In this contribution, we review the overall features of EMIR, the NIR multiobject spectrograph of the GTC. EMIR is at present in the middle of its PD phase and will be one of the first common user instruments for the GTC, the 10 meter telescope under construction by GRANTECAN at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Canary Islands, Spain). EMIR

I present an overview of the types of science programs that may be feasible with EMIR. This is biased toward high-z studies and is not exhaustive. I then describe the science preparation activities of the EMIR science team.

We present the concept and current status of the Data Reduction Pipeline (DRP) for EMIR (Espectrógrafo Multi-Objeto Infrarrojo) which is a state-of-the-art near-infrared (NIR) wide field camera and multiobject spectrograph proposed for the 10-m GTC on La Palma (Spain). EDRP will process data acquired with EMIR and will deliver reduced images by

Dust is present everywhere in the Universe. Dust absorbs and scatters light dimming the astrophysical sources. Precise measurements of the attenuation dependence with wavelength (extinction curve) have been based in the comparison of spectra from pairs of identical stars suffering different amount of extinction. The study of dust extinction is

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A three-dimensional model of the dust distribution in the Milky Way is presented based on FIR observations made by the COBE satellite. This model is a further development of that first presented by Drimmel & Spergel (2001). Here the molecular ring has been added, which shows evidence of ellipticity, as well as a central hole in the disk