Universe

Marijke Haverkorn conducts research into the birth and death cycles of stars in the Milky Way. Her work especially focuses on the role of magnetic fields in the gas between stars. She hopes to develop a comprehensive and detailed model of the magnetic field in the Milky Way.

Monika Moscibrodzka builds realistic simulations of black holes, which are critical to understanding astrophysical observations and measurements. She plays a coordinating role in the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, which published the first image of a black hole in 2019.

Marc Klein Wolt is an astronomer who made a radio telescope for a Chinese satellite behind the moon. The subsequent data is used to investigate the origin of the universe. NPO Radio 1 made ‘The Man and the Moon’ podcast about developing the antenna and the team's work with China.

Heino Falcke studies black holes. He combines theoretical, experimental and observational astronomy in order to test Einstein’s general theory of relativity. He is one of the founders of the EHT (Event Horizon Telescope) consortium, which published the first picture of a black hole.

Gijs Nelemans researches the evolution of binary stars, especially the formation of binary stars consisting of white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes and the sources of gravitational waves. In 2015, he played a key role in interpreting the first measurement of a gravitational wave.

Waters' research focuses on the formation of stars and planets. He also studies the nature and composition of exoplanets and their atmosphere, and the role that solids in space play in interstellar chemistry. How do they influence the formation of rocky planets?