Our Members

Maximilian N. Günther (ESA/ESTEC) - Chair

Research Interests
Exoplanets and habitability
Stellar flares and cool stars
Machine learning and Bayesian statistics

Ongoing Collaborations
CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS)
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Search for habitable Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars (SPECULOOS)
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)
Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS)

ESA profile | Personal website | Email

Ines Belgacem (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Study of icy surfaces
Spectrophotometry
Bayesian statistics
Habitability in our solar system and beyond

Stefano Bellotti (formerly ESA/ESTEC, now Leiden Observatory)

Research Interests
Stellar activity
Stellar magnetic fields and evolution
Radial velocity detection and characterisation of exoplanets

Ongoing Collaborations
SPIRou consortium
Ariel consortium

Personal website

Stephan Birkmann (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Study of exoplanet systems using JWST/NIRSpec
Characterisation of NIR detectors

Ongoing Collaborations
NIRSpec GTO team for observations of transiting exoplanets and IFU spectroscopy of resolvable planetary companions
NIRSpec Instrument Science Team

Sarvesh S. Bhogaokar (External Collaborator - University of Potsdam)

Research Interests
Characterization of exoplanetsc
Machine Learning Methodsc
Characterization of exoplanets' atmospheresc
Space weather and soft X-ray emissions

Carlos del Burgo Díaz (External Collaborator - INAOE)

Research Interests
Brown dwarfs; exoplanets, debris disks, and (their) stars
Stellar evolution models and stellar atmosphere models
Light curves and radial velocities
Machine learning and Bayesian statistics
Integral Field Spectroscopy
High-contrast Imaging and High-resolution Spectroscopy
 
Ongoing Collaborations
PLATO: PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars
SHARDDS: Sphere High Angular Resolution Disc Debris Survey
REASONS: REsolved ALMA and SMA Observations of Nearby Stars
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)

Quentin Changeat (formerly ESA/STScI, now Uni. of Groningen)

Research Interests
Characterization of exoplanets
Transit, Eclipse, Phase-curve, Imaging
Retrieval and Machine learning methods

Nicolas Crouzet (formerly ESA/ESTEC, now Leiden Observatory)

Research Interests
Characterisation of exoplanets' atmospheres
Detection of transiting exoplanets
Astronomy from Antarctica

Ongoing Collaborations
JWST Transiting Exoplanet Early Release Science program
JWST NIRSpec GTO team for transiting exoplanets
Ariel Payload Consortium
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)
Transiting exoplanet spectroscopy with Nordic Optical Telescope

Bernard Foing (formerly ESA/ESTEC, now Leiden Observatory)

Research Interest
Exoplanets
Binary Stars
Machine Learning
Planetary science
Solar and stellar variability
Astrochemistry, space fullerenes and PAHs
Astrobiology
MoonMars Landers, Rovers and Telescopes
MoonVillage

Ongoing Collaborations
Partner, EuroSpaceHub EU network to train space researchers and
entrepreneurs
Lead, EuroMoonMars Earth Space Innovation programme
Chair, IAF ITACCUS Cultural Utilisation of Space
Prof, Leiden/Amsterdam/EPFL/ISU

Publication List | Email
 

Philippe Gondoin (ESA/ESTEC Emeritus)

Research Interests
Rotation evolution of cool stars
Magnetic activity of Sun-like stars
Stellar ages determination
Stellar open clusters
Exoplanets and habitability

Laura Hayes (formerly ESA/ESTEC, now DIAS)

Research Interests
Solar flares
X-ray, radio, time-varying signatures
Solar-stellar connection
Space weather
Impacts on terrestrial ionospheres
Solar flare prediction
Machine learning

Ongoing Collaborations
Solar Orbiter

Ana Heras (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interest
Debris disks, using e.g. Herschel observations
Multi-band observations of exoplanet transits for the study of the stellar activity and planetary atmospheres
Artificial Intelligence applications to the study of exoplanet transits
Preparatory scientific activities for the PLATO mission

Ongoing Collaborations
Members of the Herschel-Dunes programme consortium
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)
PLATO

Gaitee Hussain (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Exoplanets
Stellar activity
Stellar magnetism

Kate Isaak (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Transiting exoplanets, detection and characterisation

Ongoing Collaborations
CHEOPS
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)

Miho Janvier (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Solar flares and solar storms
Variability in the heliosphere
Space weather

Ongoing Collaborations
Solar Orbiter
Heliospheric missions & ground based coordinated observations

Sarah Kendrew (ESA/STScI)

Research Interests
Exoplanet transit observations with JWST/MIRI
Technical time-series data analysis and characterisation of instrument systematics
Detection of S02 in exoplanet atmospheres

Ongoing Collaborations
JWST/MIRI team lead at STScI

Ralf Kohley (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Exoplanets
Instrumentation

Theresa Lüftinger (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Exoplanets and their atmospheres
Preparatory scientific activities for the Ariel mission  
Stellar magnetic fields and stellar activity/winds/flares/CMEs
Impact of planet host stars on their planets/planetary systems  
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning applications for the study of exoplanet atmospheres

Ongoing Collaborations
Ariel
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)  
BCool consortium
MagIcS & MiMeS

Personal website

Bruno Merin (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Protoplanetary and Debris disks, using e.g. Gaia, HST and Herschel observations
Study of the match between exoplanet populations and proto-planetary disk populations
Machine Learning applications to astronomical data analysis, in particular on de-noising transit detections and accelerating atmospheric retrievals
Citizen science

Ongoing Collaborations
Member of the Herschel DIGIT and Gould Belt Key Programmes
Collaborator of the University College London's ExoIA group
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)

Personal website

Larry O'Rourke (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Exoplanets

Anna Pala (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Accreting white dwarf binaries
Transients and variable stars
Binary evolution and population studies
 
Ongoing Collaborations
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)

Erika Rea (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Exoplanet detection
Binary stars observations
Local Bubble simulations and comparison with eRosita data
SETI - detecting technosignatures using radio data
Ongoing Collaborations
Antarctic Search for Transiting ExoPlanets (ASTEP)

Isabel Rebollido (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Debris disks & direct imaging
Minor bodies & exocomets
Planetary systems
Gas around MS stars & absorption spectroscopy 

Ongoing Collaborations
JWST Telescope Science Team
JWST ERS 1386

Emily Rickman (ESA/STScI)

Research Interests
Exoplanets and brown dwarfs
High-contrast imaging
Radial velocities
Astrometry
Emission spectroscopy

Ongoing Collaborations
JWST Telescope Scientist Team
JWST NIRSpec Commissioning Team
ExoGRAVITY
LIFE Space Mission Concept
NACO-ISPY

ESA profile | Personal website

Victor See (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Stellar magnetism, activity and rotation evolution
Impact of stellar activity on exoplanet habitability

Ongoing Collaborations
BCool consortium
SPiRou consortium

Matthew Standing (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interests
Exoplanets and habitability
Circumbinary planets (like Tatooine from Star Wars)
Radial velocity detection and characterisation of exoplanets

Ongoing Collaborations
PLATO – Circumbinary planets working group
Binaries Escorted By Orbiting Planets (BEBOP)
Dispersed Matter Planet Project (DMPP)
Gaia

Anamarija Stankov (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Asteroseismology
Beta Cephei stars
Multi-band observations of exoplanet transits and variable stars
PLATO mission

Eva Verdugo (ESA/ESAC)

Research Interest
Stellar magnetic fields
Star formation
Stellar winds
Exoplanets

Ongoing Collaborations
The Network for UltraViolet Astrophysics (NUVA)
The Joint Center for UltraViolet Astronomy (JCUVA)
The World Space Observatory – Ultraviolet (WSO-UV Spain) mission
Faculty Research Proposal: JWST and synergies: Comprehensive taxonomy of planetary systems
PLATO

Mariasole Aurora Agazzi (formerly ESA/ESTEC, now ETH Zürich)

Research Interests
Exoplanets and habitability
Characterisation of exoplanets' atmospheres
Molecular mapping technique for detection and characterisation 
Direct imaging and future missions

Ongoing Collaborations
Gaia Mission at ESA
Exoplanets and Habitability Group at ETH Zürich
ETH Zürich | Space

Giovanna Giardino (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Exoplanets atmospheres using JWST NIRSpec
Characterisation of Near-IR detectors
Understanding and modelling systematic effects.

Ongoing Collaborations
NIRSpec GTOteam for observations of exoplanet transit
Antarctic telescope ASTEP collaboration
NIRSpec Instrument Science Team

Oliver Hall (formerly ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interests
Asteroseismology of solar-like oscillators
Stellar rotation in cool stars
Machine learning and Bayesian statistics
Galactic archaeology

Ongoing Collaborations
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Gaia

ESA profile | Personal website

Ines Torres (ESA/ESTEC)

Research Interest
Remote sensing techniques for planetary geology
Traces of life under extreme conditions, Detection of life beyond Earth
Early Mars habitability

Ongoing Collaborations
ExoMars Rover Science Operations Working Group (RSOWG)

Personal website