The field of exoplanet research is rapidly advancing through the development of new technology, observing techniques, and post-processing methods.

Promotor: Prof.dr. S.F. Portegies Zwart

A century ago, it was unclear whether the stars in the sky were clustered in groups, or widely spread in the universe.

Promotores: Prof.dr. G. Miley & Prof.dr. J.M. van den Broek

This research focuses on the distribution of chemical elements in protoplanetary disks, the birthplaces of planets. These disks form around young stars and contain gas and dust, from which planets grow. Ice plays a crucial role in planet formation, aiding the clumping of dust particles and influencing…

Promotor: F.P. Israel, Co-Promoter: R. Meijerink

We explored the Universe using weak gravitational lensing, a phenomenon that occurs when light from distant galaxies is bent by the gravitational fields of closer cosmic objects, much like how a lens distorts light.

On the largest scale, the Universe resembles a cosmic spiderweb. Most galaxies coexist in small groups within the threads of this web. At the nodes of the threads are enormous groups of galaxies forming the largest structures in the universe still held together by gravity: clusters of galaxies.

The work done during this PhD research, aims to investigate the effect of tidal heatingin the observability of extra-solar satellites around exoplanets.

Low-mass main-sequence stars like our Sun are continuous sources of outflowing hot magnetised plasma. In the case of the Sun, this is known as the solar wind, whereas for other stars they are called stellar winds.

Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) have been detected in objects across different stages of stellar evolution.

Stars like the sun are born in large molecular clouds existing from gas and dust. During the formation process, the chemical composition of the material can be altered drastically by the changing physical conditions.

Promotor: H.V.J. Linnartz

The focus of this thesis is how stars like our Sun and planets like Jupiter, Saturn, and Earth are formed.

This dissertation, Layered Loyalties: The Natuurkundige Commissie in the Netherlands Indies (1820-1850), studies the Natuurkundige Commissie.

A remarkable population of short period transiting rocky exoplanets with equilibrium temperatures on the order of 2,000 K has recently been discovered.

This thesis focuses on the X-ray spectral analysis of merging galaxy clusters and the plasma code development for future high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observations.

This thesis describes the development and validation of new high-contrast imaging techniques, with the ultimate goal of enabling the next generation of instruments for ELT-class telescopes to directly image Earth-like extra-solar planets orbiting around nearby stars.

Promotor: Prof.dr. E. F. van Dishoeck

I have studied the hot, diffuse gas around and between galaxies. Specifically, I have used the EAGLE numerical simulations of galaxy formation to predict the properties of this gas, and I have used those properties to predict specific observables: soft X-ray absorption and emission lines.

In this thesis we study the landscape of gravitational models which modify GR by introducing an additional scalar degree of freedom (d.o.f.) to source Cosmic Acceleration.

We explored how to morphologically classify well-resolved jetted radio-loud active galactic nuclei (RLAGN) in the LOw Frequency Array (LOFAR) Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) using machine learning.

Three major cosmology-focused missions are planned for the next decade: the Euclid space telescope, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Large areas of space are filled by molecular clouds that consist of gas and dust grains that are the remnants of dead stars. When these clouds start collapsing, the decreasing temperature and increasing density cause gas particles to start accreting onto dust grain surfaces.

Hot astrophysical plasma is ubiquitous in the Universe, from comets in our Solar system to the largest scale structures -- the cosmic web filaments. These hot plasmas, with the temperature of a few millions of degrees, are often observed in the X-ray wavelength range.

This thesis utilises the exceptional sensitivity and resolution of LOFAR to explore the low-frequency Universe, while simultaneously advancing the telescope's capabilities to enable new scientific discovery.

When observing star-forming galaxies, we are not only seeing stellar light, but we also see how this interacts with galactic gas and dust. This thesis contains studies of the stellar, nebular and dust properties of low mass star-forming galaxies.

More than 5,000 exoplanets have been found over the past couple of decades. These exoplanets show a tremendous diversity, ranging from scorching hot Jupiters, common super-Earths, to widely separated super-Jupiters on the planet/brown dwarf boundary.

One of the key quests in astronomy is to study the growth and evolution of galaxies across cosmic time. Radio observations provide a powerful means of studying the formation of stars and subsequent buildup of distant galaxies, in a way that is unbiased by the presence of dust.

This thesis discusses the physical and chemical processes than influence the composition of forming planets.

Promotor: E. F. van Dishoeck, Co-promotor: C. Walsh

Promotor: Prof.dr. S. Portegies Zwart

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.J.A. Rottgering

We have conducted a full spectral line survey of the 3-13 micron region of two massive protostars, AFGL 2591 and AFGL 2136, for the first time at high spectral resolution.

The LOFAR radio telescope produces petabytes of data every year. Radio Astronomers use complex multi-step pipelines to process this data and produce scientific images.

This thesis describes the Multi-site All-Sky CAmeRA (MASCARA), which consists of two small robotic telescope designed to detect exoplanets around the brightest stars in the sky.

Over the last three decades, the discovery of exoplanets has revealed the boundless variety of worlds beyond our own Solar System⁠. Majority of planetary systems contain short-period planets that are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune⁠.

My work focuses on a class of astronomical objects called protoplanetary disks.

Onderzoekers vanuit verschillende vakgebieden werken samen om oplossingen te bedenken voor maatschappelijke problemen.