Alberto Marín Cebrián

Alberto Marín Cebrián is an Assistant Professor in Aerospace Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M). He is a member of the ‘Plasmas and Space Propulsion’ (EP2) research group, and his main research interests focus on particle-in-cell models, Hall thruster simulation, and plasma-wall interaction physics.

He holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering (2018) and a Master’s in Aeronautical Engineering (2020) from UC3M. He earned a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering (2024) with Cum Laude honors, an International Doctor distinction. His thesis was supervised by Prof. Ahedo and Prof. Domínguez-Vázquez and was funded by an FPU grant. During his Ph.D., he conducted a research stay at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Parra. After completing his Ph.D., he remained at UC3M as a postdoctoral researcher until getting his actual position in July 2025.

His research investigates the kinetic electron response in Hall thruster discharges, identifying key effects on the macroscopic plasma response that are not captured by standard fluid models, and characterizing wall interaction parameters. He has contributed to the analysis of anomalous electron transport due to instabilities in ExB plasmas and the study of electron properties in plasma plumes. Additionally, he is also interested in the plasma-wall interaction problem in tokamaks. His approach relies on numerical simulations using a particle-in-cell (PIC) formulation. He is one of the main developers of the registered software PICASO, a 2D PIC code capable of resolving planar and axisymmetric scenarios, which is currently among the major simulation tools of EP2. Beyond these activities, he actively contributes to scientific projects and acts as a reviewer for the Journal of Electric Propulsion and Physics of Plasmas.