The European Research Council funds the research project IRASTRO, a joint research project of Alec Wodtke, Director at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen (Germany), Liv Hornekær from Aarhus University (Denmark), Peter Saalfrank from the University of Potsdam (Germany), and Varun Verma from the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST, USA). They will receive a total of 12 million euros in funding for their project over a period of six years.

The four scientists have joined forces for the ERC Synergy project IRASTRO to investigate how molecules observed by space telescopes are produced by chemical reactions in and on interstellar icy dust grains. Specifically, they will measure infrared spectra of molecules in these ices and study chemical reactivity under interstellar conditions.  (press release MPINAT).

More details about Prof. Wodtkes research can be found on his webpage.