Marijn Franx (born 20 July 1960) is a Dutch professor of astronomy at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
. He was a winner of the 2010
Spinoza Prize
The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...
.
His research focuses on the formation and evolution of galaxies. He is involved with both the
Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
and
James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Spa ...
s.
Career
Franx was born on 20 July 1960 in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,[Junior Fellow
The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intell ...]
of
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. In 1991 he became a
Hubble Fellow. Between 1993 and 1998 he was professor of astronomy at the
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...
, he then moved to Leiden University where he has held the same position since.
[
In 2008 Franx received a ]European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...
Advanced grant of 1.5 million euro. He is member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...
since 2009.
In 2010 he was one of four winners of the Dutch Spinoza Prize
The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...
and received a 2.5 million euro grant. The awarding organisation, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
The Dutch Research Council (NWO, Dutch: Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) is the national research council of the Netherlands. NWO funds thousands of top researchers at universities and institutes and steers the course of ...
, praised Franx for being the lead Dutch scientist to use the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...
and his research on the formation and evolution of galaxies.[ Franx is the only Dutch scientist to work on the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, the ]James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a space telescope which conducts infrared astronomy. As the largest optical telescope in space, its high resolution and sensitivity allow it to view objects too old, distant, or faint for the Hubble Spa ...
.
In March 2016 it was announced that a team of researchers, including Franx, had discovered the farthest galaxy
This article documents the most distant astronomical objects discovered and verified so far, and the time periods in which they were so classified.
For comparisons with the light travel distance of the astronomical objects listed below, the age of ...
thus far, located at 13.4 billion lightyear
A light-year, alternatively spelled light year, is a large unit of length used to express astronomical distances and is equivalent to about 9.46 trillion kilometers (), or 5.88 trillion miles ().One trillion here is taken to be 1012 ...
s.
References
External links
Profile at Leiden University
Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franx, Marijn
21st-century Dutch astronomers
Dutch astrophysicists
1960 births
Living people
Hubble Fellows
Spinoza Prize winners
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Leiden University alumni
Academic staff of Leiden University
Academic staff of the University of Groningen
People from Eindhoven