Sera Markoff (born 6 July 1971) is an American astrophysicist and full professor of theoretical high energy astrophysics at the Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy,

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. She is a member of the

Event Horizon Telescope The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a Astronomical interferometer, telescope array consisting of a global network of radio telescopes. The EHT project combines data from several very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) stations around Earth, wh ...

team that produced the first image of a

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

Education and career

Sera Markoff studied physics at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

and was awarded a Bachelor's of Science in Physics in 1993. In 1996 she gained a Master of Arts from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in theoretical astrophysics, and in 2000 she gained a PhD in the same field. She was an

Alexander von Humboldt Foundation The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation () is a foundation that promotes international academic cooperation between scientists and scholars from Germany and abroad. Established by the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is funded by t ...

Research Fellow at the

Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy The Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfRA) (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie'') is located in Bonn, Germany. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft). History By com ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

from 2000 to 2002 and a National Science Foundation Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at the

from 2002 to 2005. In 2006 she joined the University of Amsterdam as an assistant professor, and was promoted to associate professor in 2008 and to professor in 2017. In 2019 she became editor of the journal ''

Astroparticle Physics Astroparticle physics, also called particle astrophysics, is a branch of particle physics that studies elementary particles of astrophysical origin and their relation to astrophysics and cosmology. It is a relatively new field of research emergi ...

''.

Research

Sera Markoff's research focuses on the interface between

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

and

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

, in particular problems relating to processes occurring around dense objects such as black holes. She is a member of a number of large scale research projects including the Low-Frequency ARay (

LOFAR LOFAR may refer to: * Low-Frequency Array, a large radio telescope system based in the Netherlands * Low Frequency Analyzer and Recorder and Low Frequency Analysis and Recording, for low-frequency sounds {{disambiguation ...

), Cherenkov Telescope Array and

, which produced the first image of a

. She is a member of the leadership of the Event Horizon Telescope project where she serves as a member of the science council and as one of the working group coordinators.

Awards and honors

* Willem de Graaff Prize (''Willem de Graaffprijs'') for Public Outreach, the Royal Netherlands Astronomical Society 2019 * Beatrice M. Tinsley Centennial Visiting Professorship

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

2015 * Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

2014 * VICI Award 2015 * VIDI Personal Career Award 2007

Significant publications

*Markoff S et al. (2005). Going with the flow: can the base of jets subsume the role of compact accretion disk coronae? '' Astrophys. J.'' 635: 1203–1216

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Markoff, Sera 1971 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam University of Arizona alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni