José Pedro Mimoso recognised as Outstanding Referee by the American Physical Society
2017 March 07
José Pedro Mimoso, recognized as Outstanding Referee by the American Physical Society in 2017
, researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA
1) and Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (
FCUL), has been recognised as Outstanding Referee by the American Physical Society (
APS), according to the
announcement published on their website. APS publishes some of the journals of greatest impact in the field of Physics and, by means of their Outstanding Referee Program, recognises annually the value of the work of some of their referees in the assessment of manuscripts submitted to publication.
This year, José Pedro Mimoso received this lifetime recognition together with other 149 referees from around the world. In 2016, this award was also given to
Pedro Avelino (IA and
Universidade do Porto).
To José Pedro Mimoso (IA and FCUL), “the fact that here at IA both Pedro Avelino and me were recognised means that we achieved in this work a standard of scientific competence that is on a par with the best in the world.”
José Pedro Mimoso focus his research on the natures of dark matter
2 and dark energy
3, on the large-scale dynamics of the Universe, and on the theories of modified gravity. For more than twenty years he has been collaborating with APS journals, such as
Physical Review D, specialised in particle physics, field theory and gravitation, and
Physical Review Letters, a highly renowned journal dedicated to the communication of notable scientific results.
Regarding Pedro Avelino's research, it revolves around a variety of topics, like dark matter and dark energy, cosmic background radiation, varying fundamental constants of the Universe, and even asteroseismology
4.
As to what might have led to this recognition, José Pedro Mimoso believes that it may have been a combination of several qualities, namely his effort in offering a constructive assessment of the manuscripts, suggesting what the authors can do so that their article might be accepted.
This task has its challenges, but is also rewarding, says Mimoso. “The interesting thing in being a referee is that, if one has a certain degree of flexibility – and I have – then will have to study a few topics slightly outside those in which he or she regularly works. I end up learning a lot.”
José Pedro Mimoso will be publicly honoured in two ceremonies hosted by the American Physical Society, respectively in New Orleans, on the 13th of March, and in Washington, on the 29th of April.
NOTES
- The Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences – IA) is the largest Portuguese research unit in space sciences and integrates researchers from the University of Lisbon and the University of Porto. The institute encompasses most of the field’s national scientific output and it was evaluated as Excellent in the last evaluation from the European Science Foundation (ESF). IA's activity is funded by national and international funds, including Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UID/FIS/04434/2013), POPH/FSE and FEDER through COMPETE 2020.
- Dark matter is a type of matter that neither emits nor absorbs radiation from whichever segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. Despite not being directly detected using telescopes, its gravity causes noticeable effects on visible matter. Dark matter may comprise about 23% of all there is in the Universe, while 'ordinary' matter corresponds to only 4%.
- Dark energy is a mysterious force that opposes gravitational pull and that causes the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Dark energy may comprise 73% of all there is in the Universe. The discovery of this cosmic acceleration, in 1998, was awarded in 2011 with the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Asteroseismology is the study of the interior of the stars by means of their seismic activity measured at the surface. In seismology, the different vibration modes of an earthquake can be used to study the interior of the Earth in order to collect data about the composition and depth of the different layers. Similarly, the oscillations observed on the surface of a star may also be used to infer information about the internal structure and composition of that star.
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José Pedro Mimoso, recognized as Outstanding Referee by the American Physical Society in 2017
