WANDA - ERC Starting Grant 101039452 - Hosted at the ESO Headquarters
Credits: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
When and how did the multitude of observed exo-planets form?
The WANDA project aims at tackling this central question by investigating the origin of the ring-like and asymmetric structures observed in protoplanetary disks, the cradle of planets, and pushing such studies to the distant and massive star-forming regions, the locations that best represent the natal environments of the known exo-planets.
The WANDA team will employ a novel multi-wavelength and multi-technique observational approach, based on a combination of high-resolution spectroscopy, spatially resolved integral field spectroscopy, and high spatial resolution imaging at near-infrared and millimeter wavelengths.
Origin of disk structures
Are large cavities and rings observed in disks related to the presence of substantial disk winds?
Accretion as a signature
Does the presence of planets in disks leave significant imprint on the accretion of material onto the star?
Effect of the environment
How do externally photoevaporating winds impact the properties of disks and how can we detect them?
Exploring far away regions
How is planet formation in massive star-forming regions different than in nearby low-mass regions?
Credits: ALMA Partnership et al. 2015; Hartmann et al. 2016; ESO/Kirwan et al.; ESO/T. Preibisch
The WANDA team is being built with some hiring coming in 2022 and 2023 (JOBS)
Several colleagues are also closely collaborating with the team.
This includes Monika Petr-Gotzens, Enrique Macias, Anna Miotello, Giacomo Beccari, Amelia Bayo and several other Staff, Fellows, and Students at ESO.
For a list of people working on Star and Planet formation at ESO Garching, look here.
The WANDA team is member of the ODYSSEUS collaboration and collaborates with the DFG funded grants YTTHACA, the RUTD Transition Disks groups, and with the DUSTBUSTERS collaboration. Other collaborations include the ERC funded groups of G. Rosotti and S. Facchini in the University of Milano and of L. Testi in the University of Bologna, as well as the JEDI group at INAF.
The current members of the WANDA team are:
Here we will post links to ads for job openings as soon as available. Stay tuned!
If you are interested to join the team, please contact the PI.
We want to show here the status of the project.
Elapsed time
WANDA papers:
Hired personell
Enthusiasm level
A selection of what we have done so far (check the full list here: ADS+)
If you want to get in contact, send us a message to the PI.
WANDA 
