February 14, 2017
Postdoctoral scholar Sebastiaan Krijt has won a prestigious three-year Hubble Fellowship, which are awarded to only 5% of applicants. Sebastiaan will work with associate professor Fred Ciesla and collaborators to explore the fate of carbon-bearing molecules during the earliest stages of planet formation. Here is the abstract for his proposal:
"I propose to study, through numerical modeling, the formation of planetesimals out of microscopic dust grains together with the chemical evolution of the disks in which they are growing, bridging the gaps between astrochemistry and planet formation. I will create a coherent and self-consistent picture of how planetesimal formation shapes its environment and make testable predictions about volatile abundances (both in the gas-phase and in the form of ices) that can be compared to new observations of our own Solar System, nearby protoplanetary disks, and evolved debris disks. Ultimately, my research will set the stage for understanding the final phase of planetary assembly and volatile delivery."