Marijn Franx (born 20 July 1960) is a Dutch professor of astronomy at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

. He was a winner of the 2010 Spinoza Prize. His research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies. He is involved with both the Hubble and

James Webb Space Telescope The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy. As the largest telescope in space, it is equipped with high-resolution and high-sensitivity instruments, allowing it to view objects too old, Lis ...

Career

Franx was born on 20 July 1960 in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

. He studied astronomy at Leiden University and graduated cum laude in 1984. Four years later he obtained his doctorate from the same university. From 1988 to 1991 Franx was a Junior Fellow of

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 1991 he became a Hubble Fellow. Between 1993 and 1998 he was professor of astronomy at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

, he then moved to Leiden University where he has held the same position since. In 2008 Franx received a

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

Advanced grant of 1.5 million euro. He is member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

since 2009. In 2010 he was one of four winners of the Dutch Spinoza Prize and received a 2.5 million euro grant. The awarding organisation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, praised Franx for being the lead Dutch scientist to use the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the Orbiting Solar Observatory, first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ...

and his research on the formation and evolution of galaxies. Franx is the only Dutch scientist to work on the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the

. In March 2016 it was announced that a team of researchers, including Franx, had discovered the farthest galaxy thus far, located at 13.4 billion

lightyear A light-year, alternatively spelled light year (ly or lyr), is a unit of length used to express astronomical distance, astronomical distances and is equal to exactly , which is approximately 9.46 trillion km or 5.88 trillion mi. As defined by t ...

References

External links

Profile at Leiden University

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franx, Marijn 21st-century Dutch astronomers Dutch astrophysicists 1960 births Living people Hubble Fellows Spinoza Prize winners Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Leiden University alumni Academic staff of Leiden University Academic staff of the University of Groningen People from Eindhoven