Razvan Caracas' Lab – Computational mineral physics

I am a computational mineral physicist interested in the functioning of planetary interiors.

I have a background in Geology and in Materials Science. After undergraduate studies at the Univ. of Bucharest where I worked on crystal morphology, I pursued with a PhD degree working on the physical properties of modulated crystals at the Catholic Univ. of Louvain. My activity in high-pressure mineral physics took off at the University of Minnesota and continued during two fellowships (Carnegie Fellowship at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, Humboldt Fellowship at the Univ. of Bayreuth). Over the years I have worked on all the major minerals and phases of the deep Earth, on water ice and other molecular crystals, and on a series of technological materials.

Nowadays my research spans a wide range of interests in planetary mineralogy, going from the supercritical state that dominated the early stages of the condensation of the protolunar disk all the way to the deep interior of the Earth and super-Earths, passing through planetary surfaces and mineral identification based on vibrational spectroscopy.

NEWS (from my twitter feed)

r_caracas Retweeted

@NASAPersevere: Testing out my tools as I move into more science. Used my robotic arm to get right up close to this rock after zapping it with my laser. Can you tell I’m really into rocks?

https://t.co/7w3rbvbyoL https://t.co/Yl0gzduCWi

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- May 15, 2021

No need for other words @ERCGrantees @ERC_Research @CORDIS_EU @ENSdeLyon @CNRS @CEEDOslo https://t.co/hsiKOIMXaw

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- May 8, 2021

A week plenty of #vEGU2021 vPICO talks on impacts, shocks, chemistry, magma ocean.
@ERC_Research @CORDIS_EU @ENSdeLyon @CEEDOslo https://t.co/iUwUKAnAoo

- April 30, 2021

r_caracas Retweeted

@mwczrk: InSightSeers Program Application Open

The InSight team is recruiting a second round of “InSightSeers”. This is a program intended to expose early career scientists to the experience of working on an interplanetary mission team.

- April 29, 2021

Finally spring has come to the office @ERC_Research @CORDIS_EU @ENSdeLyon @CEEDOslo https://t.co/mEV3TWTtTn

- April 24, 2021

r_caracas Retweeted

@exploreplanets: Do you have a favorite exoplanet?

In 2020 astronomers announced the first-ever detection of a planet in another galaxy. The planet, M51-ULS-1b, orbits a star in the Whirlpool Galaxy 31 million light-years away from Earth. https://t.co/9rSJGsGFoS

- April 18, 2021

r_caracas Retweeted

@theAGU: HURRY!
🚨Deadline 14 April🚨to submit a proposal for #AGU21!

Help shape the discussion at Fall Meeting and in the Earth and space sciences community.

Use our tips & tricks to help you craft an accepted proposal.

https://t.co/PKOJcrNdTo https://t.co/jspX3TesEx

- April 11, 2021

r_caracas Retweeted

@RoyalAstroSoc: Caroline Herschel discovered many comets and nebulae, & was one of the first women to become an honorary member of the RAS & receive the RAS Gold Medal.🌠

Know an inspiring female astronomer? Tell them to apply for the Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship! https://t.co/FuwyFAMV9Q https://t.co/BrbUyC9LC4

- April 11, 2021

r_caracas Retweeted

@AlisonFisk: A beautiful and ancient Mesolithic amber figure of a bear. It washed up on a beach at Fanø in Denmark from a submerged Mesolithic settlement under the North Sea.

Image: National Museum of Denmark. https://t.co/nPov5wiBZH

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- April 11, 2021

r_caracas Retweeted

@CEEDOslo: The CEED Annual Report for 2020 is now online! Check out some of the research, teaching and activity highlights from the year that was. https://t.co/Kah1ApRJHK https://t.co/8BC1ZYrucj