Grants for Science – Heidelberg

Heidelberg. What is the significance of giant stars to the evolution of the universe? That’s the question that members of a new Emmy Noether Jr. Research Group, which began work at the Astronomy Center at the University of Heidelberg (JAH), are tackling. In this context, the research team, headed by Andreas Sander, is specifically investigating radiation-driven stellar winds as the driving forces behind cosmic evolution. The German Research Foundation has been supporting the work for six years with 1.9 million euros.

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“The influence of massive stars and their interactions with the environment is a cornerstone for understanding our cosmic origins,” emphasizes Sander. “However, to date it is difficult to predict the evolution of these stars. To gain new knowledge here, we want to combine empirical observations and theoretical approaches,” says the astronomer.

Mainly focused on stars with strong, radiation-driven stellar winds. Members of the research group based at ZAH’s Astronomical Computing Institute plan to advance the development of star atmosphere models and use the findings in the research to understand the properties of hot, massive stars.

PhD in Potsdam in 2016

New findings from giant black hole mergers, which can be proven with the help of young gravitational wave astronomy, also play an important role.

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Sander received his physics diploma at the University of Potsdam in 2010 and a doctorate in astrophysics in 2016. As a postdoc – including the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium (AOP) in Armagh, Northern Ireland – he laid the foundation for a new generation of stellar atmosphere models and expanded his expertise on the theoretical foundations of stellar winds. In 2020 he was the first scientist to receive AOP’s newly created pik research fellowship for research in astrophysical disciplines.

The German Research Foundation’s Emmy Noether program gives specially qualified young scientists the opportunity to qualify for university professorships over a six-year period by independently leading a junior research group. red/vs