Dr. Veerle J. Sterken.  Photo copyright Heidi Hofstettler ETHZ

Dr. Veerle J. Sterken

I’m an aerospace engineer and a space scientist, currently leading a research group at the ETH Zürich (Switzerland), funded by the ERC Starting Grant Nr. 851544: “The Heliosphere and the Dust: Characterization of the Solar and Interstellar Neighbourhood”.

My daily work covers research, teaching, 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.

Group website: www.astrodust.phys.ethz.ch

Summary of research interests:

  • Cosmic dust in the solar system
  • Solar wind, heliospheric science
  • Space (micro)debris and the impact of spaceflight on the atmosphere
  • Space instrumentation and calibration
  • Spaceraft data analysis
  • Dust trajectory simulations in the solar system
  • Space mission concept design
  • History of science
  • Spaceflight and aeronautics

Email: info [at] veerlesterken.ch

Sponsors: European Research Council (2020-2026), ETHZ, NCCR PlanetS, COST Action

Group website: www.astrodust.phys.ethz.ch

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0843-7912   Refereed publications: 55   H-index: 20 (NASA ADSWWW)