Welcome

Welcome to my website!
I am an astrophysicist and I study some of the most extreme and fascinating objects in our universe: neutron stars and black holes!

Whereabouts: I am an associate professor (Universitair Hoofddocent) and Vici laureate at the Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy (API) of the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands).

Research focus: Using telescopes and satellites across the globe and the sky, covering the electromagnetic spectrum from X-ray to radio wavelengths, I use X-ray binaries to study:

  • jets and disk winds
  • ultra-dense matter inside neutron stars
  • evolution of binary stars
  • stellar explosions and transients

In particular, I highly enjoy designing and carrying out ambitious observing programs that coordinate multiple observatories and allow to make exciting new discoveries.

Below are some recent research highlights, see more on my research page. You can also check out the team working with me, job vacancies and opportunities for student projects in my research group, as well as some of my media coverage and science communication.

Some recent highlights:

jets

How to launch a jet

Whenever a gigantic explosion occurs in the cosmos, or an astrophysical object guzzles up matter from its surroundings, so-called jets are shot out: collimated…

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jets

A cosmic speed camera

Jets are collimated streams of gas and energy that are produced by a variety of astrophysical objects and phenomena. Jets are, for instance, produced…

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winds

A windy surprise

Binary star systems that contain a neutron star are important for probing fundamental theories of physics and for studying a large variety of astrophysical…

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