Research Team

André is working on the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets around young, nearby stars using direct imaging observation techniques. His research mostly makes use of state-of-the-art instruments, such as NaCo and SPHERE, ranging from optical to thermal infrared wavelengths.

Sierk van Terwisga is a PSF fellow working on the evolution of protoplanetary disks from an observational perspective, and particularly, on how they are affected by their environment. The sensitivity and speed of ALMA make it possible to study these effects, which are difficult to identify in individual disks, by observing large populations of disks in different environments and at different ages. His research combines observations of both the dust and molecular gas in these systems to get new constraints on how planet formation proceeds.

Miriam is a PhD student working with Thomas Henning and Roy van Boekel.
She is interested in the link between the evolution of protoplanetary disks and planet formation. With the focus on transition disks, she analyses scattered light images obtained with instruments such as VLT/SPHERE through radiative transfer calculations in order to investigate the disk morphology and potential imprints of planet formation.

Grigorii is a PhD student working with Prof Henning and Dr Semenov on the thermo-chemical modelling and observation of protoplanetary disks. His project aims to characterize the physical and chemical structure of protoplanetary disks with sub-millimeter ALMA and NOEMA observations, and prepare data processing tools for upcoming JWST.