Na sequência da denúncia pública feita neste blogue sobre o assunto referido em título – ver aqui – damos hoje a conhecer os testemunhos do Professor Taras Gerya e do Professor Paul Tackley, ambos do prestigiado ETH-Zurich, acerca de Fernando Ornelas Marques, candidato que foi vítima de uma decisão injusta, ilegítima e corrompida por interesses pessoais num concurso para Professor Catedrático no Departamento de Geologia da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa.
Importa esclarecer o seguinte:
(1) No ranking internacional das Universidades no domínio das Ciências Naturais e da Terra, o ETH Zurich ocupa a 10.ª posição a nível mundial e a 3.ª posição a nível europeu (ver aqui);
(2) O Professor Taras Gerya e o Professor Paul Tackley são dois dos maiores especialistas mundiais em modelação numérica em Geodinâmica, tendo publicado cada um mais de 100 artigos nas melhores revistas da especialidade referenciadas no SCI/ISI, incluindo as revistas Nature e Science. Ver abaixo elementos curriculares destes dois cientistas.
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ETH - Zurich
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Department of Earth Sciences
Prof. Dr. Taras Gerya
taras.gerya@erdw.ethz.ch
Zurich, 08.09.2011
Recommendation letter for Prof. Fernando Ornelas Marques
Dear Colleagues,
I’m writing this recommendation letter for Prof. Fernando Ornelas Marques in relation to his application for a permanent position at the University of Lisbon.
I know Prof. Marques since 2007 when we started our cooperation on numerical modeling of subduction initiation. Prof. Marques is one of the leading experts in tectonic processes and has very broad expertise ranging from analogue models and experimental rheology to large-scale tectonics and geodynamics. In all these fields he has an impressive number of first-authored peer reviewed publications in high-impact international journals. Prof. Marques has recently pioneered new fruitful research direction by investigating possible scenarios of subduction initiation along Brasilian Atlantic margin inferred from geophysical and geological data combined with numerical modeling. His research in this direction is now receiving growing attention from international scientific community.
In general, Prof. Marques is very knowledgeable scientist with innovative scientific ideas and I strongly recommend him for the above mentioned permanent position.
With my best wishes,
Taras Gerya
MSc. in Geology, Polytechnic University of Tomsk, Tomsk, USSR, 1984; Ph.D. in Petrology, Moscow State University, Moscow, USSR, 1990; Habilitation in Petrology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, 1999; Habilitation in Geodynamics, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland, 2008; Junior Researcher, Institute of Geology and Geophysics USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, USSR, 1984-1987; Ph.D. student, Institute of Experimental Mineralogy Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow dist., Russia, 1987-1990; Research Associate, Senior Researcher of the Laboratory of Metamorphism, Institute of Experimental Mineralogy Russian Academy of Sciences, Chernogolovka, Moscow dist., Russia, 1990-2000; Associate Professor, Moscow State University, Russia, 1990--‐1999; Alexander von Humboldt Foundation fellow, Guest Scientist, Ruhr-University of Bochum, Bochum, Germany, 2000-2004; Oberassitent (Senior research scientist, Lecturer) Geological Institute, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 2004‐2005; Oberassitent (Senior research scientist, Lecturer, permanent Research Faculty since 2007) Geophysical Institute, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 2005-2008; Privatdozent, Geophysical Institute, ETH-Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland, 2008-2010.
Autor do best-seller “Numerical Geodynamic Modelling”, 2009, Cambridge University Press, 345 pp.
T.V. Gerya é um dos maiores especialistas mundiais em modelação numérica em Geodinâmica, tendo publicado mais de 100 artigos nas melhores revistas da especialidade referenciadas no SCI/ISI, incluindo as revistas Nature e Science.
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ETH - Zurich
Institute of Geophysics
Department of Earth Sciences
Prof. Dr. Paul J. Tackley
paul.tackley@erdw.ethz.ch
21 September 2011
To Whom It May Concern:
It gives me pleasure to recommend Dr. Fernando Marques for promotion to Prof. Catedrático. I met Dr. Marques during one of his visits to ETH and have become quite familiar with his research.
Dr. Marques has a deep knowledge of geology and tectonics and an excellent publication record. Particularly impressive, and unusual in the field, is his ability to use multiple approaches to understand observations - in addition to the usual geological methods he performs analogue experiments, numerical modelling, and laboratory experiments on real geological materials.
Dr. Marques has strong geological skills, combining detailed field observations of large- and small-scale structures with mineralogical and geochronological analyses, magnetic measurements, etc. In several papers has applied such techniques to piece together the evolution of several regions in western Iberia, combining observations of several types and at many scales to obtain a 'big picture' view of a region's history.
One focus of Dr. Marques' work, resulting in many papers, is on rigid inclusions in a shear flow, which are often observed in natural shear zones. The interest in this research is clear: it contains his most highly-cited paper and 4 of his 10 most cited. This body of work illustrates perfectly his ability to use multiple investigative techniques: several papers use analogue modelling, several use numerical experiments, but a couple also use analytical solutions, one uses torsion experiments on rock, and one applies the knowledge to detailed field observations in Norway.
Another focus is to study geological features occurring during lithospheric shortening using analogue experiments. These include the initiation and propagation of thrusts, the influence of topography on thrust or fold-and-thrust belts, the inversion of normal faults (into reverse faults) and the influence of a thin elastic core. Again, these demonstrate Dr. Marques' ability to identify analogue experimental studies that give a deep insight into interpreting real geological observations.
Dr. Marques' publication rate has accelerated though the last ten years, and the growing appreciation of his research by the scientific community is indicated by the rapid rise in citation rate, with almost 70 citations so far this year. His high standing in the international community is further indicated by him being chosen as the organiser of the 2010 GeoMod conference, by his Editorial Board membership and top reviewer award. Dr. Marques is a good collaborator, with most of his papers being collaborative. He has mentored several PhD and MSc students and one postdoc and raised competitive research funding.
Because of these points I wholeheartedly support the promotion of Dr. Marques.
Yours sincerely,
Paul J. Tackley
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Professor of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Department of Earth Sciences, ETH-Zurich. Education: Ph.D., Geophysics June 1994; California Institute of Technology (CALTECH), Pasadena, CA, USA; M.A. Natural Sciences (Physics major), 1993, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, England; M.Sc. Geophysics, 1991, CALTECH, Pasadena, CA, USA; B.A. Natural Sciences (Physics major), 1987, 1st Class Honors, Trinity College, University of Cambridge, England. Positions: Professor ETH-Zurich, Switzerland 2005-present; Professor University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2003-2005; Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 1999-2003; Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 1994-1999; Research Assistant, CALTECH, Pasadena, CA, USA, 1990-1994; Research & Development Engineer, Thorn EMI Electronics Ltd., Defence Systems Division, Feltham, Middlesex, U.K., 1987-1989.
Co-autor do livro “Computational Methods for Geodynamics”, com Alik Ismail‐Zadeh, 2010, Cambridge University Press, 332pp.
Editor nas revistas (i) Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, (ii) Geophysical Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, e (iii) Journal of Geophysical Research.
P. Tackley é um dos maiores especialistas mundiais em modelação numérica em Geodinâmica, tendo publicado mais de 100 artigos nas melhores revistas da especialidade referenciadas no SCI/ISI, incluindo nas revistas Nature e Science. Conta com mais de 2300 citações.