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About this group

The planet formation group at the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics was founded in November 2010. The group studies how planets and exoplanets are formed from cosmic dust in protoplanetary disk. We do this with numerical modeling, focusing on:

• The structure, the formation and the evolution of planetary birthplaces (protoplanetary disks)
• The coagulation, fragmentation and motion of dust aggregates in these disks
• The formation of planetesimals (i.e. 1-100 km-size bodies such as comets and asteroids)
• The runaway and oligarchic growth of planetary embryos out of swarms of planetesimals
• The N-body interactions between newly formed planets.

We ask ourselves the question: Which physical processes are involved and how do they interact? We try to solve problems such as the infamous meter size barrier problem or the problem with the slow formation of Jupiter's core. Also, we try to understand the size distribution of dust particles in protoplanetary disks and we make the link to observational data of these disks through use of radiative transfer models.

Members

• Kees Dullemond
  Group head.
  Kees's Website.
• Carolin (Lina) Kimmig
  PhD student, working on warped disks and other non-axisymmetric disk phenomena.
• Leon Hühn
  PhD student, working on planet formation in the early disk-forming stages.
• Jorge Perez Gonzalez
  PhD student, working on shadows in protoplanetary disks.
• Sören Meiners
  Master student, working on interpreting ALMA dust rings with planet-disk interaction models.
• Jiahan Shi
  Postdoc, working on 3D simulations of the streaming instability.
• Kim Weiskopf
  Master student, working on planetary migration with cooling.
• Jenya Govorov
  Bachelor student, working on pebble accretion.
• Jakob Shoell
  Master student, working on coagulation of fractal aggregates.
• Julia Dierich
  Bachelor student, working on channel maps of warped disks.
• Laura Polzer
  Bachelor student, working on dust trap models.
• Drishika Nadella
  Master student (starting April 2025), working on late infall events.
• Dmitry Semenov
  Independent senior researcher (starting June 2025), working on astrochemistry.

Visiting scientists

• Carsten Dominik (March-April 2019)
  Visiting scientist at ITA, working on many things.
• Eric Gaidos (regular visitor)
  Working on various things in exoplanetary sciences.
• Sareh Ataiee (Summer 2014)
  Working together with Adriana Pohl on models planet-disk interaction.
• Nader Haghighipour (Fall 2014)
  Visiting scientist at the ITA. Worked on planet formation around binary stars.

Former members

• Noa Bergmann
  Bachelor student, working on volatile element evaporation/condensation in molten chondrule precursors.
• Jan Braunwarth
  Master student, working on analyzing observations of warped disks with a dynamic warped disk model.
• Thomas Rometsch
  Postdoc, working on planet-disk interaction and migration
• Vincent Mader
  Master student, working on new algorithms for dust coagulation calculation.
• Moritz Beutel
  PhD student, working on hybrid Monte-Carlo-N-Body method for planet formation.
• Cade Bürgy
  Bachelor student, working a re-evaluation of the DSHARP ring widths.
• Frederike Marx
  Master student, working on dynamics of dust in disk with a planet
• Jakob Schöll
  Bachelor student, working on two-population dust model
• Kim Weiskopf
  Bachelor student, working on type III migration, two-planet migration
• Andrej Herrmann
  Master student, working on multi-planet migration and the effect on the dust
• Dominik Ostertag
  Master student, working on dust ring dynamics in disks
• Schant Demircian
  Master student, working on the vertical structure of warped disks
• Johannes Bahrenberg
  Bachelor student, working on radiative transfer in warped disks
• Daniel Wanner
  Bachelor student, working on MCMC with simple disk models
• Maike Voelkel
  Bachelor student, working on 1D disk gap models.
• Julian Groth
  Bachelor student, working on the link between spiral opening angle and disk temperature
• Peter Rodenkirch
  PhD student, working on planet-disk interaction and disk winds.
• Noa Hoffmann
  Bachelor student, working on Infall onto a protoplanetary disk
• Jan Braunwarth
  Bachelor student, working on multi-planet migration
• Caroline Strunz
  Master student, working on dust dynamics in disks with spirals
• Andrew Winter
  Postdoc (Humboldt Fellow).
• Natalia Dzyurkevich
  Postdoc, working on disk models and planet formation.
• Sören Meiners
  Bachelor student, working on chondrule formation.
• Justin Fischl
  Bachelor student, working on the dust rings in DSHARP disks.
• Andreas Rupp
  Postdoc, working on models of fractal grains.
• Michael Küffmeier
  
Postdoc, working on 3-D hydrodynamics of protoplanetary disks and their formation history.
• Felipe Goicovic
  Postdoc, working on pebble accretion.
• Leon Steiner
  Bachelor student.
• Frederike Marx
  Bachelor student. Works on radiative transfer models of protoplanetary disks.
• Schant Demircian
  Bachelor student. Works on hydrodynamic models of dust rings in protoplanetary disks.
• Maroussia Leidner
  Bachelor student. Works on the radiative transfer of dust rings with scattering.
• Sören Krüger
  Bachelor student. Works on hydrodynamic models of disks being fed by mass from outside.
• Bogdan Zhukov
  Bachelor student. Works on disks with shadows.
• Kevin Lange
  Master student. Working on models of water in planetesimal interiors.
• Caroline Kimmig
  Bachelor student. Works on migration in disks with FARGO simulations.
• Andrej Hermann
  Bachelor student. Works on migration in disks.
• Jochen Stadler
  Bachelor student. Works on 1-D disk evolution models.
• Ferdinand Weisenhorn
  Bachelor student. Works on Fargo Simulations of ringed disks.
• Lukas Kuhn
  Bachelor student. Works on dippers.
• Iulia Skobleva
  Bachelor student. Works on CO maps of disks.
• Caroline Strunz
  Bachelor student. Worked on rings in disks.
• Dominik Ostertag
  Bachelor student. Worked on circumplanetary disks.
• Micha Philipp
  Bachelor student. Worked on gap formation in disks.
• Alexander Nies
  Bachelor student. Worked on planetary migration.
• Aaron Schneider
  Bachelor student. Worked on outbursts of protoplanetary disk sources.
• Enrico Delibori
  Guest master student. Worked on hydro models of disks truncated by a companion.
• Nicolas Brod Bach
  Master student. Works on ice evaporation and condensation in surface layers of protoplanetary disks.
• Adriana Pohl (MPIA/ITA)
  PhD student. Working on radiative transfer models of non-axisymmetric protoplanetary disks, trying to explain recent observed images of disks.
  Adriana's Website.
• Akimasa Kataoka
  Postdoc (JSPS Fellow April 2015 - November 2016, Humboldt Fellow as of December 2016). Works on a new probe of dust grain sizes and shapes, using millimeter wave polarization as observed with ALMA, interpreting this as a result of "self-scattered" thermal emission from the dust.
• Sebastian Stammler
  PhD student. Works on the role of ices in planet formation.
  Formerly masters student in this group, working on chondrule formation in shocks in protoplanetary disks.
• Anna Penzlin
  Master student. Working on dust dynamics in evolving protoplanetary disks.
• Alex Fontana
  Master student. Working on radiative transfer in protoplanetary disks.
• Marlen Neubert
  Bachelor student. Working on comparing the composition of protoplanetary dust compared to solar system composition.
• Veronika Oehl
  Bachelor student. Working on warped disks.
• Kevin Lange
  Bachelor student. Works on liquid water in planetesimal interiors.
• Fabian Scheuermann
  Bachelor student. Works on dynamic stirring of planetesimals.
• Peter Rodenkirch
  Bachelor student. Works on magneto-centrifugal wind effects on disk evolution.
• Inga Kristina Kerber
  Bachelor student. Works on grain alignment.
• Sebastian Geiser
  Bachelor student. Works on planet trapping in pressure bumps.
• Manuel Kramer
  Bachelor student. Works on accretion of gas from an MC.
• Kai Salm
  Master student. Working on N-body and Monte Carlo simulations of planet growth.
• Dan Cermak
  Master student. Working on implicit hydrodynamics algorithms.
• Philipp Weber
  Master student. Working on inner rims of transition disks.
• Maximilian Herrmann
  Master student. Works on water delivery to Earth.
• Daniel Harsono
  Postdoc. Works on chondrule formation processes, protoplanetary disks and planet formation.
• Elias Rombach
  Bachelor student. Works on thermal evolution of planetesimal interiors.
• Matthew Herbst
  Bachelor student. Works on non-planar disks.
• Tobias Jäger
  Bachelor student. Works on re-accretion of chondrules onto planetesimals.
• Joshua Hähnel
  Master student. Working on coagulation and the bouncing barrier.
• Jonas Höhrl
  Bachelor student. Worked on radiative transfer in planetary atmospheres.
• Farzin Sereshti
  Programmer. Working on the RADMC-3D code.
• Laszlo Szucs
  PhD student. Worked on radiation-hydrodynamic models and synthetic observations of star forming regions, and their comparison to observations.
  Laszlo's Website.
• Joanna Drazkowska
  PhD student. Worked on connecting the small scale dust growth to large scale planet formation.
  Joanna's Website.
• Volker Gaibler
  Postdoc. Worked as part of the SFB 881 collaboration on the Milky Way System, focusing on jets as a source of feedback in star formation.
  Volker's Website.
• Jon Ramsey
  Postdoc. Worked on disk photoevaporation, magneto-centrifugal disk winds, jets, outflows etc.
  Jon's Website.
• Stefan Brems
  Staatsexamen student, worked on coagulation of droplets in planetary atmospheres.
• Florian Eberhart
  Projektpraktikum-student. Worked on the shock model of chondrule formation.
• Valentin Chelaru
  Projektpraktikum-student. Worked on turbulent stirring of particles.
• Carsten Littek
  Master student. Worked on N-body simulations of multiple-planet systems in a gas disk environment.
• Sebastian Lorek
  Master student. Worked on N-body method for linking to stochastic planet formation codes.
• Eduard Bopp
  Master student. Worked on gas flows around mini-planets in protoplanetary disks, and the potential for pebble accretion onto those objects.
• Kay Scholze
  Bachelor student. Worked on disk eccentricity.
• Philipp Weber
  Bachelor student. Working on modeling of pre-transitional disks.
• Paul Heeren
  Bachelor student. Worked on gravitational contraction of dust clumps/clouds in protoplanetary disks.
• Fredrik Windmark
  PhD student. Worked on modeling of particle collisions in protoplanetary disks based on laboratory data from the Duisburg laboratory.
  Fredrik's Website.
• Paola Pinilla
  Former PhD student. Worked on modeling of dust evolution in protoplanetary disks and radiative transfer models of such disks to compare to near-future ALMA and E-VLA data. Now Postdoc in Leiden.
  
• Sareh Ataiee
  Former visiting PhD student. Worked on type I migration of multi-planet systems in the context of "planet factories" (local hotspots of planet formation). Now working in Masshad, Iran.
• Helen Morrison
  Former Masters student. Worked on time-dependent radiative transfer in protoplanetary disks. Now PhD student in Rostock.
• Dan Cermak
  Former Bachelor student. Worked on a scenario of boulder migration to explain pre-transitional disks.
• Gianni Klesse
  Bachelor student until November 2012. Worked on pseudo-atmospheres around very low mass planets embedded in a protoplanetary disk.
• Elena Selentin
  Masters student until Summer 2012. Worked on the problem of hydrodynamic re-accretion of debris after impact of a small projectile onto a large target in a protoplanetary disk. Now a PhD student in cosmology working with Luca Amendola at the ITP, Heidelberg University.
• Chris Ormel
  Postdoc until August 2011. Was Humboldt Fellow 2009/2010. Works on runaway and oligarchic growth of planetesimals to planets. Now a Hubble Fellow in Berkeley.
  Mail to Chris.
• Zsolt Sandor
  Postdoc until August 2011. Works on N-body and hydrodynamics of the late stages of rocky planet formation in a gas-rich disk. Now in Innsbruck / Vienna
  Mail to Zsolt.
• Til Birnstiel
  PhD student until August 2010. Postdoc until summer 2011. Works on global disk models with dust evolution, and the predictions of observables and comparison to observations. Was in Munich, in Prof. Ercolano's group. Now at CfA, in Sean Andrew's group.
  Til's website.
• Andras Zsom
  PhD student until August 2010. Worked during his PhD on making the connection between laboratory experiments in Braunschweig and models of dust coagulation in protoplanetary disks. After that he was working as postdoc in the group of Lisa Kaltenegger at the MPIA on the topic of exoplanetary atmospheres. Now at MIT in the group of Sara Seager.
  His web site.
• Frithjof Brauer
  Former PhD student. Pioneered the full-scale dust coagulation modeling done by us. Without his work, we would not have been able to do much of our current science. See, however, below...

In Memoriam: Dr. rer. nat. Frithjof Brauer

Read the Nachruf for Frithjof Brauer.