The Association of Spanish Scientists in the Baltic Countries (ACEBaltic) announced the First Edition of the “Antonia Ferrín Moreiras” Award for the Best Doctoral Thesis in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The award honors the legacy of Dr Antonia Ferrín Moreiras, a pioneer of astronomy in Spain, and recognizes outstanding doctoral research carried out at universities in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
The award will be presented on May 21 at Vilnius University Library's Scholarly Communication and Information Centre (SCIC), Saulėtekio av. 5.
The event includes a keynote lecture by Dr Antonia Varela, President of the Starlight Foundation, Director of the Museum of the Cosmos in Tenerife, and Researcher in Night Sky Protection at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias: “Spain Under the Shadow: The Eclipse Trilogy as a Catalyst for Science, Tourism and Sustainable Development.”
Also presentations by Dr Edita Stonkutė and Dr Renata Minkevičiūtė (Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy), who will reflect on the role of women in astronomy and introduce the figure of Antonia Ferrín Moreiras, as well as a talk by Dr Francisco José Maldonado Torralba (President of ACEBaltic and RAICEX).
The event will conclude with the award announcement and prize presentation by Dr María Benito Castaño (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias), followed by a reception with tapas.
This event is organized by ACEBaltic, the Faculty of Physics at Vilnius University, the Tartu Observatory, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), with the collaboration of the Fundación Ramón Areces, the Embassy of Spain in Lithuania, the IAU Office for Astronomy Outreach, and the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA).