A

Probing the first galaxies with ALMA

Melanie Kaasinen & Joshiwa van Marrewijk 

New telescopes and instruments allow us to peer into the very distant and early Universe. But current observations might imply that our predictions for some of the first Galaxies are incorrect. Join us on a journey to predict the observable properties of the proposed earliest Galaxies in the Universe, which have the potential to allow us to confirm or reject their presence.

B

Finding planets around young, active stars

Louise Dyregaard Nielsen

How do we separate stellar signals from those induced by exoplanets in the hunt for planets around young stars? A multi-wavelength approach, enabled by new instruments operating in the near-infra-red such as NIRPS and CRIRES+, might be the answer.

C

Reflection Nebulae as signposts of young star interactions with molecular clouds

Karina Mauco, Anna Miotello & Aashish Gupta 

How can reflection nebulae guide us to identify late-infall onto protoplanetary disks? Searching for signposts of disk interaction with their natal molecular cloud.

D

Fireworks around new-born stars: key to pre-biotic chemistry

Marta De Simone, Łukasz Tychoniec & Alice Somigliana

Outflows from new-born stars contain complex chemical species, which allow us to constrain the physical conditions of the gas surrounding the young stars. In this project, you will use ALMA observations of one such protostar to investigate the chemical and dynamical history of the system.

E

Revealing the footprint of a variable IMF in galaxy-integrated spectra

Alice Concas, Tereza Jerabkova & Ivanna Langan

Star formation on galactic scales -- testing the integrated galaxy-wide initial mass function using simulated galaxy spectra from state-of-the-art stellar population models.

F

Dust under the carpet: do gaps and rings in protoplanetary discs hint at proto-planets?

Claudia Toci, Haochang Jiang & Enrique Macias

While they are forming, stars are surrounded by prototoplanetary discs of dust and gas. As these structures are also the birth-place of planets, we can indirectly infer the presence of proto-planets in the disc from studying the effect of planet–disc interaction by comparing numerical models and observations. Join us on this journey!

G

Star formation in the extreme

Ashley Barnes & Katharina Immer

One of the major unanswered questions in astronomy is: how do stars form, and have they always formed in the same way? Investigating this question has pushed us to the most extreme and violent environments, which are similar to those at much earlier times in the universe. In this project, we invite you to join us in the study of star formation within the closest of such an extreme environment - the centre of the Milky Way.