Some of our Research Projects

Stardust grains formed in the death throes of stars and are found in meteorites. These grains represent invaluable samples to study astrophysics with hands-on samples in the laboratory.

The Big Bang only formed Hydrogen, Helium, and traces of Lithium. The evolution of elements since then is termed galactic chemical evolution.

The solar nebula, from which our Solar System formed, represents Milky May material after 9 Ga of galactic chemical evolution. Solar System samples, such as meteorites, contain important information to study our neighborhood.

Analyzing micrometer-sized stardust grains for their trace-element isotopic compositions requires special instruments, such as resonance ionization mass spectrometers.

Objects in space are constantly irradiated to cosmic rays, which induce nuclear reactions. Measuring these reactions allows the determination of the cosmic ray exposure ages for meteorites and stardust grains.

Data evaluation, instrument control, and simulations these days all require code development skills and experience.

For cutting edge research applications, the perfect hardware must sometimes be built by yourself.