Location & Facilities - ExoLife Finder

THE INSTITUTO DE ASTROFÍSICA DE CANARIAS

The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is a leading astronomical institution in Europe. It is equipped with state-of-the-art solar and night-sky telescopes at the Observatorios de Canarias and is home to the world-renowned GTC 10.4m optical/infrared telescope.

Its excellent academic and technical facilities in La Laguna, Tenerife make it an ideal location for the LIOM group to establish a powerful research program that combines astrophysics expertise with science and engineering. This will enable IAC to develop a unique expertise in innovative telescope systems and other related fields.

The LIOM group benefits from strong partnerships with academic physics and astronomy groups in Lyon (France), Hawaii, and Georgia (USA), as well as commercial technology initiatives in Spain, the USA, and Canada. This robust scientific and technical foundation ensures that LIOM can continue to expand and build upon its work while remaining integrated into IAC in Tenerife.

EXPANDING THE IAC'S NETWORK: THE ERA CHAIRS PROGRAM

The ERA Chairs program aims to bring in an experienced scientist who is already working with the IAC and is a leader in their field.

This program will also involve connecting with top-notch academic and private-sector scientists and engineers from Europe and North America, thereby expanding the IAC’s network. All of these experts will have the opportunity to work at the new La Laguna office and laboratory, which has been recently completed and is called IACtec.

FACILITIES PROVIDED BY IACTEC FOR LIOM

IACtec is providing LIOM with 200 square meters of modern laboratory and office space. They have also committed for an additional high-bay, crane, and clean room space for Small-ELF construction needs at no extra cost on a temporary basis.

The optomechanical laboratory will include state-of-the-art equipment such as vibration-isolated optics tables, interferometric metrology, glass shaping equipment (gantry CO2 laser, kiln), electronics support for high voltage electronics, 3D printer support, and various optomechanical support hardware.

It also features parallel NVIDIA 4xGPU (A100 or equivalent) with 2 TB memory suitable for neural network training. Ergonomic office and teleconference facilities are also available within the office complex.