JUAN PÉREZ MERCADER

Astrophysicist. Director of the Astrobiology Centre and NASA Advisor


Physicist and astrobiologist, his investigation is focused on Physics and his main interest is the application of the Theoretical Physics to the knowledge of Universe, from the largest scales to the smallest, and in particular to all living creatures.

His work, not only theoretically but also practically, includes a large number of activities related to innovation and the space. He participated as the main theoretician in the EURD Project (Ultraviolet Spectrometer of Diffuse Radiation), part part of the launching of the first Spanish satellite in 1997. He participated as Adjunct Scientist in the Beagle-2 Project, a ship that was sent towards the surface of Mars in 2003, and also as member of the ESS (Environmental Sensor Suite), an equipment of instruments aboard the Beagle-2. He is one of the members of the SOLID (Signs of Life Detector) team, an instrument that applies advanced biotechnology techniques and DNA Chips for the search and study of life in different contexts.

Pérez Mercader published more than a hundred original papers in the most prestigious international scientific journals: Science, Physical Review Letters, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USES, etc. and holds a patent in Biotechnology.

His national and international prizes include those given by the Gravity Research Foundation (United States, 1996), the Joint Astrophysics Division of the European Astronomical Society and European Physical Society, Andalusia's Gold Medal (1998) and the Great Cross to the Aeronautic Merit with White Distinctive (2003). He is a Member of the International Mars Exploration Working Group (January 1999) and vice president of the European Astrobiology Network Association. In 2002 he was named by NASA, Member of the MEPAG (Mars Exploration Payload Assessment Group), the highest level consulting group on Mars at NASA.

He got the Public Service Medal, the highest distinction NASA confers to a non-employee. In 2003 he was elected by the Académie Internationale of Médecine Aéronautique, "Allard Lecturer" of this institution. In November 2003 he was elected as Number Academic of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.