Chemical complexity in the interstellar medium and star formation group

I am a predoctoral researcher at the Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA) since January 2023, enrolled in the PhD program in Astrophysics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Under the title Molecular precursors of the RNA world in the interstellar medium, my PhD thesis aims to broaden the current horizons on the origin of the molecular precursors of RNA (ribonucleic acid) in space. Current hypotheses about the origin of life on Earth point to the RNA molecule as the trigger for primordial biological activity, and propose its formation from simpler molecules that gave rise to an increasingly complex chemistry. My PhD thesis is one of the main lines of research of the project COOL - Cosmic Origins of Life (PI: Víctor M. Rivilla), within which it is framed and where the funds for my research partly come from. Very recently, I have been awarded the predoctoral grant PIPF-2022/TEC-25475 from the Comunidad de Madrid, which is my main current financial source.

I am author of 12 peer-reviewed scientific articles (2 as first author) published in several of the most important Q1 journals in science, such as The Astrophysical Journal, Astronomy and Astrophysics and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (impact factors above 5). My publications have received so far more than 180 citations, rising my h-index to 8 (source: Google Scholar). So far in my PhD, I have been granted, through highly-competitive proposal calls, more than 210 hours in single-dish observing time for the Yebes 40m (Guadalajara, Spain) and IRAM 30m (Granada, Spain) radio telescopes, obtaining data of special relevance for the consecution of my project while acquiring extensive observing experience. Moreover, I have also been scheduled nearly 40 hours in ALMA. I have presented my research in several international conferences (2023: EANA; 2024: YERAC; 2025: J2IFAM and the New Frontiers ESO workshop in which I was awarded first prize for my poster), and attended several courses and international schools (2023: XV edition of the online Course on Good Scientific Practice by the Fundación General CSIC, and the Summer School Life Cycle of Dust in Barcelona hosted by ICE-CSIC; 2024: AbGradE International Astrobiology School in Florence and the European ALMA School in Manchester). I am currently performing a 4-month international stay at the Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) in Santiago de Chile.