_72dpi.jpg "Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching")
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and KIT Freundeskreis und Fördergesellschaft e.V. (KFG) award the 2022 Heinrich Hertz Guest Professorship to Professor Dr. Reinhard Genzel. Genzel is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching and was granted the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2020. On October 5, 2022, 4.30 p.m., Genzel will speak about “Galaxien und Schwarze Löcher” (galaxies and black holes) at the Audimax of KIT. In addition, he will offer a seminar for KIT students.
The public lecture of Reinhard Genzel is entitled “Galaxien und Schwarze Löcher” (galaxies and black holes). Since the discovery of quasars about 50 years ago, there has been a growing number of indications that massive black holes in the centers of milky way systems efficiently convert gravitation energy into radiation through accretion of gas and stars. High-resolution infrared and radio measurements in the center of our milky way have provided proof of this hypothesis. At the same time, new and unexpected results have been obtained for the dense star cluster in the immediate vicinity of the black hole. In this connection, new developments of infrared instruments and in adaptive optics and interferometry at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile played an important role. In parallel, it became clear that most galaxies accommodate massive black holes that must have developed a billion years after the Big Bang already. Reinhard Genzel will present these new measurements and their consequences for the formation of black holes in the early universe.
The lecture will be given at the Forum-Hörsaal, Audimax, Campus South, building 30.95, Straße am Forum 1, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
On October 4, Reinhard Genzel will offer a seminar for students with the title “The Formation and Evolution of Star-forming Galaxies.”
About the Heinrich Hertz Guest Professorship
Every year, the Heinrich Hertz Guest Professorship is awarded by KIT Freundeskreis und Fördergesellschaft e.V. and KIT to a renowned person from science, industry, culture, or politics for outstanding achievements and contributions in research and the society. KIT Freundeskreis und Fördergesellschaft e.V. sponsors research, academic education, innovation, and academic life at KIT and endowed the Guest Professorship in 1987, one hundred years after physicist Heinrich Hertz experimentally proved the existence of electromagnetic waves at Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe, a predecessor institution of KIT.
About the Person
Professor Dr. Reinhard Genzel, born in 1952, is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Scientific Member of Max Planck Society, and Professor at the Graduate School for Physics and Astronomy of the University of California in Berkeley. He is one of the world’s leading researchers in the field of infrared and submillimeter astronomy. His research focuses on experimental astrophysics, black holes, galactic nuclei, galaxy evolution, star formation, and extragalactic astrophysics. In 2020, Professor Genzel received the Nobel Prize for Physics together with Roger Penrose and Andrea Ghez.
In close partnership with society, KIT develops solutions for urgent challenges – from climate change, energy transition and sustainable use of natural resources to artificial intelligence, sovereignty and an aging population. As The University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT unites scientific excellence from insight to application-driven research under one roof – and is thus in a unique position to drive this transformation. As a University of Excellence, KIT offers its more than 10,000 employees and 22,800 students outstanding opportunities to shape a sustainable and resilient future. KIT – Science for Impact.