Armando Gil de Paz

My full name is Armando (first) Gil de Paz (last). I obtained my Graduate Degree in Physics in 1995 (with honors: Premio Extraordinario de Licenciatura) and finished my Ph.D. in 2000, both at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). That same year I started working for Caltech/JPL IPAC and in 2002 I moved to the Carnegie Institution for Science, where I worked until 2005. In 2005 I got a Marie Curie Fellowship at UCM, where I also later accepted a Ramon y Cajal contract in 2007 and became a permanent Profesor Contratado Doctor (Associate Professor) in 2012. Since 2017 I am a Profesor Titular at the UCM.

Born in France but raised in Moratalaz. My family comes from two of the most authentic valleys in Spain: Valle-Kas and Valle del Jerte. I have three kids and a lovely wife.

I have authored and co-authored over 145 publications in refereed journals. To view a list of the articles, please see my profile in the SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System 

During my PhD thesis, I focused on the near-infrared study of a sample of nearby galaxies with star formation. This allowed, for the first time, to derive the stellar mass and specific rates of star formation, constituting one of the first studies of the Main Sequence star-forming galaxies. During this period, I also began my work in the study of stellar populations and the kinematics of dwarf galaxies; work which was broadly extended during my stay at JPL, where I published the “Atlas of BCD Galaxies”. With my move to the Carnegie Observatories, I became responsible of the NASA GALEX mission Nearby Galaxies Survey leading the publication of the “GALEX Atlas of Nearby Galaxies” and co-discoverer of the Extended-UV Emission in spiral galaxy disks. Since then, my research has focused on the study of the evolution of galactic disks with the use of multi-frequency data from UV to IR spectroscopy and Integral-Field (IFU) data. Within this research area, I have played a major role in the definition and exploitation of the S4G, LVL and CALIFA surveys and I have led as PI the design and construction of MEGARA, an optical IFU and MOS spectrograph for the 10.4m GTC that was installed at the telescope on 2017.

PI of the 6.2M€ (cash only) MEGARA project, co-PI of the CALIFA survey (along with S. Sánchez and R. C. Kennicutt), UCM node leader of the FP7 ITN S4G/DAGAL (PI: J. Knapen), PI of several Spanish Ministry MINECO/MCIU projects (Retos, Excelencia, Congresos, Redes de Excelencia) during the last 4 years (1.3 M€ awarded) and responsible for several LOU Art. 83 contracts between the UCM (as contractor) and different companies.

Author of 145 refereed papers with 9587 citations and h = 51 (NASA-ADS). Member of the ESO Time Allocation Committee (TAC; including its committee ‘at-large’) (2007-2009), member of the Spanish Ministry (MINECO/MCIU) evaluation panels in both Astronomy & Space areas (2015-2017), member of the MINECO/MCIU “Jovenes Investigadores” evaluation panel (2016), member of the “Ramón y Cajal” evaluation panel (2011), ANECA evaluator (2010-), member of the scientific commission of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA) (2009-2010), external evaluator of the Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología of Argentina (2007) and the Euskadi Government (2013), member and co-chair of the La Palma TAC (2015-2016), President of the OAJ Observatory TAC. Member of the SOC/LOC for over a dozen national and international meetings, including being both SOC and LOC member of the IX SEA meeting (2010) and lead organizer of the IAU 321 symposium (2016). Referee for 5 different Q1 journals.