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” (archived webpage: 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.