World-renowned physicist inaugurates the Universidad Andrés Bello Astrophysics Institute

The inauguration of the Astrophysics Institute of Universidad Andrés Bello held at the President Aznar Auditorium of the Las Condes Casona Campus, was a true scientific celebration. The event was marked by high attendance, included the presence of several distinguished national Exact Science award winners, and was further highlighted by a very special guest: Dr. Gabriela González. The outstanding Argentine physicist recognized globally for her significant contributions to gravitational wave research. Dr. González was in charge of inaugurating the Universidad Andrés Bello Astrophysics Institute with the keynote lecture «Astronomy with Gravitational Waves».

In his welcoming words, UNAB President Julio Castro described it as an honor to have such esteemed scientific figures attending the launch. Alongside Dr. González were Dr. María Teresa Ruiz, the 1997 national Exact Science award winner; Dr. José Maza, who received the award in 1999; and Dr. Mónica Rubio, awarded in 2021.

The rector also highlighted that the creation of the Universidad Andrés Bello Astrophysics Institute is due to the university’s decision to promote cutting-edge research development. «Chile has all the conditions today to develop breakthrough studies and research in the field of astrophysics, and I am pleased to launch this long-awaited Institute,» he said.

After this came Dr. Dante Minniti, director of the Universidad Andrés Bello Astrophysics Institute, who first thanked the authorities for their support that allowed the establishment of the Institute, and then dedicated heartfelt words to the team of academic researchers in Astronomy, highlighting their hard work.

«Beyond my affection for this group, I admire them immensely for everything they do, for all they know; their ability to do things is unbeatable,» Minniti pointed out, also extending a special greeting to undergraduate, doctoral, and graduate students in Astrophysics. «The Astrophysics Institute is for you; you are the future.»

From Einstein to Today

The event continued with the keynote lecture presented by Dr. Gabriela González, an academic and researcher at Louisiana State University in the United States. Dr. González is globally recognized for her research in gravitational waves and for leading the international scientific collaboration Laser Interferometry Gravitational-waves Observatory (LIGO) between 2011 and 2017, a period during which this group achieved its greatest scientific milestone: in 2016, and as director of LIGO, she participated in the announcement of the discovery of gravitational waves, which were detected upon reaching Earth from a catastrophic event in the distant universe.

This achievement earned LIGO and Dr. González worldwide recognition for her leadership, and her LIGO colleagues the Nobel Prize in Physics for confirming that gravitational waves exist, something that Einstein had theorized a hundred years earlier.

In her keynote lecture, Dr. González recounted how this scientific milestone occurred, starting from Einstein’s theory of relativity, published in 1915, and passing through the various Nobel Prizes whose work was decisive for the detection of gravitational waves and for the work she currently carries out in conjunction with all those who are part of various collaborations, including LIGO, Virgo, and Kagra.

Undoubtedly, one of the most poignant moments of the talk occurred when Dr. González referred to what she calls «the music of the Universe». As part of her presentation, the academic had the audience listen to the sound of the signal that the LIGO team first detected in 2015, not knowing at the time they had found gravitational waves.

After the talk, the audience had the opportunity to enjoy the photographic exhibit «Nightscapes of Chile: A Majestic Display», the result of the work by Yuri Beletsky, a professional astronomer and award-winning astrophotographer from the Carnegie Institution for Science, based in Chile.

Chile: A Significant Ecosystem in Astronomy

It’s acknowledged worldwide that Chile has the best skies and frontier field telescopes for the development of research in astronomy. Therefore, the UNAB Institute of Astrophysics adds to an important and active ecosystem in this field.

«In Chile, right now, there must be around a dozen institutes of astronomy and astrophysics. Given this, adding one more is very important,» said Dr. José Maza, distinguished professor at the University of Chile and winner of the National Exact Sciences Award in 1999, referring to the inauguration of the UNAB Institute of Astrophysics. «Especially in such a young university, and with a very competitive group of astronomers of high academic level, it is something to celebrate,» he added.

Meanwhile, Dr. María Teresa Ruiz, National Exact Sciences Award winner in 1997, was pleased to participate in this activity, adding that she finds it wonderful that more institutions are joining the adventure of exploring the Universe. «We have a lot of space to become pioneers in astronomical research and I think it will be a tremendous opportunity for this generation of young people.»

Also, with the launch of the Institute of Astrophysics, «a new hub is being created, new people to make the best use of the instruments available in Chile, boosting astronomy, and also the development of science in the country,» stated Dr. Guido Garay, director of the Center of Excellence in Astrophysics and Associated Technologies of the University of Chile, an entity to which Universidad Andrés Bello also belongs.

Meanwhile, the Dean of Research and Doctoral Studies at UNAB, Dr. Carolina Torrealba, pointed out that the Institute of Astrophysics arrives to continue honoring the tradition that the country has in generating knowledge in astronomy. «We have creative minds capable of addressing intellectual challenges, so from this Institute, we will continue creating knowledge and building this tremendous astronomy community.»

Excellence in Training

One of the aspects that Dr. González emphasized in her talk was the international collaborative work of thousands of people –including astronomers, physicists, and experts in many other disciplines—, which led to such important discoveries for science.

In this regard, Dante Minniti, director of the UNAB Institute of Astrophysics, highlighted that «precisely, our work is characterized by interdisciplinary initiatives, with physics, biology, mathematics, chemistry, and engineering. Precisely because modern science has to answer increasingly complex questions that, perhaps, a single discipline cannot cover.»

With a culture of excellence, internationality, and diversity, the UNAB Institute of Astrophysics conducts high-impact research in the areas of planetary sciences, stellar, galactic, extragalactic astrophysics, and cosmology, among others, also addressing interdisciplinary issues of the astronomy of the future.

The Dean of the UNAB School of Exact Sciences, Dr. Pierre Romagnoli, highlighted the quality and excellence of the academic body of the Institute of Astrophysics, as «being an Institute, we are talking about the training of people: doctoral students, undergraduate and graduate students.»

For the director of the Doctorate program in Astrophysics, Dr. Giuliano Pignata, the inauguration was a milestone for the program «and a tremendous opportunity for the students, very motivating. They are right at the initial stage, and through Dr. González they could see what is possible.»

Women and Girls in Science

In her talk, Dr. González referred with special emotion to the moment when her team announced to the world that they had confirmed the existence of gravitational waves, theorized a century earlier by Albert Einstein.

Her emotion was not just tied to the announcement itself, but also because it coincided with the inaugural celebration of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on February 11, 2016, a date established by the UN.

«I always love to highlight this beautiful coincidence, especially as two of us in that group were women,» said Gabriela González. She showed an image of herself alongside three other scientists, including Dr. France Córdova, who was serving as the director of the U.S. National Science Foundation at that time. «Two out of five – a ratio that, sadly, does not reflect the current percentage of women in physics and astronomy, at least not yet» she concluded.

After her talk, when asked by a national media outlet, the distinguished academic pointed out that women have a lot to say in the scientific field, being as capable as men. She also invited the girls of Chile to investigate and find answers, «because in this country the conditions to find them exist,» she said.

Likewise, Dr. Mónica Rubio, National Sciences Award winner in 2021, celebrated seeing so many women students and academics in astronomy at the inauguration of the UNAB Institute of Astrophysics. «It is, undoubtedly, a reason for tremendous joy. And today, listening to Gabriela, who is an eminence in gravitational waves, Latin American, woman, has been a spectacular occasion,» she emphasized, inviting young women and girls to approach science, «because talent and capabilities have no gender.»