Maurizio Salaris studied physics at the 'La Sapienza' University in Rome and worked at the Institute of Space Astrophysics in Frascati (Italy), the Teramo Astronomical Observatory (Italy), the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (Spain), the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (Germany - as a Marie Curie Fellow). He has spent the last 23 years at the Astrophysics Research Institute of the Liverpool John Moores University (UK) where he holds the post of Professor of Stellar Astrophysics.

Prof. Salaris has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed astrophysics journals, plus dozens of conference proceedings and two university textbooks. He has also written and co-produced a series of educational science fiction short videos for public outreach, available at [...] Prof. Salaris is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK), the International Astronomical Union, the European Astronomical Society and the Higher Education Academy (UK). He is Associate Editor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, one of the top peer-reviewed international astrophysics journals.