The Euskadi Research Prize 2016 is aimed at astrophysicist Agustín Sánchez Lavega.The prize, awarded by the Department of Education of the Basque Government, has been recognized in communication by Sánchez Lavega as a pioneer in the integration of astronomy and astrophysics in the field of space sciences in the Basque Country: He created the Planetary Sciences Group, the Space Classroom and the Astronomical Observatory of the Technical School of Engineering of Bilbao.
He has worked in both experimental and theoretical fields. He has developed models of atmospheric storms such as Jupiter, Saturn and his satellite Titan, the winds of Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, as well as the nature of the ancient and gigantic cyclones of the giant planets.
In addition to his research in basic science, Professor Sánchez Lavega works on the technological development of astronomical instrumentation in the UPV PlanetCam project. In the field of space technology he has participated in several projects of the European Space Agency such as the VIRTIS project of the Venus Express mission or the MAGIS project of the JUICE space mission. He has also been appointed researcher and scientific coordinator of the MEDA instrument at NASA's Mars 2020 mission for planet Mars.