Chemical complexity in the interstellar medium and star formation group

I am one of the world experts on the study of isotopic ratios in molecular clouds, which provide key independent constraints to the models of the formation and evolution of galaxies. I have obtained a competitive PhD scholarship (among 50 candidates) at the University of Florence, Italy (2016-2020). In 2020, I became a postdoctoral researcher abroad, at the “Centro de Astrobiología (CAB)” in Spain (2020-present), expanding my research field to the study of chemical complexity, and star formation towards the center of galaxies. I have carried out several research stays at MPE in Germany (4 months), at the Joint ALMA Observatory in Chile (1 month), and at the Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory in Italy (8 months). These stays have allowed me to become an independent researcher and to start a wide network of international collaborations, as well as to become an expert on theoretical chemical modelling.  

Recently, I have been awarded with a Postdoctoral Junior Leader fellowship of “la Caixa” Foundation that will start in December 2025.

I am one of the world experts on the study of isotopic ratios and their multiple aspects in molecular clouds. During my PhD at the University of Florence (Italy, 2016-2020) I studied isotopic ratios in massive star-forming regions of the Galactic disk. From 2020 I started my postdoctoral position abroad, at the Center of Astrobiology of Madrid (CAB, Spain), expanding my research field to the study of chemical complexity, and physical properties in star formation at the center of galaxies.

Isotopic ratios of elements - e.g. D/H, 12C/13C and 14N/15N - measured in interstellar molecular clouds depend on the chemical evolution of the galaxy due to stellar nucleosynthesis, and they can provide unique constraints to the history and evolutionary stage of star formation in galaxies. Isotopic ratios also depend on local chemical fractionation effects, which are closely connected to the physical conditions of molecular clouds and cores (e.g. density and temperature, or UV radiation field). My research focuses on studying how the contribution from nucleosynthesis and fractionation can be disentangled combining astronomical observations of molecular emission in star-forming regions across the Galaxy (Colzi et al. 2018a,b; 2019; 2022a,b), together with chemical models (Colzi et al. 2020; Sipila, Colzi et al. 2023) and stellar nucleosynthesis models (Colzi et al. 2022b). This joint approach has allowed me to become an established world expert on this research field.  Complementary to the above research line, during the last five years, I also became an expert in the search of molecules relevant for prebiotic chemistry in interstellar molecular clouds (e.g. Colzi et al. 2021), as well as in the search of prestellar clusters in the Galactic Center (Colzi et al. 2024). I also supervised many students (1 PhD, 3 MSc and 1 internship) working on the research projects I am leading (e.g. San Andrés, Colzi et al. 2023). These projects are performed in the framework of broad international collaborations, involving major experts worldwide in the fields of astrochemistry, star formation, and stellar physics (78 referred articles, 9 as first author).  

My future research project will provide the first comprehensive and statistically significant view of isotopic ratios in the Milky Way, from the inner central molecular zone to the outer parts of the galactic disk. I will use our Galaxy as the perfect template to properly interpret extragalactic observations bridging the gap between galactic and extragalactic studies of stellar nucleosynthesis and chemical fractionation, and to search for future prestellar clusters in nearby galaxies, for which observations are becoming available.