Fernando J. Ballesteros Roselló works at the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Valencia. Graduate (1992) and PhD (1996) in Physics from the University of Valencia. In 2014 he was appointed Head of Instrumentation of the Astronomical Observatory of this university, a position he held until 2022. He worked on the design and development of the gamma-ray space telescope INTEGRAL of the ESA, currently in orbit around the Earth and the LEGRI space telescope aboard Minisat 01 (INTA). Later on, his interest evolved into astrobiology, doing his research on emergence of complexity and life in the universe. Nowadays he is also involved in the JPAS project, a survey to be carried out in the new Astrophysical Center of Javalambre (Teruel), working on the design of the survey areas.
With a extense experience in popularization of science, he won the PRISMA award in 2016 for his book “Fractales y Caos, la aventura de la complejidad”, the European ‘Estudi General’ award for popular science in 2006 for his book “Gramáticas Extraterrestres”. He is also author or co-author of the books “ET Talk” (Springer), “10.000 años mirando estrellas” (Alianza Editorial), “Astrobiología, un puente entre el Big Bang y la Vida” (Akal), “A la Luna de Valencia” (PUV), “Un breve viaje por la ciencia” (Univ. La Rioja), “A 21st Century Retrospective View about Edgar Allan Poe” (Peter Lang AG), as well as the text books “Mathematical Foundations and Applications of Graph Entropy” (Wiley) and “NEXUS” for the “Sciences for the contemporary world” subject (Pearson Alhambra). He is also scriptwritter of several science popularization documentaries, winning two of them a national award: “Eclipses & Transits” (“Ciencia en Acción” award in 2007), and “Let there be mass” (Centro Nacional de Física de Partículas award in 2013), and a third one, “Arco de choque”, won an international award in the SciOn film festival (Reno, Nevada, 2016).
Co-author of the science popularization program “Los Sonidos de la Ciencia”, broadcasted by Radio Nacional de España during the years 2005 to 2008, he is also editor of the online popular science magazine conec.es, being also one of the authors. He has written nearly a hundred science popularization articles, being assiduous writer in the “Tercer Milenio” science supplement of the “El Heraldo de Aragón” newspaper, and having a section in the magazine “Mètode” for popular science. He was a member of the editorial board and writer of the now extinct free newspaper “Tecnociencia” for popular science, throughout the period in which it was published.