149
To round off this chapter I describe the present situation of the Instituto de
Astrofísica de Canarias. Despite its much lower budget, its scientific production, with an average of one publication per day in international peer-reviewed
journals, is on a par with that of any other leading centre of similar size. The
IAC has now established its presence in the international community and
participates in outstanding astrophysical projects and networks, as well as in
the corresponding forums of research and development policy. In the Canaries
the IAC, along with all astrophysical activity, is strongly supported by the citizens and politicians. In fact, astrophysics is one of the main priorities of the
Intelligent Specialization Strategy (RIS3) for the period 2014–2020.
The IAC has signed over seventy-five collaboration agreements, not only
with institutions having telescopes at the Canarian observatories but also with
many international consortia. To name each and every signatory institution
would be prolix and tedious, but I mention some of the better-known ones,
such as NASA, the Max Planck Institutes, Caltech and the University of
California, the University of Cambridge. The University of Manchester, the
European Southern Observatory, the European Space Agency, the Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and the Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA). The complete list can be seen on the IAC’s website
and in documents published by the IAC.
To summarize, in the short period of time described in this book Spanish
astrophysics has risen from the humblest of beginnings to rank among the
best in the world. It has been transformed from a mere dream, a vain hope,
into a tangible and noteworthy reality.
I never tire of repeating that all of this was achieved by a group of ambitious, united, and hard-working people in pursuit of dreams, yes, but dreams
converted into milestones that have been reached year after year. It takes good
people to do good things. As there have been so many of them—astrophysicists, engineers, and workshop, observatory, and administrative personnel—I
cannot cite them all by name. Nevertheless, they have been key to the success
that is the IAC.
15 The IAC: A Dream Come True (1971–Present)
To round off this chapter I describe the present situation of the Instituto de
Astrofísica de Canarias. Despite its much lower budget, its scientific production, with an average of one publication per day in international peer-reviewed
journals, is on a par with that of any other leading centre of similar size. The
IAC has now established its presence in the international community and
participates in outstanding astrophysical projects and networks, as well as in
the corresponding forums of research and development policy. In the Canaries
the IAC, along with all astrophysical activity, is strongly supported by the citizens and politicians. In fact, astrophysics is one of the main priorities of the
Intelligent Specialization Strategy (RIS3) for the period 2014–2020.
The IAC has signed over seventy-five collaboration agreements, not only
with institutions having telescopes at the Canarian observatories but also with
many international consortia. To name each and every signatory institution
would be prolix and tedious, but I mention some of the better-known ones,
such as NASA, the Max Planck Institutes, Caltech and the University of
California, the University of Cambridge. The University of Manchester, the
European Southern Observatory, the European Space Agency, the Association
of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and the Cherenkov
Telescope Array (CTA). The complete list can be seen on the IAC’s website
and in documents published by the IAC.
To summarize, in the short period of time described in this book Spanish
astrophysics has risen from the humblest of beginnings to rank among the
best in the world. It has been transformed from a mere dream, a vain hope,
into a tangible and noteworthy reality.
I never tire of repeating that all of this was achieved by a group of ambitious, united, and hard-working people in pursuit of dreams, yes, but dreams
converted into milestones that have been reached year after year. It takes good
people to do good things. As there have been so many of them—astrophysicists, engineers, and workshop, observatory, and administrative personnel—I
cannot cite them all by name. Nevertheless, they have been key to the success
that is the IAC.
15 The IAC: A Dream Come True (1971–Present)