Dr. Michael Romano, a researcher at the Department of Astrophysics of the National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ), has been honored with the prestigious "Early Career Research Award" by the journal "Astronomy & Astrophysics" (A&A).

Dr. Romano was recognized for his groundbreaking research on the dynamics and evolution of galaxies. Among other, using data from the observations of the ALMA telescope, Dr. Romano analyzed the galaxy mergers at a time when the Universe was just over a billion years old. He took advantage, for the very first time, of the information provided by the ionized carbon emission line observed by ALMA to obtain the fraction of major mergers at z~5, finding that ~40% of galaxies were interacting with each other at that time. As a major result, Dr. Romano deduced that mergers could provide a non-negligible contribution to the galaxy mass-assembly at z>4, thus representing an important channel of stellar mass growth in the early Universe.

The "Early Career Research Award" is bestowed annually upon young scientists who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishments in the field of astrophysics. This esteemed accolade validates Dr. Romano's talent and commitment to scientific inquiry.

Dr. Michael Romano, an astrophysicist, has been a member of the NCBJ Department of Astrophysics team since 2022. He obtained his PhD in Astronomy from the Università degli Studi di Padova, Padova, Veneto, Italia. Dr. Romano is the author of numerous publications in prestigious scientific journals. Recently he become the Principal Investigator of an ESO observing program exploiting the capabilities of the KMOS spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope, in Chile. This program will allow Dr Romano to further investigate galaxy formation in the early Universe by probing the dust and metal content of primordial sources.

A&A stands as one of the foremost scientific journals in the realm of astrophysics. Established in 1969, it features original research contributions spanning the breadth of astrophysical studies. Renowned for its rigorous peer-review process and high impact factor, the journal upholds a standard of excellence in disseminating cutting-edge research.

Source: https://www.aanda.org/2024-press-releases/2952-2024-a-a-awards-reward-t…