Education

PhD in Astrophysics, Sobresaliente cum laude, International Mention – Universidad de la Laguna and Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Spain). Thesis title: “Unveiling the chemo-dynamical properties and origin of thick disks in galaxies”. Supervisor: Dr. J. Falcón-Barroso

Main attainments: My thesis focused on solving the controversy about the formation of thick disks in galaxies. I used deep observations from MUSE at VLT to map, with unprecedented spatial resolution, the age, metallicity and [Mg/Fe] abundance of three lenticular galaxies, seen edge-on. The star-formation history of their thick disks unveiled a fraction of younger chemically-distinct stars, formed in a satellite galaxy, coexisting with an older component formed in-situ. This work unveiled a complex scenario where several mechanisms were at play in thick-disk formation and showed, for the first time in observations of external galaxies, signs of accretion in stellar populations of thick disks.
Additionally, I investigated dynamical-heating processes and their impact on galactic-disk thickening, using observations and simulations. My work was the first to challenge a previously predicted trend between the ratio of vertical and radial velocity dispersions, a tracer of disk heating, and galaxy morphology.

Additional information:
My PhD was funded with the prestigious “La Caixa-Severo Ochoa” grant and was completed within 3 years. It was awarded the maximum score and the “cum laude” honors. It was framed with an international mention thanks to stays abroad for a total of three months, at Liverpool John Moores University and at Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
My PhD led to three first-author refereed papers. Two of them (Pinna et al. 2019 a, b), presenting data from the Fornax3D (F3D) international collaboration, granted me being the first early-career scientist to achieve F3D core-member status. These two papers had a considerable impact on the scientific community, with an average of 35.5 citations/paper, well above the rest of F3D publications that I co-authored (with an average of 12 citations/paper).
During my PhD, I led my own observing proposals and was awarded 9 hours of MUSE observations (translating into about 80k€ worth) as P.I. during P98 (oversubscription factor of 18.9, program 098.B-0662).

MSc in Astrophysics – University of la Laguna. Thesis title: “Unveiling the sources of disk heating in spiral galaxies”. Supervisor: Dr. J. Falcón-Barroso

Two-year long studies. Specialty: Observational astrophysics and Instrumentation. Average mark: 9.3/10. 
Thesis defended: June 21, 2016, obtained mark: 9.5/10. 

Main attainments: My MSc thesis investigated dynamical heating processes in galactic disks. I used integral-field-spectroscopy data from the CALIFA Survey, of 29 disk galaxies of intermediate inclination. From the line-of-sight velocity dispersion, I disentangled dispersions in different directions using an analytical model. This thesis paved the way for my first PhD work, using simulated and more extended observational samples. 

Additional information: During my first year of MSc, I obtained a position as Telescope Operator at Teide Observatory. After that, I obtained the prestigious “La Caixa-Severo Ochoa” pre-doctoral grant and started my PhD at the IAC in October 2015, during my MSc second year. Therefore, my MSc thesis was carried out during my first year of PhD.

06/2014

BSc in Physics (Fundamental Physics) – Universitat de Barcelona (UB, Spain). Thesis title: “Dense cores of interstellar molecular gas”. Supervisors: Dr. R. López, Prof. R. Estalella (Defended: June 27, 2014. Thesis mark: 9.6/10)

Main achievements: This thesis was my very first scientific-research work. It consisted of the analysis of observations in the radio wavelength range of the dense core of the molecular cloud L1228. From inversion-transition lines of the ammonia molecule, I extracted the physical parameters of this dense core (such as density, temperature and size) and discussed its state of equilibrium. 

Additional information: During my BSc degree, I was awarded two Collaboration Grants in the Unit of Nanometric Techniques of the Scientific and Technological Centers of the UB (from February 2011 to February 2013). I also obtained a SICUE exchange position at the University of la Laguna and was accepted as an external-stage student at the Instrumentation Department of the Astrophysics Institute of the Canary Islands.

03/2007

Professional training course: “Design and Installation of Solar Energy Facilities” – CENSOLAR (Sevilla, Spain). Thesis title: “Design of a Solar Thermal System for a one-family house in Salamanca”.

A two-year professional-training distance course. The course included not only the theoretical bases of solar energy and solar power plants (and the corresponding exams) but also hands-on activities with detailed calculations of real cases. Among them, the final thesis consisted of the full design of a real solar plant.

This course allowed me to specialize in the field of solar energy and, together with my degree as an engineer, to develop my first professional career in industry (working in several solar-energy companies) and in education as a teacher of solar energy professional courses.

10/2002

BSc in Mechanical Engineering – Università degli Studi di Cagliari (Italy). Thesis title: “Design of a test bench for the performance assessment of pumps”. Supervisor: Prof. S. Cabitza.

Specialty: Energy Systems. Average mark of 108/110. Later validated in Spain as “Ingeniería Técnica Industrial, Especialidad Mecánica”.
My thesis consisted of the design of a system to test pump performance at the university and to allow for investigating further improvements. This system was later built at the university laboratory. 
In 2000 I was awarded an ERASMUS grant to spend the fifth semester at the University of Technology of Compiegne (France). This was when I started to internationalize my profile. 
This degree allowed me to develop my first professional career in industry as an engineer and to obtain funding from the European Commission for different projects (e.g., a Future Capital grant). 
These studies in an applied science such as engineering gave me strong practical skills and helped me to be more pragmatic in my later scientific career.