In his day-to-day life, he masterfully combines his scientific work at the head of the National Astronomical Observatory (IGN) with dissemination through astronomical articles and opinion forums that he has published in El Mundo for 15 years.. This Thursday, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) and the BBVA Foundation have recognized Rafael Bachiller with one of its Scientific Communication Awards, the most prestigious in Spain on this subject.
As the Jury has highlighted, the director of the National Astronomical Observatory and the Royal Observatory of Madrid has dedicated a good part of his career to disseminating knowledge, “not only in his own field of specialisation, but in scientific culture in general”.
Bachiller has won the Prize in the category of researchers, an award shared with the researchers from the Geological and Mining Institute (IGME-CSIC) who informed citizens during the three months that the volcanic eruption lasted on La Palma. Thus, the award to the Cronistas de una eruption team from IGME “recognizes the crucial importance of communicating scientific knowledge to society during an emergency of the caliber that occurred on the island of La Palma in 2021-2022”, according to the Jury, that highlights its informative work began just an hour after the eruption began.
The IGME website, which accumulated more than two million visits in the three months that the eruption lasted, and the videos they published on their YouTube channel (359 in total, one of them had more than 1.2 million views and another exceeded 2.7 million) became a valuable source of information both for citizens who followed the eruption and for the media around the world.
Disseminate knowledge, 'an obligation'
Rafael Bachiller, specialized in the formation of solar-type stars, has published more than 350 scientific articles in leading specialized magazines, a research work that combines with dissemination, since he has always defended that the dissemination of knowledge to society is “a obligation of the scientific world”.
In addition to his famous chronicles of the cosmos and appointments with the sky, the prestigious astronomer, who was a member of the Editorial Board of El Mundo, regularly publishes articles on the Opinion pages of this newspaper, in which he addresses all kinds of issues related to the news in general such as the climate crisis, the risks of Artificial Intelligence, drought, bioethics or the danger of a nuclear confrontation in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In addition to his contribution to this newspaper, he has given hundreds of lectures and has made appearances on numerous radio and television programs..
“In order to be a person of the 21st century, we have to acquire an essential scientific culture,” says Bachiller, who considers that “all the great challenges of our time can only find a solution in the scientific and technological field: climate change, artificial intelligence, the space race with its geostrategic dimension, the ecological transition, pandemics…. “.
Bachiller is also a prolific author of books aimed at a non-specialist audience, among which Astronomy stands out.. From Galileo to space telescopes and The Improbable Universe, which, according to the Jury, has contributed to making it “an exemplary benchmark for the dissemination of knowledge to society”.
other awardees
In the journalists category, SINC, the scientific news agency of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), was the winner for “an exceptional 15-year career” in which they have managed to “reach massive audiences” with a quality scientific journalism, capable of combining “the most reliable sources with attractive and accessible narratives for the general public”, in the words of the Jury, who also highlighted how through the republication of its contents in free access media, as well as Like his innovative use of social networks, his work has managed to reach a massive audience in Spain and Latin America, making SINC a reference medium in the field of scientific journalism”.
Eva Rodríguez, editor-in-chief of SINC, leads the team also made up of Verónica Fuentes, Ana Hernando and Enrique Sacristán.
Lastly, the young science journalists Jon Gurutz Arranz and Iole Ferrara have received two CSIC-BBVA Foundation Scientific Communication Grants. As reported by the FBBVA, they will now be able to follow training itineraries to learn about cutting-edge research carried out in CSIC centers.
In this second edition, more than a hundred applications have been received, both for the two categories of the Awards and for Grants.
The two Awards are endowed with an economic contribution of 40,000 euros while the winners of the two Grants will obtain 35,000 euros. These awards are part of the Program to Promote Scientific Communication launched in 2021 “to recognize and encourage the work of journalists and communicators who report rigorously and attractively on the advances of science, as well as improve training in this decisive field for the scientific culture of society”.