Dr Cheikh Bop is a postdoctoral researcher at Institut de Physique de Rennes (IPR). His research is mainly focused on the rotational energy transfer induced by collisions with molecular hydrogen of the widely spread interstellar cyanides and their isotopologues. The main objective is to better understand the growth of prebiotic molecules which presumably preceded the appearance of life on Earth.
Accurate determination of physical conditions of interstellar molecular clouds is a crucial step to better understand the life cycle of the interstellar matter and particularly the formation of stars and planets as well as the synthesis of organic molecules that may lead to emergence of life in the universe. A key parameter for the determination of these conditions from interstellar spectra is the calculation of accurate collisional rate coefficients of interstellar molecules with the most abundant species.
Whereas the knowledge of collisional processes has reached a certain level of maturity for collisions involving non-reactive molecules, very few reliable data exist for collisions involving reactive radicals and ions. The computation of such data is a real challenge since inelastic and reactive processes compete during collisions.
Dr Bop is also an instructor at the Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers (PASEA) which aims to build a critical mass of astronomer in Africa.
