Chemical complexity in the interstellar medium and star formation group

My research focuses on studying chemical complexity in the interstellar medium at all scales, from giant molecular clouds to star- and planet-forming regions. I am especially interested in the formation of complex organic molecules since they are precursors of prebiotic compounds involved in the process of the origin of life (see e.g. my last paper on the discovery of n-propanol in the ISM; Jimenez-Serra et al. 2022). I am an expert radioastronomer and I investigate the physical processes of low-mass and high-mas star formation, from their initial conditions in starless/pre-stellar cores to their most evolved stages (Jimenez-Serra et al. 2016; Jimenez-Serra et al. 2020). For my research, I not only carry out observations at centimeter, millimeter, and IR wavelengths (using telescopes such as ALMA, JVLA and JWST), but I also perform modeling of the chemistry of the ISM (with chemical codes such as UCL_CHEM and my own; Jimenez-Serra et al. 2008; Holship, Viti, Jimenez-Serra et al. 2017). My research is highly interdisciplinary since I collaborate with experts in Quantum Quemistry, Materials Physics, and Complex Networks Theory (see, respectively, Garcia de la Concepcion et al. 2022; Herrero et al. 2022; Garcia-Sanchez et al. 2022).

I am the PI of the ERC CoG grant OPENS (the Onset of Prebiotic chEmistry iN Space).

I participate in large collaborations such as the ALMA large programs FAUST (Fifty-AU Study of the chemistry in the disk/envelope of Solar-like protostars) and ACES (ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey; PI: S. Longmore), and the JWST Early Release Science (ERS) project "Ice Age" (PI: M. McClure). The goal of these projects is to investigate the chemistry of COMs both in the gas and solid phases of the ISM across multiple spatial scales.

This is a list with my peer-reviewed scientific articles. My current h-index is 50 (source: NASA ADS).

I lead my own research group with several predoctoral and postdoctoral researchers, master and undergraduate students. 

During my career, I have worked at renown international institutions such as the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the European Southern Observatory, University College London, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), and University of Leeds. I have attracted financial support from the Spanish Research Agency (AEI), European Commission (ERC), the Smithsonian Institution and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) via fellowships and grants. As part of my involvement in international collaborations, I served as co-chair of the SKA "Cradle of Life" Science Working Group during 2017-2020, and I have been a committee member of the Astrophysical Chemistry Group of the Royal Society (2016-2019). I have also served as a Science Assessor for the ALMA Review Panel (2017-2018) and I currently serve as a Science Assessor for the Yebes 40m and IRAM Proposal Committees.

Finally, I actively participate in outreach activities (summer schools, podcast interviews, aspiration days at local schools, science fiction film screening), and I have delivered several outreach articles and press releases. I am also a mentor within the mentoring program of the "Comisión de la Mujer y Astronomía" promoted by the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA).