Dr. Veerle J. Sterken

I’m an aerospace engineer and a space scientist at the Ecole Polytechnique Fderale de Lausanne within LASTRO and eSpace, focusing on research on cosmic dust in the solar system and on space sustainability (space micro-debris). Between 2020 and 2025, I have led the ERC Starting Grant project Nr. 851544: “The Heliosphere and the Dust: Characterization of the Solar and Interstellar Neighbourhood” (www.astrodust.phys.ethz.ch).

My daily work covers research, funding acquisition, supervision, outreach talks, publishing and community service, like organizing meetings, refereeing publications, editing books, mentoring, etc. My work is curosity-driven and I regularly engage in interdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues from other fields to allow for synergies that push the field forward.