Cois Coiribe had the chance to reconnect with University of Galway Erasmus alumna, Dr Catarina Alves de Oliveira. Here, we retrace her journey from Erasmus student at University of Galway to Head of the Science Operations Development Division at the European Space Agency. Read below to discover how her Erasmus year helped propel her into a career in space science.
Meet Dr Catarina Alves de Oliveira…
I’m an astrophysicist working at the European Space Agency. I am Portuguese, from Portugal, and I’ve lived and worked abroad for over 20 years. I now live in Spain with my husband and two children. In my free time, I like to play table tennis and go running; on the weekends, we hike the hills around Madrid and play ball sports as a family. I have been trying to learn how to surf for many years, with mixed results, but I love returning to my hometown by the seaside and paddling out with my family. Music has always been another of my hobbies. I am a violinist and played in several amateur orchestras, but these days I am content with playing much simpler pieces or grabbing a guitar for some cover song singalongs.
You are Head of the Science Operations Development Division at the European Space Agency (ESA). Can you explain what this role encompasses?
As Head of the Science Operations Development Division at the ESA, I lead the teams that are studying and developing the Science Operations Centres for all of ESA’s future science missions. Science operations encompass all the activities needed to optimise on-sky observations of our telescopes when they fly. This comprises programming each instrument to deliver the data as requested by scientists and monitoring their health status, while also processing that data to be archived and available so that it’s ready to use for future research. We work with more than a hundred partner institutions across Europe, as well as other Space Agencies, to prepare the systems that enable these activities, and we train the teams who operate them. We’re currently supporting 13 future science missions; it is an incredible effort over many years to ensure every system is ready when each mission launches into space.
While completing a Physics/Applied Maths degree at the School of Sciences, University of Porto, you participated in a Physics Erasmus programme at University of Galway. Can you walk us through this process?
I was very curious about living and studying abroad, and I knew several friends who had taken part in the Erasmus programme. When I saw the opportunity to go to University of Galway, I didn’t hesitate. I had never been to Ireland, and that was also part of the appeal, a truly new experience. I believe I was the first student from University of Porto to participate in the exchange, and I remember meeting several professors to ensure my curriculum was aligned so that I could complete the 3rd year of my Physics & Applied Mathematics degree. It all worked out very well. At the end of the year, I took the exams, which I passed with flying colours, and all my results were fully recognised back in Portugal.
Are there any specific memories that come to mind when you think back to your time at University of Galway?
I have many fun memories of my time at University of Galway. I was rather worried during my first days before the term started, as I struggled to get used to the Irish accent, but after many funny misunderstandings, I quickly became proficient. I very fondly remember Professor Michael Redfern from the Centre for Astronomy, and his students, who welcomed me to their group. That year, students were encouraged to pursue summer research internships, and I was allowed to apply as well. It was that process that led me to my first research experience at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh the following summer.
While in my Erasmus year, I also joined the University of Galway Chamber Orchestra, where I played violin and met many fellow musicians. I liked going into Galway City with friends, exploring the small shops, the pubs, and ending nights out in the Cuba nightclub (does it still exist? Editor’s Note: an interesting history to this one! It was closed for over a decade, reopened in 2024, and has since shuttered its doors once more). I cherish that year for what I learned about living in a different country, experiencing different ways of teaching, and making new friends abroad.
In your career thus far, what are some standout projects or discoveries? Can you explain what sort of collaboration took place across disciplines and expertise to make these possible?
Scientifically, I have been trying to understand how stars form in our galaxy, using observations from ground and space-based telescopes. My research focuses on finding and characterising the tiniest stars that can form, objects so cold they cannot sustain hydrogen fusion in their cores, known as brown dwarfs. Together with my collaborators, we have discovered objects with masses a few times that of Jupiter. This discovery challenges the current theories of star formation processes, as it’s still unclear how these objects came to be. I continue to design observational programmes to characterise the chemical composition and atmospheres of these planet-mass brown dwarfs, hoping to uncover more clues to solve this puzzle.
Another highlight of my professional career has been my time working on the James Webb Space Telescope, where I led the calibration of the near-infrared spectrograph NIRSpec, one of the ESA’s contributions to this mission. I dedicated 10 years of my career to this project, working side by side with incredibly talented people, who share a passion for building the best instrument possible to address some of our fundamental questions about the Universe. I remember receiving the first on-sky data and confirming through analysis that everything was working as expected; it was an incredible feeling. Even now, when reading the great discoveries made with the NIRSpec instrument, I feel immensely proud that my small contribution helped make it possible.
Both in research and instrument-development projects, collaboration has played a central role in my career. At the ESA, for example, I work daily with colleagues from different areas: engineering, science, finance, law, administration, management. The complexity of the space telescopes we are trying to build for the scientific community is really high, and the sense of responsibility is immense. We want to ensure we provide the best possible missions through exceptional science, delivering on the investment of ESA’s Member States. I really enjoy working in this multi-cultural environment across disciplines, where I am constantly learning something new.
Your career is an aspirational one for many studying in the fields of astrophysics, astronomy, and space science. What inspirational guidance might you provide for budding scientists seeking to unravel the mysteries of the Universe?
Thank you for those kind words! I am happy to share what has been key in my career, in the hope that it may resonate with others. I’m celebrating 20 years in space science, and with that perspective of time, one of the things I have learned is that contributions to scientific advancement happen in both small steps and large leaps, and that both approaches are needed and valuable. I’ve also learned that rejection and failure are part of a research career. Every senior professional likely has several rejected grants, proposals, and job applications alongside their successes. I am very thankful to the mentors who shared their own failures and setbacks with me; this was key to helping me contextualise my own shortcomings, and to keep me focused on improvement and growth.
I’ve always tried to remain open to opportunities. This approach has taken me to live and work in many countries in Europe, as well as South Africa and the USA, and to visit some of the most amazing places for astronomers, such as the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Along the way, I’ve made very good friends and met many colleagues, with whom I keep in regular contact. Even if research is a competitive field, what I enjoy most is collaboration and the exchanging of ideas.
In my day to day, I strive to be as best prepared as possible, to work in an open and transparent way, and to share what I learn with others. I have always considered it a privilege to work in science and never took it for granted. Over the years, I have placed great care to strengthen my capacity to focus, to endure and search for solutions to complex and challenging problems, and to keep learning and not give up. Finding something new about the Universe or seeing a telescope launch to space and work flawlessly brings immense professional satisfaction and achievement. For me personally, when shared with a team, those same moments are pure joy.
Profiles
Dr Catarina Alves de Oliveira (born in Portugal, 1982) is a scientist at the European Space Agency (ESA), currently leading the Science Operations Development Division for future ESA science missions from the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), near Madrid. She holds a degree in Physics/Applied Mathematics (Astronomy) from the University of Porto (2004), during which she was an Erasmus student at University of Galway, and a Master’s from the International Space University (2005). She earned her PhD in Astronomy at the European Southern Observatory and Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich (2008), followed by a Marie Curie fellowship on star formation research at the Institute for Planetary Sciences and Astrophysics, Grenoble. Since joining ESA in 2011, and prior to her current role, she worked on several space missions, such as Herschel, James Webb Space Telescope, SMILE and Ariel.
