Karin Lind is a Swedish astronomer whose research involves spectroscopy of stars in order to determine their chemical composition, and the use of this information to understand the origin of heavy elements in supernova explosions and the way radiation and energy moves through

stellar atmosphere The stellar atmosphere is the outer region of the volume of a star, lying above the stellar core, radiation zone and convection zone. Overview The stellar atmosphere is divided into several regions of distinct character: * The photosphere, whi ...

s. Her work has in particular clarified the roles of

Big Bang nucleosynthesis In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (also known as primordial nucleosynthesis, and abbreviated as BBN) is a model for the production of light nuclei, deuterium, 3He, 4He, 7Li, between 0.01s and 200s in the lifetime of the universe ...

and supernovas in producing the quantities of

lithium Lithium (from , , ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard temperature and pressure, standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the ...

observed in early stars. She is an associate professor in the Department of Astronomy at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

, and a participant and survey builder in the GALAH collaboration, which uses the

Anglo-Australian Telescope The Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) is a 3.9-metre Equatorial mount, equatorially mounted telescope operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory and situated at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, at an altitude of a little over 1, ...

's HERMES instrument to map the chemical compositions of stars in the Milky Way.

Education and career

Lind was born in Sweden, and was raised in

Motala Motala () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Motala Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with a municipal population of 43,717 inhabitants in 2024. It is the third largest city of Östergötland, following Linköping and N ...

. After an undergraduate degree at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

, and a 2007 master's degree, she traveled to Germany for doctoral study at the

European Southern Observatory The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m ...

and

Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) is a research institute located in Garching, just north of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is one of many scientific research institutes belonging to the Max Planck Society. The MPA is widely consid ...

Garching Garching bei München (, ''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a city in Bavaria, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments, located at Campus Garching. History Spatial urban planning Garching was ...

, near Munich. She completed her PhD through the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

in 2010; her dissertation, ''Chemical analysis of globular star clusters : theory and observation'', was jointly supervised by

Francesca Primas Francesca Primas is an Italian astronomer at the European Southern Observatory in Germany. Her research studies the historical evolution of chemical abundances in the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies; she is also known for her activism for i ...

and Martin Asplund. She remained at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics as a postdoctoral researcher from 2010 to 2013, and continued her postdoctoral studies at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in the UK from 2013 to 2014, before returning to Uppsala as a Marie-Curie Research Fellow in 2014. She became a group leader at the

Max Planck Institute for Astronomy The Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, MPIA) is a research institute of the Max Planck Society (MPG). It is located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany near the top of the Königstuhl (Odenwald), Kön ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

for four years, from 2015 to 2019, before returning to Sweden in 2019 for her current position at Stockholm University.

Recognition

As well as receiving a 2014 Marie Curie Fellowship, Lind was a 2015 recipient of the

Sofia Kovalevskaya Award The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany bestowed the Sofia Kovalevskaya Award from 2002 to 2020. Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891) was the first major Russian female mathematician, who made important contributions to mathematical analysis ...

of the

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 ...

, funding her work as a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. She was the 2016 recipient of the Ludwig Biermann Award of the

German Astronomical Society __NOTOC__ The ''Astronomische Gesellschaft'' is an astronomical society established in 1863 in Heidelberg, the second oldest astronomical society after the Royal Astronomical Society. History In 1882, the ''Astronomische Gesellschaft'' founded t ...

. She was the 2023 recipient of the Strömer-Ferrnerska Award of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences () is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting nat ...

, "for world-leading research in stellar spectroscopy to investigate the history of the Milky Way".

References

External links

The group for stars, planets and astrobiology
Stockholm University {{DEFAULTSORT:Lind, Karin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Swedish astronomers Swedish women scientists Uppsala University alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Max Planck Institutes researchers Academic staff of Stockholm University