The President of BAS Prof. Julian Revalski, Member of the Academy, awarded today a diploma for associate member of the Assembly of Academicians and Corresponding Members to Prof. Dimitar Sasselov. Prof. Sasselov is among the most distinguished scientists in the field of astrophysics, said Prof. Revalski and recalled the decision of the AACM to award a special status to Bulgarian researchers working abroad. Bulgarian scientists or artists who work and live permanently outside Bulgaria are elected associate members of the Assembly of Academicians and Corresponding Members of BAS.
Prof. Sasselov presented his latest scientific discovery related to the origin of life on Earth with the presentation “Origin of mirror symmetry in the molecules of life”.
His research interests include the atmospheres and interiors of stars and planets and the formation of the first helium and hydrogen atoms in the Universe. One of his most significant achievements is the discovery of Earth-like exoplanets. Prof. Sasselov is one of the lead researchers on the Kepler space telescope team and its extension, the TESS space telescope. In the last ten years Prof. Sasselov directs the Photochemistry Lab exploring the origins of life’s building blocks in the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University. He is Director of the Institute for the Origins of Life at Harvard.
