Severo Ochoa Programme

Occident Foundation visitors

Occident Foundation Logo1

The IAC has been chosen by the Occident Foundation to participate in its “Visiting Researchers Programme”. On 15 December 2022 the Agreement with the Occident Foundation for collaboration in the "Occident Foundation - Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias visiting researcher programme" was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 300. This agreement involves the creation of a joint programme between the two entities for the period 2023-2025 with the aim of attracting visiting professors and researchers of outstanding international prestige to carry out short stays of one to three months at the IAC with the objective, on the one hand, of deepening the scientific relationship between the host research group and the visiting researcher's centre and, on the other, of initiating possible lines of joint action aimed at generating new scientific interests. 

In April 2023 an Addendum was made to modify the Agreement between the Occident Foundation and the IAC to include high-profile engineers as part of the visiting researcher programme. 

Each year, the programme supports stay of one - three months at the IAC for visiting professors, researchers of international prestige, and high-profile engineers. 

Within the framework of this mobility programme, the Severo Ochoa Coordination Committee (CCSO), in charge of the coordination, management and monitoring of the aforementioned agreement, proposed to the Occident Foundation a list of possible visiting researchers / professors / engineers for the year 2023, which was approved and has been implemented. 

The funding scheme offered by the Occident Foundation consists of: maximum funding of 3000 euros /month. This scheme will accommodate to the standard rules of the IAC for "Bolsas de Viaje para Visitantes". In any case diets to be claimed shall refer to those in force in national territory according to Royal Decree 462/2002. According to this Royal Decree, the visiting researcher with a longer stay of one month, could be reimbursed with up to 80% of the maximum per diem, i.e 2400 €/month for accommodation & subsistence, not being necessary invoices related to such concepts.

Since the Occident Foundation-IAC collaboration began in 2014, about 50 scientists have already participated in this programme.

Researchers who have visited the IAC under this programme -or will visit it in the near future- are listed below:

  • José Antonio De Diego Onsurbe
    PROF. DR. JOSÉ A. DE DIEGO ONSURBE (Instituto de Astronomía, UNAM, Mexico)
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    Dr. José Antonio De Diego Onsurbe was born in Girona in 1960 and is of Spanish and Mexican nationality. He obtained his PhD from the University of La Laguna in 1994, with the qualification of Cum Laude. Between 1989 and 1994 he worked at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in various positions: scientific collaborator, resident astrophysicist
  • Dr. Rogério Riffel
    PROF. DR. ROGÉRIO RIFFEL (IF/UFRGS, Astronomy Department, Brazil)
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    Dr. Rogério Riffel received his PhD in 2008 at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). He was the first fellow of the Programa Nacional de Pós Doutorado da CAPES (PNPD/CAPES) at the Institute of Physics of UFRGS. This programme aims to promote high-level studies and maintain high-profile researchers in Brazil. During his stay as a PNPD
  • Dra. Minia Manteiga Outeiro
    PROF. DR. MINIA MANTEIGA OUTEIRO (Universidad de A Coruña, Spain)
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    Dr. Minia Manteiga graduated in Physics from the University of La Laguna in 1986. That year she obtained a contract as Resident Astrophysicist at the IAC (Tenerife), where she completed her doctoral thesis. In 1990 she was an FPI postdoctoral fellow for two years at the Istituto di Astrofísica Spaziale, (IAS, Frascati, Italy), working on late-stage
  • Sebastián Sánchez
    Dr. SEBASTIÁN SÁNCHEZ SÁNCHEZ (UNAM, Instituto de Astronomía, México)
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    Dr. Sebastián Sánchez, born in Badajoz (Spain), naturalised Mexican, studied a degree in Physics from the University of Salamanca (1995) and PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Cantabria (2001), both in Spain. He has worked at the observatories of La Palma (2001) and Calar Alto (2004-2010, where he was resident astronomer and coordinator of
  • Cristina Chiappini
    DR. CRISTINA CHIAPPINI (Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, AIP, Germany)
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    Dr. Cristina Chiappini received her PhD in 1998 at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. After a postdoctoral position at Columbia University, she obtained a permanent position at Observatory of Trieste (INAF) where was tenured in 2003. In 2005 she moved to the University of Geneva as a Maitre Assistant and from there to a permanent position at AIP
  • Dra. Claudia M. Raiteri
    DR CLAUDIA MARIA RAITERI (INAF - Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino)
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    Dr Claudia M. Raiteri obtained her PhD at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in 1991 under the supervision of Professor Dennis Sciama. In the same year, she became staff Researcher in Astronomy at the Torino Astrophysical Observatory (which is part of the INAF-Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica) and is still working there. Her