I am a professor of astrophysics at the University of Zurich. My research is focussed on understanding the origin and evolution of the Universe and how stars, planets and galaxies form. I enjoy communicating science to the public through different media, including writing books , producing music & collaborating with artists. I write a regular column for Das Magazin and I was scientist in residence at the Rietberg Museum & the KOSMOS cultural centre in Zurich where I hosted the occasional ‘Late night scienc
News: My latest book is “ Sternenstaub. Die Geschichte des Universums in 42 nie verliehenen Nobelpreisen ” published in November 2022 with Kein & Aber . Only in German at the moment. “ Mond – Eine Biografie “, published with Kein & Aber , is now available in German from all good bookstores, amazon , or ebook. It is also available in English (only on amazon) with the title “Moon: Past, Present & Future” as a softcover or ebook .
In 2002 I joined the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Zurich. The ITP was host to Albert Einstein who obtained his PhD here in 1905 and Erwin Schroedinger (1921- 1927) who developed the mathematical framework behind quantum mechanics in Zurich. I was institute director from 2007- 2011. In 2013 the University decided that computational science should become a priority area and my colleagues and I established the new Institute for Computational Science (ICS). I am now director of the Cen