Alberto Javier Castro-Tirado

IAA staff (Stellar Physics Department)
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Alberto J. Castro-Tirado

Nationality:    Spanish
Family Name:    Castro-Tirado
First Name:    Alberto Javier
Phone:    +34 958 121311
Fax:    +34 958 814530
E-mail:    ajct@iaa.es
Twitter:    @AJCastroTirado

Picture Credit: "Diario El Mundo"

Astrophysicist, born in Málaga (Spain) in 1966. Nowadays he is holding a Research Professor position at the Institute for Astrophysics of Andalucía (IAA), at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC).

Degrees:: B. Sc. in Physics, Universidad de Granada (1989); Ph. D. in Physics, Copenhagen University (1994)

Positions:: 1994-2000: Post-Doctoral Researcher at Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial (INTA); 2000-2007: Cientifico Titular at Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC); 2007-2012: Investigador Cientifico, CSIC; 2012-present: Profesor de Investigación, CSIC

Head of the Stellar Physics Department at IAA (2000-2007). Founder and Head of the High-Energy and Robotic Astronomy group ARAE since 2001.

Publications and patents:: More than 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals (1991-2013) including 10 in "Nature" and 5 in "Science"; More than 180 contributions to Conference Proceedings; More than 375 Gamma-Ray Burst Coordinated Network Circulars; 2 books: "Macroestructuras del Universo" (1990) and "Astronomía X" (1999) (foreward by R. Giacconni); More than 55 contributions in press and popular magazines ("Diario SUR", "Astronomía", etc.); 3 patents (co-shared) (2005, 2011, 2011). The first one licensed in 2008.

Awards and Honours:: European Philips Contest for young Scientists and Inventors (1987); European Union's Descartes Prize (co-shared) (2002); Elected member of the Málaga Academy of Sciences (founded in 1872) (2015)

Areas of Research Interests:

Gamma-ray Bursts
Cosmic X-ray flashes
X-Ray Sources (especially GRS 1915+105, discovered by WATCH/GRANAT)
Optical Transients
Large Scale Structures
Wide-field surveys
Ground-based and Space-borne astronomical Instrumentation (nIR, optical, X-rays and gamma-rays)
Education, Public Outreach and Citizen Science

Research and Technological Projects: (title and financed by)

1989-96: The WATCH all-sky X-ray monitor onboard the GRANAT satellite (financed by the Danish Space Board and IKI). Co-Investigator (co-I).
1997: GOYA, the Gamma-ray burst Observer "Always Yearned" Proposal for Minisat-02 (1997). Principal Investigator (PI).
1998-present: BOOTES, the Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (financed by JA, MICINN and other agencies). PI.
2002-present: The JEM-X X-ray telescope onboard the INTEGRAL satellite (financed by CICYT and ESA). co-I.
2002-present: BOOTES-IR, the Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System in the near-IR (financed by JA, MICINN and other agencies). PI.
2002-present: CASANDRA, the Compact All-Sky Automated Network for Deep Research in Astronomy (financed by JA and MICINN). PI.
2009-2015: EDIPO, the Efficient and Dedicated wide-field Imaging POlarimeter (financed by MICINN). PI.
2010-2018: UFFO, the Ultra Fast Flash Observer (to be launched aboard Lomonosov in early 2014, financed by SKKU and other entities). co-I.
2011-2014: GLORIA, the GLobal Robotic Intelligent telescope Array for e-Science (financed by the EU). co-PI.
2016-present: THESEUS, the Transient High Energy Sky and Early Universe Surveyor (ESA M5 mission candidate selected for study phase). co-I.

Workshops organized (as SOC-chair):: Workshop on Galactic Relativistic Jet Sources, Granada (2000); First Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories, Málaga (Spain) (2009); Second Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories, Málaga (Spain) (2011); Fall 2012 Gamma-ray Burst Symposium, Marbella (Spain) (2012); Third Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories, Málaga (Spain) (2013); Fourth Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories, Málaga (Spain) (2015); First RTS2 Workshop, Lijiang (China) (2016); Fifth Workshop on Robotic Autonomous Observatories, Mazagón, Huelva (Spain) (2017); Second RTS2 Workshop, Kunming (China) (2018)