Stefan Funk (born in Heidelberg in 1974) is a German

astroparticle Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

physicist. He is a professor at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics at the FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg in Germany and an elected a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

Life and scientific work

Stefan Funk studied physics at the

Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

from 1996 to 2002. Subsequently, he worked as a PhD student in the gamma-ray astrophysics group of Werner Hofmann at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physic (MPIK) in Heidelberg, where he received his PhD from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in 2005. The work of his doctoral thesis is the commissioning and characterisation of the central trigger system of the

High Energy Stereoscopic System High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) is a system of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) for the investigation of cosmic gamma rays in the photon energy range of 0.03 to 100 TeV. The acronym was chosen in honour of Victor ...

(H.E.S.S.) gamma-ray telescopes and the survey of the

Galactic plane The galactic plane is the plane on which the majority of a disk-shaped galaxy's mass lies. The directions perpendicular to the galactic plane point to the galactic poles. In actual usage, the terms ''galactic plane'' and ''galactic poles'' usuall ...

with H.E.S.S. at

TeV TEV may refer to: * Transient Earth Voltage: a term for voltages appearing on the metal work of switchgear due to internal partial discharges * TeV, or teraelectronvolt or trillion electron volt, a measure of energy * Total Enterprise Value, a ...

energies. From 2006 to 2007 Funk worked at the

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford Univers ...

in Menlo Park, California, US as a postdoctoral researcher on GLAST (later Fermi-LAT), a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

satellite that was launched on June 11, 2008, working with

Roger Blandford Roger David Blandford, FRS, FRAS (born 1949) is a British theoretical astrophysicist, best known for his work on black holes. Early life Blandford was born in Grantham, England and grew up in Birmingham. Career Blandford is famous in the ast ...

, Elliott Bloom and

Persis Drell Persis S. Drell is an American physicist best known for her expertise in the field of particle physics. She was the director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory from 2007 to 2012. She was dean of the Stanford University School of Engine ...

. In 2007, he became an assistant professor in the Physics department at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and the SLAC National accelerator center. During that time, Funk was a group leader in the

Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) is an independent joint laboratory of Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, founded in 2003 by a gift by Fred Kavli and The Kavli Foundation. It is h ...

working on high-energy astrophysics with the Fermi-LAT satellite. He returned to Germany in 2014 to work at the Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics (ECAP) at FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg. Scientifically, he continued his work on H.E.S.S. and the Fermi-LAT, but also focussed more on research and development for the

Cherenkov Telescope Array The Cherenkov Telescope Array or CTA is a multinational, worldwide project to build a new generation of ground-based gamma-ray instrument in the energy range extending from some tens of GeV to about 300 TeV. It is proposed as an open observatory a ...

(CTA). His group is developing camera electronics for CTA and he is also involved in the scientific preparation of the observatory.

Main research areas

Stefan Funk's area of research is high energy astrophysics and astroparticle physics, in particular the search for the origin of

cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

s using gamma rays and the understanding of the particle nature of

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ab ...

. Funk is also involved in projects in laboratory astrophysics where astrophysical processes are reproduced in laboratory settings and in topics in astro quantum optics, such as super-high angular resolution optical

intensity interferometry An intensity interferometer is the name given to devices that use the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect. In astronomy, the most common use of such an astronomical interferometer is to determine the apparent angular diameter of a radio source or star. ...

Distinctions and awards

Funk is a recipient of IUPAP's 2009 Shakti P. Duggal Award to recognise ''outstanding work by a young scientist in the field of cosmic ray physics''. In 2010, he received the Bruno Rossi Prize from the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

with the H.E.S.S. team, and in 2011 with the Fermi-LAT team. He is a Thomson Reuters highly cited researcher in 2015 and 2016, and was elected as an APS Fellow in 2016.

Publications (selection)

References

__FORCETOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Funk, Stefan German astrophysicists 1974 births Living people Fellows of the American Physical Society Heidelberg University alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Stanford University faculty Scientists from Heidelberg