On September 21, 2023, Heidelberg University appointed Dr Andreas Koch-Hansen as new adjunct professor (apl. Prof.) at the suggestion of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy. In doing so, the university recognizes not only his eligibility for appointment as a professor, but also his outstanding achievements in research and teaching at the university.
Apl. Prof. Dr Koch-Hansen studied physics and astronomy at the University of Heidelberg until 2003 and received his doctorate in 2006 from the University of Basel on "Chemical and kinematical evolution in nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies", under supervision of the former institute director Prof. Dr Eva Grebel.
After postdoctoral research stays at the University of California in Los Angeles (US), the University of Leicester (UK), and the University of Lancaster (UK), he habilitated at the University of Heidelberg in 2015. In 2008 he received the Ludwig Biermann Prize of the German Astronomical Society for his outstanding research. In 2011 he became Emmy-Noether junior research group leader at the Landessternwarte Königstuhl. Since 2017, Koch-Hansen has been researching and teaching at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut of the Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH).
Dr Koch-Hansens research focuses primarily on the study of the Milky Way using a variety of tools and methods. He investigates questions related to "Galactic Astronomy", mainly with the tool of "chemical tagging", i.e. the measurement of chemical abundances od stars in different environments. His interests also include chemical abundance measurements and the history of the orbits of globular clusters, dwarf galaxies and field stars in various galactic components (disk/bulge/halo). In addition, he studies the dynamics of star clusters, dark matter in dwarf galaxies and the morphology of galaxies in the local universe.
In addition to his research work, Dr Koch-Hansen is intensively involved in the training of young scientists and enriches the range of lectures offered by Heidelberg University with a series of special courses and seminars.
We are very pleased about the appointment of Dr Andreas Koch-Hansen as our new adjunct professor!
CONTACT
apl. Prof. Dr Andreas Koch-Hansen
Center for Astronomy of Heidelberg University (ZAH)
Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI)
andreas.koch@uni-heidelberg.de
Private Homepage: https://wwwstaff.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/akoch/
