Justification of the title
The new Master's degree in Astrophysics is a proposal from the Department of Astrophysics (DA), in collaboration with the Departments of Fundamental Physics II (F2), Basic Physics (FB) and Fundamental and Experimental Physics, Electronics and Systems (FE) of the University of La Laguna (ULL) and is supported by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC).
Astrophysics is a multidisciplinary experimental science that integrates very diverse areas of Physics with multiple connections to Mathematics, Geology, Chemistry, Biology, Technology and Computing. Astrophysics has currently become a scientific discipline of great interest to society, which supports it as a priority area of research. This interest is also evident in the daily press, in conferences and exhibitions for the general public, and also in a significant demand for academic training by university students.
Astronomy is probably the oldest science known and practiced. Astrophysics, which arises as a consequence of the application of Physics to the study of the structure, composition and evolution of the stars, has been developed towards the end of the
19th century and, mainly, throughout the 20th century. Subjects directly related to Astrophysics have entered universities in the last 40 years, establishing themselves firmly in the study plans and having an extraordinary acceptance among students of experimental sciences, mainly.
On the other hand, it is enough to look at the daily press to realize that Astrophysics is currently one of the experimental sciences that arouses the greatest interest in our society. This is due, among others, to the following causes:
- Many of the questions that man asks about nature and its origins belong to the scope of study of this science (such as those referring to cosmology, exobiology, study of planetary climates, black holes, dark matter, astroparticles, etc.),
- Recent technological and experimental developments (space and giant telescopes, infrared and X-ray observation satellites, new detectors, radio and visible interferometry, gravitational wave detectors, supercomputers, etc.) are allowing or will allow in the near future effective advances in the resolution of the aforementioned enigmas and, in addition,
- It is a markedly interdisciplinary science, having relations fundamentally with Physics and Mathematics, but also with Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Engineering, Computing, among others.
This interest on the part of society means that at present, an academic education in Astrophysics is requested by a significant number of students (despite the general decrease in students in experimental science degrees) and, in addition, makes it an attractive offer both for teaching in secondary and high school education and for the dissemination of science to the general public.
On the other hand, Astrophysics is a priority subject in research not only in our country but also in the countries of the European Union (EU) and other advanced countries of the world. Even national and supranational organizations such as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), ESA (European Space Agency), ESO (European Southern Observatory) and many others maintain scientific programs.
dedicated to research in this area.
