Research in the program

The work of today's astrophysicists, in every unit

Established physics is the foundation. The research spotlights show what is being built on it now: each unit presents the published work of a leading scientist and links to the original paper.

The scientists named here are not contributors to the A&A Masterclass, are not affiliated with it and have not endorsed it. The program presents and explains their published research, with references to the original papers.

Konstantin Batygin

California Institute of Technology

Planetary dynamics, the outer solar system

Presented in Unit 2

Ewine F. van Dishoeck

Leiden University

Astrochemistry, molecular spectroscopy of star and planet forming regions

Presented in Unit 3

Marcia J. Rieke

University of Arizona

Infrared astronomy and instrumentation

Presented in Unit 4

Alessandro Morbidelli

Collège de France and Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur

Planet formation and the dynamical history of the solar system

Presented in Unit 5

Conny Aerts

KU Leuven

Asteroseismology and stellar interiors

Presented in Unit 6

Alyssa A. Goodman

Harvard University, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Molecular clouds, star formation and data visualization

Presented in Unit 7

Chris Lintott

University of Oxford

Galaxy evolution and citizen science

Presented in Unit 8

Anna Frebel

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Stellar archaeology, the oldest and most metal-poor stars

Presented in Unit 9

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

University of Oxford

Radio astronomy, pulsars and neutron stars

Presented in Unit 10

Didier Queloz

University of Cambridge and ETH Zurich

Detection of exoplanets by precise radial velocities and transits

Presented in Unit 11

Roger Blandford

Stanford University, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

Theoretical astrophysics, black holes and relativistic jets

Presented in Unit 12

Andrew C. Fabian

University of Cambridge, Institute of Astronomy

X-ray astronomy, galaxy clusters and active galactic nuclei

Presented in Unit 12

Wendy L. Freedman

University of Chicago

Observational cosmology, the extragalactic distance scale

Presented in Unit 13

Alan H. Guth

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Theoretical cosmology, inflation

Presented in Unit 14

Hiranya V. Peiris

University of Cambridge

Cosmology, testing the physics of the early universe with data

Presented in Unit 14

Risa H. Wechsler

Stanford University, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

Cosmology, galaxy formation and dark matter halos

Presented in Unit 15

Adam G. Riess

Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute

Observational cosmology, supernovae and the expansion rate

Presented in Unit 15

Nergis Mavalvala

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Gravitational wave detectors, quantum measurement

Presented in Unit 16

Roberto Maiolino

University of Cambridge

Galaxies and black holes in the early universe

Presented in Unit 16

Why we do this

Science is something people do

A formula can look as if it had always been there. The spotlights show that the questions are open, that the methods of each unit are in use today, and who is using them. For every unit you also receive a reading list with further papers that are free to read.

View the curriculum