Mia S. Lundkvist, an Assistant Professor at Aarhus University, centers her research on exoplanets – planets revolving around stars beyond our Sun – and the stars they orbit. She has a special focus on host stars that exhibit star-quakes, so-called stellar oscillations.
These oscillations, or star-quakes, are akin to earthquakes on Earth and are the signature of standing sound waves inside the star. As a consequence, the star-quakes allow a peak beneath the surface of the star and can give precise values of, for instance, the stellar mass, size and age. Knowing these parameters is crucial for studying exoplanets, as they are needed to pin down the properties of the exoplanet and to make progress towards understanding how planetary systems form and evolve.
Mia is especially interested in understanding the contribution of evaporation in this regard. In this process, the intense radiation from the nearby host star essentially boils-off the outer layers of the exoplanet, thus affecting its evolution.
The prize committee will select a winner who will be announced at an award ceremony at the KIF Annual Meeting on June 4th, 2024 taking place at Aud. A, Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 Copenhagen.
The winner will be notified in writing in advance and invited to give a talk following the ceremony.
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