Hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of interstellar PAHs: Spectral characteristics and H_2 formation

Interstellar matter and star formationLaboratory astrophysics and astrochemistr

Shining Light on PAHs in Space

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-ansi-language: NL;mso-fareast-language:NL;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most abundant class of organic compounds in space. The PAH field evolves from the constant interaction between experimentalists, theorists, modellers and observers. While laboratory research and quantum chemical calculations together set up the molecular properties of PAH species, astronomers on the other hand, retrieve as much information as possible from the space observations. Nowadays, the PAH field is advanced enough to start implementing all these results into astronomical models, in order to study PAHs from a molecular groundwork. In this regard, the research projects presented in this thesis do precisely that. They constitute a first attempt to gather the vast current knowledge available on specific PAH molecules (not using generic properties), and put it in an astrophysical context, and with it, target some of the key subjects of the field such as: the existence of the so-called grandPAHs in space; the role of PAHs in the formation of molecular hydrogen in photodissociation regions; the abundance of superhydrogenated PAHs and their contribution as a carrier of the 3.4 micron band observed in photodissociation regions; and the deuterium fractionation in PAHs, and their consequent role in explaining the observed deuterium abundance in the local interstellar medium. </p

On a quest for cultural change: Surveying research data management practices at Delft University of Technology

The Data Stewardship project is a new initiative from the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands. Its aim is to create mature working practices and policies regarding research data management across all TU Delft faculties. The novelty of this project relies on having a dedicated person, the so-called ‘Data Steward,’ embedded in each faculty to approach research data management from a more discipline-specific perspective. It is within this framework that a research data management survey was carried out at the faculties that had a Data Steward in place by July 2018. The goal was to get an overview of the general data management practices, and use its results as a benchmark for the project. The total response rate was 11 to 37% depending on the faculty. Overall, the results show similar trends in all faculties, and indicate lack of awareness regarding different data management topics such as automatic data backups, data ownership, relevance of data management plans, awareness of FAIR data principles and usage of research data repositories. The results also show great interest towards data management, as more than ~80% of the respondents in each faculty claimed to be interested in data management training and wished to see the summary of survey results. Thus, the survey helped identified the topics the Data Stewardship project is currently focusing on, by carrying out awareness campaigns and providing training at both university and faculty levels.Management SupportResearch Data ServicesManagement SupportManagement SupportSystemsManagement SupportManagement Support3mE GeneralSupport Multi Actor System