Research in Astrophysics
I am leading the Astrophysics research group at the University of Potsdam.
Research in our group covers a wide range of astrophysical topics, including
interstellar and intergalactic gas, galaxy evolution, observational cosmology,
active galactic nuclei, solar physics, and others. My personal research
focuses on the properties of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies
and the intergalactic medium (IGM) that fills the Cosmic Web. For this,
I am using the method of
absorption spectroscopy in the
UV and in the optical regime to study the amount and distribution of hydrogen
and metal ions in the CGM and IGM at all redshifts.
These absortion-line measurements are complemented with emission
observations in the radio, X-ray and optical regime. I am also using
state-of-the ast numerical hydrodynamical simulations to compare them
with the results from the observations.
Teaching in Physics and Astrophysics
As a professor, teaching represents an important aspect of my work. I am
teaching many different courses in Astrophysics (e.g., fundamental astrophysics,
comology, galaxy evolution, interstellare medium) as part of the
physics/astrophysics bachelor/master programs at our institute. I
supervise the various astrophysics lab courses and seminars. I also
teach experimental physics for geo-science students. Moreover, I examine
students in physics/astrophysics at all levels.
University management
Since my appointment as professor in
2007 I have worked intensively in shaping the University's leading role in
astrophysical research and education in the Berlin/Brandenburg area. For many
years, I served as director/deputy director of out department. I have lead
a larger number of committees to appoint professors in astrophysics at our
department. I have developed and installed the master program astrophysics,
one of the few international study programs of our University. Among the
many duties I have I am currently acting as:
- DFG liason officer of the University of Potsdam
- Head of master program astrophysics
- Head of the Research Initiative Astrophysics
- Institute's representative in the PhD panel of our faculty