Alessandro Bertolini
Alessandro is senior researcher at the gravitational physics group of Nikhef. Here, he tries to develop technologies for gravitational wave interferometers - for example, he makes sure the mirrors inside the interferometer hang really still. In the DBHC, Alessandro will work together with Stefan Hild on new technologies for the ET.
Marcel ter Brake
Marcel ter Brake is professor and chair holder of Energy, Materials and Systems at the University of Twente (UT). He is specialized in cryogenic technologies and also investigates the use of superconductivity in large-current applications, focusing on systems to be applied in future energy chains.
Jo van den Brand
Jo is the co-initiator of Einstein Telescope (ET) and he also initiated Nikhef’s gravitational physics program in the Netherlands (which he directed until 2017). Jo previously held positions at MIT, the University of Wisconsin, and at Nikhef. Currently he is a professor at Maastricht University and special professor at VU University Amsterdam. Additionally, he also initiated Innoseis, one of our co-fund partners.
Bert Bredeweg
Bert Bredeweg is professor of science education at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science (AUAS) and associate professor at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). His research concerns Artificial Intelligence in Education, particularly investigating how learners create knowledge and acquire skills, and how this can be supported using digital technology. At the AUAS, Bredeweg leads the Smart Education lab.
Chris van den Broeck
Chris is professor of Gravitational Waves Physics at the Department of Physics at Utrecht University (UU). Before this he studied physics at the University of Leuven and obtained his PhD in theoretical physics from Pennsylvania State University in 2005. He also worked as a researcher at Cardiff University and since 2009 he is part of Nikhef in Amsterdam as well.
Sarah Caudill
Sarah is a physicist specialized in search algorithms for gravitational waves in LIGO and Virgo data coming from the coalescence of compact binary objects (these include binary neutron stars and black holes). She is also a member of the Virgo Collaboration which oversees the running of the Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detector near Pisa, Italy.
Alejandra Castro
Alejandra started in this consortium as an associate professor at the Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam. She did her PhD in physics at the University of Michigan studying string Theory effects on black hole physics. From 2023 on Alejandra became associate professor at the University of Cambridge.
Jeroen van Dongen
Jeroen studied theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam and obtained his doctorate in history of science from the same university in 2002. After positions at Utrecht University, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology he is currently Professor of History of Science at the University of Amsterdam. In his research he mainly studies the history and philosophy of twentieth-century physics. He also wrote the book Einstein's Unification.
Laslo Evers
Läslo studied Geophysics at Utrecht University. After his graduation, he started working at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI). Läslo now heads the R&D group of Seismology and Acoustics at the KNMI.
Heino Falcke
Heino is Professor in Astroparticle Physics and Radio Astronomy at the Institute for Mathematics, Astronomy and Particle Physics (IMAPP) at the Radboud University. He studies the role of super massive black holes and jets in glaxies, and accretion physics through theoretical, observational and experimental astronomy. In 2000, Falcke coined the term ‘shadow of the black hole’ for the effect of light bending around the event horizon.
Gertie Geertsema
Gertie works as a senior scientist in the R&D Climate and Weather Models Department at KNMI. She graduated in Astronomy and Mathematics at the university of Groningen (RUG-NL) and holds a PhD in Astronomy, Physics and Mathematics received at the University of Utrecht. Her research field in meteorology focuses on the optimal use of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models via the development of post-processing models and tools and guidance to end users.
Stefan Hild
Stefan Hild is professor of Experimental Physics at the Faculty of Science and Egineering of Maastricht University (MU). He previously worked at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), the University of Birmingham and the University of Glasgow. He is the project leader of the ETpathfinder project and has contributed many ideas and designs to the Einstein Telescope. Hild has been active in gravitational wave research for the past 20 years and he has been part of the international team which discovered gravitational waves from two colliding black holes in 2015.
Tanja Hinderer
Tanja is an assistant professor in gravitational-wave theory at Utrecht University. Her research interests include modeling sources of gravitational waves, studying the physics of neutron stars and their equation of state, probing the nature of black holes, understanding dynamics in strong gravitational fields, among other topics. She is also leader of the workpackage on analytical models for MBHBs in the LISA consortium.
Gerard 't Hooft
Gerard is is a theoretical physicist and professor at Utrecht University. He shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics with his thesis advisor Martinus J. G. Veltman "for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions". His work concentrates on gauge theory, black holes, quantum gravity and fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics. His contributions to physics include a proof that gauge theories are renormalizable, dimensional regularization and the holographic principle.
Michiel van der Meulen
Michiel studied geology at the Utrecht University. After obtaining his PhD he started working on mineral resources and supplies at Rijkswaterstaat (directorate-general of Public Works and Water Management). In 2003, Michiel joined the Geological Survey of the Netherlands, part of TNO, where he continued working on minerals and the relationship between land use and geology. Since 2006, he held various leadership positions, and his scope and responsibilities have broadened to the delivery of geological information in general. Michiel is firmly committed to advance our understanding of geology for the public good.
Monika Moscibrodzka
Monika is an assistant professor at the Department of Astrophysics at the Radboud University (RU). She is also a member of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (EHT) which in 2019 published the first image of a black hole. Within the EHT collaboration she lead all the efforts measuring the polarization of the M87 ring.
Gijs Nelemans
Gijs (born in Paramaribo in 1971) is professor of gravitational wave astrophysics at the Radboud University Nijmegen. He is also head of the astronomy department. In addition, he is professor of high-energy astrophysics at KU Leuven since 2011. He studies the evolution of binary stars and sources of low-frequency gravitational waves.
Samaya Nissanke
Samaya is the spokesperson and associate professor at GRAPPA (a center of excellence in gravitation and astroparticle physics) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), the Netherlands. She is also a joint faculty member at the Anton Pannekoek Institute (astronomy) and the Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEF) at UvA and a member of Nikhef.
Frank Saueressig
Frank is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics, and Particle Physics of the Radboud University Nijmegen. His research focuses on theoretical high energy physics centered on questions related to Quantum Gravity. His research explores consequences of quantum gravity effects in cosmology, black hole physics and the microscopic structure of spacetime.
Elwin Savelsbergh
Elwin is a professor of Curriculum Development in Primary and Secondary Education at Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (Hogeschool Utrecht). His drive is to help providing the best Science and Technology Education to all, as a contribution to an inclusive, sustainable, and prosperous society. After graduating in physics, he started his educational research career from a solidly cognitivist perspective by investigating how students' mental representations affect their physics problem solving performance.
Matteo Tacca
Matteo works as a physicist at Nikhef and is the Virgo commissioning coordinator.
Erik Verlinde
Erik is a theoretical physicist and string theorist at the UvA. He has a formula named after him, "the Verlinde formula", which is important in conformal field theory and topological field theory. His research deals with string theory, gravity, black holes and cosmology. He is very interested in the theory of entropic gravity.