Phone: +49 (0)6221 – 533 – 320
Fax: +49 (0)6221 – 533 – 298
Saskia Hekker
Group Leader, Theory and Observations of Stars (TOS) at Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS)
Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at Heidelberg University, Center for Astronomy (ZAH)/Landessternwarte Königstuhl (LSW)
Research Interests
Internal structures of stars, stellar evolution, asteroseismology, solar-like oscillators
Curriculum Vitae
Oct 2021 – Sept 2026 ERC Consolidator Grant “DipolarSound”
Since Sept 2020 Group leader at Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS), Germany
Since Sept 2020 Professor at Heidelberg University, Germany
Oct 2014 – Aug 2020 Independent research group leader, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
Since June 2014 Head of International node of Stellar Astrophysics Centre, Denmark
Sept 2013 – Sept 2014 Lead scientist (ERC starting grant), Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen, Germany
Jan 2011 – Aug 2013 Veni fellow, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 2009 – Dec 2010 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Nov 2007 – March 2009 Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Royal Observatory of Belgium
Education
Aug 2018 MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics) summer school graduate.
Sept 2007 PhD in Physics, Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, Netherlands.
Thesis: ‘Radial velocity variations in Red Giants: pulsations, spots and planets’
April 2003 MSc in Applied Physics (Cum Laude), Delft University of Technology, Netherlands.
Thesis: ‘Temperature measurements in Rayleigh-Benard convection using suspended liquid crystals’
Prizes/Grants
2020 ERC Consolidator Grant
2016 Merac grant
2015 Merac prize for observational astrophysics
2014 – 2019 Elisabeth-Schiemann-Kolleg fellow
2014 Max Planck independent Research Group
2013 ERC starting grant
2012 Women in Faculty best publication prize, University of Amsterdam
2011 Finalist of FYSICA 2011 Young Speakers Contest
2010 Veni fellowship, Dutch National Funding Agency (NWO)
2006 Kaiser prize: Prize for my contribution to the popularisation of astronomy, Leiden
2006 Poster prize: Cool stars XIV, Pasadena CA, USA
2005 Poster prize: Dutch Astronomy meeting, Blankenberghe, Belgium
2003 Poster prize: Applied Physics meeting TU Delft, The Netherlands
2003 Master degree cum Laude (< 10% success rate)
Publications
Please see my publications on ADS.
In the Press
Starquake observations near their teenage years
Aps Physics article, 2021
Astronomers Investigate Stellar Interiors
Sky & Telscope article, 2020
Old at Heart: Solution to Red Giants‘ Age Paradox
Press release, 2019
Forscherinnen lösen Rätsel um Rote Riesensterne
German article in the Göttinger Tageblatt, 2019
Stellar Ages and Galactic evolution: what have we learned from Asteroseismology
Talk at the Cambridge Workshop of Cool Stars, Stellar Systems and the Sun (Boston / Cambridge, USA – 2018)
Podcast: Asteroseismologie – Welt der Physik
Podcast (in German) about how to measure oscillations and what they can tell us about stars
Article in Pan European Networks: Science & Technology, June 2017, issue 23, page 75
The power of asteroseismology
Ebook for Open Access Government, July 2017
Asteroseismology: It’s written in the stars
Article in Open Access Government, issue 14 May 2017
Asteroseismology of binaries
Article in Pan European Networks: Science & Technology, December 2016, issue 21
Asteroseismology meets computer science
Article in Pan European Networks: Science & Technology, June 2016, issue 19
German article in the Göttinger Tageblatt
Visions in science – Breaking the enigma
Talk by Saskia Hekker at the Visions 2016 conference at Harnack House, Berlin.
Neue Methode zur Berechnung von Gravitation
German article in the Göttinger Tageblatt about a new method to measure the surface gravity of distant stars, which was published in Science Advances.
German article in the Göttinger Tageblatt about the public lecture “Einblicke in das Innere der Sterne: Die Anatomie roter Riesen” in the framework of a series of lectures
EWASS 2015 Interview on YouTube
European week of Astronomy and Space Science 2015 Interview with Saskia Hekker who won the MERAC Prize in Observational Astrophysics
Sterne mit beschleunigter chemischer Uhr
Press release, April 2015 (in German)
European Early Career Prize for Saskia Hekker
Press release, March 2015
Kepler-444 has ancient planetary system
Press release: The discovery of five exoplanets orbiting a star in the constellation of Cygnus
Göttinger finden Milliarden Jahre altes Sonnensystem
Article from NDR.de – Interview with Dr. Saskia Hekker (in German)
Article in the Göttinger Tageblatt announcing the project (in German)
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