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Laura Pérez
Assistant Professor
Training and contact
Ph.D. en Astrofísica, 2012, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, EEUU
Research Topics:Planet Formation, Protoplanetary Disks, Young Planets, Interferometric Radio Techniques.
Area of interest
I am interested in studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems around young stars, seeking to understand the physical processes that occur in the disks of dust and gas that form around nascent stars, called protoplanetary disks. To do this, I use observations from various instruments to capture the system's behavior at multiple frequencies and with different tracers. The correct analysis and calibration of these observations allows us to understand the characteristics of each system, learn about its evolution, and compare what we observe with theoretical predictions.
Biography
I graduated with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Astronomy from the University of Chile. I completed my doctoral studies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), under the supervision of Dr. John Carpenter and Prof. Anneila Sargent. My dissertation was titled "Grain Growth in Proto-Planetary Disks." Subsequently, I worked at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, where I was a Jansky Postdoctoral Fellow, and later at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, with a Humboldt Research Fellowship. Since September 2017, I have been a faculty member at the University of Chile, where I lead a research group and maintain collaborations with international teams.
My participation in international projects includes: being part of the ALMA Long Baseline Campaign to test ALMA's maximum resolution capabilities, participation through an EVLA Key Science Project in the improvements and expansion of VLA capabilities, as well as being co-PI of the ALMA Large Program DSHARP and co-I of the ALMA Large Program MAPS.
My participation in international projects includes: being part of the ALMA Long Baseline Campaign to test ALMA's maximum resolution capabilities, participation through an EVLA Key Science Project in the improvements and expansion of VLA capabilities, as well as being co-PI of the ALMA Large Program DSHARP and co-I of the ALMA Large Program MAPS.
Courses, Projects, Recent Publications
- Principal Investigator in the planetary formation research group at the University of Chile, composed of 2 visiting professors, 1 post-doctoral researcher, 2 PhD students, and 2 Master’s students.
- Lecturer at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile for the courses Probability and Statistics (2019, 2020) and General Astronomy (2018, 2019).
- Thesis Advisor for graduate students: 2 PhD Dissertations, 2 Master’s Theses (1 graduated), and undergraduate research projects (5 students).
- Principal Investigator, ALMA-CONICYT Fund for the development of Chilean Astronomy — 2019 to 2022
- Principal Investigator, FONDECYT Initiation into Research Grant — 2018 to 2021
- Principal Investigator for various observing proposals with ALMA, VLT, VLA, CARMA, and GBT.
- Humboldt Research Fellowship — Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany — 2015 to 2017.
- Jansky Postdoctoral Fellowship — National Radio Astronomy Observatory, USA — 2012 to 2015.
