Outreach

Luis Rivera Terrazas Award for Dr. Itziar Aretxaga, INAOE researcher

Santa María Tonantzintla, Puebla, September 26, 2023.- In recognition to her academic and scientific career, Dr. Itziar Aretxaga, researcher at the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE), Conahcyt center, will receive the State Prize Luis Rivera Terrazas 2023 in the area of Research in Basic Science and Humanities, field of Physics-Mathematics, Earth Sciences and Engineering.

A few days ago, the Council of Science and Technology of the State of Puebla (Concytep) announced the agreement of the Science and Technology Commission of the Congress of the State of Puebla through which it “agreed to select and determine the persons eligible for the Prize. Luis Rivera Terrazas 2023”, among them Dr. Itziar Aretxaga.
Just last January, Dr. Itziar Aretxaga became a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), a UNESCO organization, a fact that was widely announced by the organization in July. TWAS Fellows “represent the scientific pinnacle in their respective fields and play a crucial role in shaping the future of scientific research and innovation in their countries.”

Doctor Itziar Aretxaga
Dr. Itziar Aretxaga is a researcher at the INAOE and a member of the National System of Researchers level III and the Mexican Academy of Sciences. Her lines of research are extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. She is the project scientist of the TolTEC camera of the Alfonso Serrano Large Millimeter Telescope and director of the International School of Young Astronomers (ISYA) of the International Astronomical Union.
She teaches graduate-level courses training new generations of scientists. She is the author and co-author of more than 150 peer-reviewed articles published in international journals, and has more than 8000 citations. She regularly participates in international scientific and evaluation committees and outreach activities.

About the Luis Rivera Terrazas Prize
The purpose of the Luis Rivera Terrazas Prize is to stimulate scientific, technological and humanistic development in Puebla, as well as to recognize the trajectory of those who have contributed to its strengthening. It is named after the engineer and astronomer Luis Rivera Terrazas, one of the founders of the National Astrophysical Observatory of Tonantzintla. Rivera Terrazas also founded the Faculty of Physics and the Institute of Physics of the BUAP, a study house of which he was also rector.
In addition to Dr. Aretxaga, this year Dr. Jesús Sandoval Ramírez will receive the Prize, in the area of Biology, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Biotechnology, Agricultural Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences; Dr. Gloria Arminda Tirado Villegas, in Social Sciences, Humanities and Behavioral Sciences; Dr. Irma Fabiola Domínguez Avilés, in applied research and technological development, and teacher Héctor Alejandro Osorio Romero, in science dissemination.