I am an astronomer at Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) in Madrid, Spain. I study distant galaxies by observing them in different wavelengths using our largest space and ground-based telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). During the commissioning and development years of JWST, I was part of the mid-infrared instrument (MIRI) team.
I study star formation, gas, and dust properties of distant galaxies that are only 3 to 5 billion years after the Big Bang (redshift of z~1-3). I use ground-based observatories, Keck, LBT, VLT, and ALMA, and space telescopes, JWST, Hubble, Spitzer, Herschel, to study how galaxies form and evolve throughout cosmic time.
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I was born and raised in Tehran, ​​capital of Iran, the city that never sleeps and has four seasons throughout the year, including snow in winter (yes, not all of Iran is a desert!). I got my Bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Tehran in 2011, and moved to the US to continue my graduate studies. At the University of California at Riverside, I received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and graduated with a Ph.D. in Physics in September 2017 (advisor: Naveen Reddy). I was a NASA Hubble fellow from 2018-2021 at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.

​Aside from research, I am very proud of the two astronomy outreach initiatives that I started: Staryab educational astronomy website in Persian, and the MESCIT math tutoring and mentorship program. Click on the links on the right to learn more about my outreach activities.

in 2021, I was awarded the Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award of the University of Arizona: link
My work has also been highlighted on the University of Arizona Postdoctoral Association, check it out here.

​Other than research and outreach, I love traveling to see the world, learn about different cultures, and explore the wonders of our planet, like Antarctica! 

Dust and PAHs

Ionizing Radiation

The MOSDEF Survey

James Webb Space Telescop

Star Formation

MESCIT ​Outreach Program

Contact Info

Email: ishivaei-at-cab.inta-csic.es
​Publications
LinkedIn
Google Scholar
​GitHub

* I am often asked how my last name is pronounced. My last name (Shivaei) is Persian; it means “eloquence”, and is pronounced as:
​/ʃi:’vɑ:i:/ (If you are not familiar with pronunciation symbols, check this webpage)