Kathrin Altwegg is an astrophysicist, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Space Research and Planetology, and former director of the '' '' (CSH) at the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a compreh ...

. She is a member of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

Early life

Kathrin Altwegg was born on 11 December 1951 in

Balsthal Balsthal is a municipality in the district of Thal in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. History Balsthal is first mentioned in 968 as ''Palcivallis''. In 1255 it was mentioned as ''Balcetal''. Geography Balsthal has an area, , of . Of ...

. Between 1957 and 1970, she completed her primary education in Balsthal and passed the High school diploma in Switzerland at the lycée in

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissens ...

Education and research career

In 1975, she graduated studying physics at

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, where she was the only woman in her year. In 1980, she obtained her doctorate in experimental physics from the

and proceeded to undertake post-doctoral research in the physics-chemistry department of the University of Technology, Design and Architecture, in New York. In 1982, she returned to Switzerland, where she gained a position at the

, in the space exploration and planetology department. In 1996, she passed her university accreditation in the field of solar system physics and became project manager of the projec
-2001.html ROSINA
(Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis) concerning the comet

67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (abbreviated as 67P or 67P/C–G) is a Jupiter-family comet, originally from the Kuiper belt, with a current orbital period of 6.45 years, a rotation period of approximately 12.4 hours and a maximum velocity of . Chu ...

. Since 2001, she has been a full professor and researcher, with the title of associate professor, at the department of space research and planetology at the

Prizes and awards

In 2015, she received the prize of the Commerce and Industry association of Bern 2015 for her mission in the Rosetta project but also for her commitment to young people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altwegg, Kathrin Living people Women astronomers Year of birth missing (living people) University of Basel alumni Academic staff of the University of Bern