Examples of research projects

- Mapping PAH emission from the reflection nebula NGC 7023, using images produced by the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA (Croiset)

- Finding beacons and pathways in the breakdown chemistry of large PAHs. Study the IR characteristics of PAH species in the laboratory using multiple experimental setups that may be used in the spectroscopy of PAHs (Petrignani)

- Experimental study of the breakdown mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) under meteoritic conditions. (Giesen)

- Investigating the effects that introducing anharmonicities into quantum chemical calculations has on the theoretical infrared spectra of a family of molecules know as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs (Mackie, Candian)

- Spectroscopic and physical-chemistry properties of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their relevance in the interstellar and circunstellar medium (Candian)

- Theoretical study of the first step of planet formation: coagulation of microscopic dust grains into kilometer-size planetesimals (Krijt)

- Study of interstellar dust through the absorption of X-rays emission from bright X-ray binary sources (Zeegers)

- Decomposition of the [CII] 157 micron emission line components from different ISM phases, with an application to the KINGFISH data set (Abdullah)

- Study of various processes in the interstellar medium, such as the evolution of interstellar dust and the formation and expansion of HII regions and superbubbles, very often taking the Orion region as a benchmark model (Ochsendorf)

- Planetary Nebulae: physical and chemical properties of planetary nebulae (Leal-Ferreira, Aleman); molecules and infrared spectroscopy (Aleman); photoionization and PDR models (Aleman); the effect of magnetic fields in the morphology of planetary nebulae (Leal-Ferreira)

- Herschel Planetary Nebulae Survey (Aleman, Leal-Ferreira)

- Envelope of evolved stars: detection of magnetic fields; development of asymmetries on the envelope of AGB stars.

- The LOFAR-CRRL project: understanding of the role of cold, diffuse atomic gas in galaxy evolution by studying the Radio Recombination Lines from Carbon (CRRL) with LOFAR (Emig, Oonk, Salas, Salgado, Toribio)

- Experimental and theoretical studies of photodissociation processes of large molecules (e.g. PAHs, fullerenes, etc) under interstellar or circumstellar conditions. (Chen)

- Understanding double-chemistry in planetary nebulae, evolved stars that show PAHs and silicates in their envelopes. (Guzman)