Sergio Ioppolo receives DFF-Research Project2 grant

The project will investigate how chemical complexity develops in the icy material found on dust grains in space, and how this chemistry is carried forward as stars and planets form. In the coldest regions of space, tiny dust grains are covered by layers of ice that act as miniature chemical laboratories. Even at temperatures only a few degrees above absolute zero, atoms and simple molecules can react to form more complex compounds. When stars and planets begin to form, these ices are heated and irradiated, releasing molecules into the surrounding gas. Understanding these processes may help reveal how the chemical building blocks that eventually contribute to planets and potentially to life are formed in space.

The BRIDGE project will combine laboratory experiments at Aarhus University with irradiation experiments at HUN-REN Atomki in Hungary and astronomical observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). Working together with Professor Jes Jørgensen from the University of Copenhagen, Sergio and the project team will connect laboratory measurements of interstellar ices directly with observations of young stellar and planetary systems. The project will also create open-access infrared spectral and desorption data that can be used by the international astrochemistry community.

DFF-Research Project 2 is a program under the Independent Research Fund Denmark that supports ambitious and original research projects carried out by experienced researchers, typically involving several researchers and research collaborations. 

The Department of Physics and Astronomy congratulates Sergio on the grant.