News
Latest group activities
Here, you can find the latest activities carried out by members of our group.
Talk at a primary school in Uruguay
03/10/2025
Sole, a member of our group, gave an astronomy talk to students at a primary school in Uruguay.
The event took place on Friday, October 3, 2025, at School 19 "Raquel Rodríguez Canale de Barrios" in La Barra, Maldonado, Uruguay.
We congratulate Sole for this valuable activity and for the great interest her presentation generated!
Many of us who are currently dedicated to astronomy discovered our passion for the Universe during our childhood. For this reason, we consider it extremely important to share our experiences and knowledge with the educational community, conveying the enthusiasm we feel for our research work.
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
15-19/09/2025
The 67th Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society was held from September 15 to 19, 2025.
This meeting is held annually in different locations across the country and is organized by a leading institution in Argentine astronomy. During this meeting, the majority of presentations are oral and mural presentations led by members of the Argentine astronomy community. It provides a great opportunity for scientific debate and, in turn, promotes fruitful collaborations between scientists from all over Argentina.
This year, the meeting was held in the city of Mendoza and was organized by the University of Mendoza.
Our group was represented by Salvador, who presented a talk on his PhD thesis topic.
CONGRATULATIONS TO SALVADOR FOR THE SUCCESS OF HIS TALK, TO THE ORGANIZERS, AND TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE EVENT!
Participation in "Galaxy Memoirs, Inferring their past from their present"
10-15/08/2025
This international conference, entitled "Galaxy Memoirs, Inferring their Past from their Present," was held in Brazil from August 10 to 15, 2025.
Experts in the fields of galaxy dynamics, chemical evolution, and galaxy environment participated in this event to discuss recent results, foster debate, and understand how galaxy's past can be inferred from its current state. The meeting also honours the careers of Professors Michael Merrifield and Alfonso Aragón-Salamanca, who have made significant contributions to advancing this field of astronomy.
Our group was represented by Yamila, who participated and presented a poster on her thesis topic. We also presented a poster led by Lucas, based on the results of his recent PhD thesis.
We congratulate Yamila and Lucas for their excellent presentations, as well as the organizers and all the participants of the event!!!
New publications
August, 2025
The articles corresponding to the 66th Annual Meeting of the Argentine Astronomical Society (RAAA, held in La Plata from September 16 to 20, 2024) have been published in the electronic edition of Volume 66 of the Bulletin of the Argentine Astronomical Society.
Our group participated by publishing the following articles:
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Linking the chemical abundances of galaxies to their formation paths, Burrafato & De Rossi, corresponding to the poster presented by Yamila.
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Unveiling the properties of the first galaxies with JWST and ALMA, De Rossi & Bromm, corresponding to the talk presented by María Emilia.
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Disrupted and surviving satellites of Milky-Way-mass galaxies: connecting their properties with their host accretion histories, Grimozzi, De Rossi & Font, corresponding to the talk presented by Salvador.
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Characterisation of Milky Way-type galaxy progenitors at high redshifts, López, De Rossi & Nuza, corresponding to the poster presented by Leandro..
¡CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THIS NEW EDITION OF THE BULLETIN!
Participation in the "Vatican Observatory Summer School 2025"
01-27/06/2025
We congratulate Candela for participating in the Vatican Observatory Summer School 2025, which took place from June 1 to 27, 2025, in Rome, Italy.
This international school is an event for young astronomers. In 2025, it focused on the main results obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope.
PhD thesis dissertation
07/03/2025
Lic. Lucas J. Zenocratti
We are very happy to announce that Lucas successfully defended his PhD thesis in Astronomy on March 7, 2025, at the Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
CONGRATULATIONS, LUCAS!
The results obtained during the thesis provided novel and interesting insights into the connection between the shape of galaxies and their chemical content. In turn, methods were developed to compare simulated galaxies with observed galaxies in the real Universe, which were applied to study the magnificent and complex Fornax galaxy cluster.
To achieve these goals, state-of-the-art numerical simulations were used and compared with recent observations. Sophisticated data analysis codes were developed, and various statistical analysis techniques were applied.
The thesis was supervised by Dr. María Emilia De Rossi (IAFE, Buenos Aires), a member of our group, and co-supervised by Dr. Analía V. Smith Castelli (IALP, La Plata), within the context of a collaboration aimed at finding suitable methods for comparing observational data with cosmological simulations.
The members of the jury were Dr. Sofía A. Cora, Dr. Mariano Domínguez, and Dr. A. Ariel Zandivares, renowned experts in the thesis topic.
¡ Happy 2025 !
There are no difficulties, but challenges. Persevere and you will succeed.
Galaxies Models Group Global Wokshop II
19-20/12/2024
On December 19 and 20, 2024, we held our second group workshop: “Galaxies Models Group Global Workshop II.”
This time, it was held virtually as several group members were not in Buenos Aires.
The main objective of this second meeting was to foster the development of initiatives to address the study of galaxies with upcoming observations, for example, by developing appropriate models and analysis methodology. In this sense, this meeting aimed to provide training in the use of different tools and techniques required for our activities, such as R, Visual Studio Code, and convolutional neural networks.
The event also provided ample time for the exchange of ideas, recent results, and brainstorming for the successful achievement of our goals. In addition, we discussed strategies to foster interaction between our group and the community.
The event was organized by Yamila, María Emilia, Soledad, and Candela.
Soledad, Candela, Lucas, and Ramiro led training courses on various topics, and María Emilia presented a talk about the group's activities in 2024, its current challenges, and strategies to address in 2025.
We are very happy and grateful for the achievements, which we hope to continue sharing with the community in 2025!!!
THANK YOU ALL!!!
Participation in "Deciphering the Cosmic Code for Galaxy Formation”
09-13/12/2024
The international workshop "Deciphering the Cosmic Code for Galaxy Formation" was held in Puerto Varas, Chile, since December 9 to 13, 2024.
It was attended by international experts in the study of galaxy formation and evolution. Our group participated through Candela, who presented a poster about her undergraduate thesis project, completed during the first stage of her doctoral program.
We congratulate Candela, the organizers, and all the event participants!!!
Participation in "Mind the Gap: Galaxies and the Large Scale Structure”
02-06/12/2024
The international conference "Mind the Gap: Galaxies and the Large-Scale Structure" was held in Córdoba, Argentina, since December 2 to 6, 2024.
It was attended by national and international experts in the study of galaxy evolution and the large-scale structure of the Universe. Our group was present through Yamila, who presented a talk on her thesis topic in the special jamboree sessions for young researchers.
We congratulate Yamila on the success of her talk, as well as the organizers and all the participants!!!
Participation in VIII Jornada Anual de Estudiantes de Doctorado (JAEDoc)
28-29/11/2024
The "VIII Jornada Anual de Estudiantes de Doctorado (JAEDoc 2024)" was held at Planetario de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) on November 28 and 29, 2024 .
Candela participated by presenting a poster related to a new project She is developing as part of her PhD thesis. This work involves the development of a new model that will allow the study of the evolution of galaxies in different cosmic epochs.
These meetings are organized every year by the Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas of the UNLP . They are part of the training activities for PhD students in Astronomy, Geophysics, and Atmospheric Sciences. They provide a space for PhD students to interact, present their research, and share their academic experiences.
CONGRATULATIONS TO CANDELA AND ALL THE PARTICIPANTS IN THIS EVENT!!!
XIV Jornada de Cosmología y Astropartículas "cosmo@ar"
28/11/2024
The 14th Meeting "cosmo@ar" was held on November 28, 2024, at IAFE, Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires.
These meetings consist of invited talks and breaks for discussions. They are held periodically at different institutions, and the main objective is to encourage communication and interaction among the different groups.
On this occasion, our group was present through María Emilia and Salvador. María Emilia gave an invited talk about a research project She has been developing for several years with researchers from the United States. This project involves modeling the first galaxies that formed in the Universe. It can help obtain information about the properties of the galaxies observed by the powerful James Webb Space Telescope.
We thank the organizers for the opportunity to disseminate our research!
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
16-20/09/2024
Poster presented by Yamila.
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
16-20/09/2024
Talk presented by Salvador.
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
16-20/09/2024
Talk presented by María Emilia.
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
16-20/09/2024
Poster presented by Leandro.
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
16-20/09/2024
Poster presented by Candela.
Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
16-20/09/2024
The 66th Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society was held since September 16 to 20, 2024.
This meeting is held every year in different places in the country and is organized by a leading institution in Argentine astronomy. During this meeting, mostly oral and mural works led by members of the Argentine astronomical community are exhibited. It constitutes a great opportunity for scientific debate and, in turn, promotes fruitful collaborations between scientists from all over Argentina.
This year the meeting took place in La Plata and was organized by the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (CONICET-CIC-UNLP).
Our group was present through Candela, Leandro, María Emilia, Salvador and Yamila. Candela, Yamila and Leandro presented posters about their respective theses, which were very successful. María Emilia and Salvador presented talks on their research topic.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
PhD scholarship
01/09/2024
Lic. Yamila Daniela Burrafato
We congratulate Yamila who is beginning a new stage as a CONICET PhD fellow. The scholarship will be carry out at the Institute of Astronomy and Space Physics (CONICET-UBA, Argentina) and will be supervised by María Emilia.
Congratulations Yamila!
Undergraduate thesis dissertation
04/07/2024
Leandro Daniel López
Another member of our group, Leandro, has presented his thesis dissertation.
Congratulations Leandro!
Participation in the Celebration for the 25 years of the IALP
10-12/06/2024
The 25th anniversary of the creation of Instituto de Astrofísica de La Plata (IALP, Argentina) was celebrated.
We congratulate the IALP on its anniversary!
For this reason, an important event was held in La Plata, from Monday, June 10 to Wednesday, June 12.
Our group participated in the event through Candela and Yamila. Both presented a poster related to their doctoral and bachelor's (Licenciatura) theses, respectively. Also, they presented another poster about a project from our working group.
We congratulate Candela and Yamila for their successful presentations!
The IALP is one of the main research centers in Astronomy/Astrophysics in Argentina. Our group have fruitful collaborations with several IALP researchers and, in particular, Lucas is a member of it.
New paper
Mayo, 2024
Members of our group published a new paper in the prestigious journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Títle: Differences in the properties of disrupted and surviving satellites of Milky-Way-mass galaxies in relation to their host accretion histories.
Authors: Grimozzi, S. E.; Font A. S.; De Rossi, M. E.
Link: 10.1093/mnras/stae878
Undergraduate thesis dissertation
27/03/2024
Yamila Daniela Burrafato
Another member of our group, Yamila, has presented her thesis dissertation.
Congratulations Yamila!
New paper
March 2024
Members of our group published a new paper in the prestigious journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Title: Effective yields as tracers of feedback effects on metallicity scaling relations in the EAGLE cosmological simulations.
Authors: Zerbo, M. C.; De Rossi, M. E.; Lara-López, M. A.; Cora, S. A.;
Zenocratti, L. J.
Link: 10.1093/mnras/stae490
Happy 2024 !!!
There are no difficulties, but challenges. Persevere and you will succeed.
Galaxies Models Group Global Wokshop I
18-19/12/2023
We held our first extended group Workshop. The Workshop took place at the Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics (CONICET-UBA).
The main purpose of this event was to encourage interaction and collaboration between members of our research group. Also, it aimed to strengthen the use of new tools necessary for our group activities, such as artificial intelligence and visualization of scientific content. During the meeting, there was also enough time for the exchange of ideas, recent results and discussions on ongoing projects. We also designed new strategies to stimulate interaction between our group and the community.
Participation in the 4th Regional Extragalactic Astronomy Meeting: 60 Years Of The Sersic Law
04-07/12/2023
This important event was held in Córdoba, Argentina.
Our group participated through Candela, who presented a poster about her thesis.
This interesting event was open to all areas of extragalactic research related to galaxies, cosmology and galaxy formation, both from an observational and theoretical point of view.
In particular, it had the objective of commemorating the 60th anniversary of the publication of Sérsic's Law, which models the surface brightness profile of galaxies and was originally proposed by the Argentine astronomer José Luis Sérsic (1933-1993). The aforementioned law has been gaining notoriety in recent decades, becoming a tool commonly used by observational and theoretical astronomers, and of central importance in studies of galaxy populations.
Participation in the event: "XVII Reunión Regional Latinoamericana de la Unión Astronomica Internacional"
27/11/2023 - 01/12/2023
The XVII Latin American Regional Meeting of the International Astronomical Union was held. The event took place in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Our group participated through Soledad, who presented a poster about our group project.
This important meeting, which usually takes place periodically in different Latin American countries, is intended for professional astronomers, Master's and PhD students, as well as undergraduate students beginning a research career in Astronomy.
It constitutes a great opportunity for scientific debate and, in turn, promotes fruitful collaborations between scientists from all over Latin America.
Participation in "Séptima Jornada Anual de Estudiantes de Doctorado (JAEDoc)"
15-16/11/2023
Every year, the Faculty of Astronomical and Geophysical sciences of the National University of La Plata organizes this interesting meeting for PhD students.
Candela, a member of our group, presented a poster related to her PhD Thesis. She also gave a short talk about it.
Participation in the international event “Challenges and Innovations in Computational Astrophysics V - Virtual Meeting covering all areas of Computational Astrophysics”
07-09/11/2023
The International Astronomical Union organized this interesting event.
Our group participated in it through Salvador, Candela, Ramiro and María Emilia.
Salvador presented a talk related to her thesis project:
"Reconstructing the merger tress and tracking the assembly histories of MW-like halos in the ARTEMIS simulations".
Participation in the Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
18-22/09/2023
Our group member Candela Zerbo presented a talk related to her thesis project:
"Conexión entre los procesos de feedback y los yields efectivos de galaxias en EAGLE".
Candela also represented our group, presenting a poster about a group collaborative project:
"Chemical properties of galaxy baryons as a function of halo mass in a Λ-CDM cosmology".
Participation in the international "Metal-THINGS Workshop"
07-11/08/2023
The members of our group María Emilia De Rossi and Candela Zerbo were invited to participate in this important event.
Candela presented a talk about her undergraduate thesis and María Emilia talked about the progress of our group in the study of the chemical evolution of galaxies.
Participation in the international "Giambiagi Winter School on Cosmology"
17-28/07/2023
The members of our group Yamila Burrafato, Cecilia Tomasini, Lucas Zenocratti and Candela Zerbo participated in this event, presenting a poster about a group collaborative project:
"Chemical evolution of galaxy baryons as a function halo mass in cosmological simulations".
Candela presented also a poster related to her undergraduate thesis:
"Exploring feedback processes in EAGLE galaxies: The role of effective yields".
Undergraduate thesis dissertation
30/03/2023
María Candela Zerbo
Another member of our group, Candela Zerbo, has presented her thesis dissertation.
Congratulations Candela!
Undergraduate thesis dissertation
22/12/2022
Ramiro Santamaria
Another member of our group, Ramiro Santamaria, has presented his thesis dissertation.
Congratulations Ramiro!
Participation in the Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
19-23/09/2022
Our group member Candela Zerbo presented a poster related to her undergraduate thesis:
"Los yields efectivos como trazadores de los efectos de feedback en el enriquecimiento químico de galaxias".
Candela also represented our group, presenting a poster about a group collaborative project:
"Estudio del enriquecimiento químico de galaxias masivas en simulaciones numéricas cosmológicas".
Another poster related to the PhD thesis of our group member Lucas Zenocratti was presented in the meeting:
"Analysis of Fornax-like clusters in numerical simulations and its comparison with Fornax cluster data obtained with S-PLUS".
Undergraduate thesis dissertation
28/04/2022
Salvador E. Grimozzi
A member of our group, Salvador E. Grimozzi, has presented his thesis dissertation.
Congratulations Salvador!
If you want to see it, here is the link:
Colloquium by Maria Emilia De Rossi
Modelos y simulaciones de galaxias desde el Universo temprano hasta el presente
IAFE colloquium --- 17/11/2021, 14:00. --- Link to the colloquium in YouTube
Participation in the Annual Meeting of the Argentinean Astronomical Society
25-29/10/2021
Four posters and a contributed talk were presented by members of our group during this event.