident Foundation's Visiting Researchers Programme within the IAC's Galaxy Formation and Evolution group, with two visits in 2021 and 2023, and a sabbatical between 2024 and 2025. In 2026, he obtained a position as Senior Scientist at the IAC, currently on leave of absence.
His career includes key roles as resident astronomer and coordinator at the Calar Alto Observatory, as well as research stays at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA-CSIC), the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, and the Potsdam Institute for Astrophysics (AIP).
Leadership in Integral Field Spectroscopy
Dr Sánchez works on the implementation of integral field spectroscopy (IFS) techniques for the study of galaxies. He was the Principal Investigator of CALIFA, the first massive survey of its kind in the Local Universe, whose results transformed the paradigm of galactic evolution by focusing on processes at local scales (kiloparsecs). He is a member of the working groups for the MaNGA (SDSS-IV), SAMI and KILOGAS projects, as well as co-IP of the EDGE-CALIFA project.
The LVM uses cutting-edge technology to map interstellar gas in the Milky Way, providing unprecedented insight into star formation. It has now completed ~50% of its observations, comprising 26 million spectra. This project strengthens the relationship between the IAC and the IA-UNAM, promoting international collaboration and the training of new researchers.
