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Simón Casassus
Full Professor
Background & Contact Information
Ph.D. Astrophysics, 1999, Oxford University, United Kingdom
Research Topics:Planet Formation and the Interstellar Medium.
Areas of interest
My research currently focusses on the astrophysics of protoplanetary disks, and targets the observation of on-going planet formation. I combine radio/IR expertise in observations of circumstellar dust and gas, whose interpretation is informed by radiative transfer and hydrodynamics.
The challenge of understanding planet formation requires the concerted efforts of a team of researchers. I am the principal investigator for the MAD Nucleus, which studies the early evolution of planetary systems from a comprehensive approach, both observational and theoretical (http://madnucleus.com).
Biography
Dr. Simon Casassus is Full Professor at the DAS and regularly lectures on undergraduate physics and postgraduate astrophysics.
As of 1-Oct-2020, he has participated in 114 ISI papers, for a total of 4881 refereed citations, and has first-authored 21 papers (10 MNRAS, 3 A&A, 4 ApJ, 2 ApJL, 1 PASA, 1 Nature). Seven of his thesis students have first-authored papers for their degrees. He has authored 51 articles as 1srt, 2nd or 3rd author and his h-index is 36. He was the PI of the associative group Millennium Nucleus “Protoplanetary Disks”, funded by the Chilean Ministry of Economy for 6 years, and described in http://madnucleus.com. Casassus´s expertise in IR imaging and spectroscopy was originally earned during his Ph.D. on planetary nebulae.
His radio expertise includes synthesis imaging and the statistical assessment of interferometer data, and was earned as a postdoc with the Cosmic Background Imager experiment, and then perfected as Assistant Professor at FCFM, where he designed new algorithms for image reconstruction.
As Associate Professor he created a line of research on radio emission mechanisms in the interstellar medium. Casassus further developed his knowledge on PDRs during his sabbatical at the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon in 2009-2010, as a Marie Curie fellow.
As of 1-Oct-2020, he has participated in 114 ISI papers, for a total of 4881 refereed citations, and has first-authored 21 papers (10 MNRAS, 3 A&A, 4 ApJ, 2 ApJL, 1 PASA, 1 Nature). Seven of his thesis students have first-authored papers for their degrees. He has authored 51 articles as 1srt, 2nd or 3rd author and his h-index is 36. He was the PI of the associative group Millennium Nucleus “Protoplanetary Disks”, funded by the Chilean Ministry of Economy for 6 years, and described in http://madnucleus.com. Casassus´s expertise in IR imaging and spectroscopy was originally earned during his Ph.D. on planetary nebulae.
His radio expertise includes synthesis imaging and the statistical assessment of interferometer data, and was earned as a postdoc with the Cosmic Background Imager experiment, and then perfected as Assistant Professor at FCFM, where he designed new algorithms for image reconstruction.
As Associate Professor he created a line of research on radio emission mechanisms in the interstellar medium. Casassus further developed his knowledge on PDRs during his sabbatical at the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon in 2009-2010, as a Marie Curie fellow.
Courses, Projects, Recent Publications
- 2013 – present full-time Full Professor, Astronomy Dept., FCFM.
- 2006 – 2013 full-time Associate Professor, Astronomy Dept., FCFM.
- 2002 – 2005 full-time Assistant Professor, Astronomy Dept., FCFM.
- 1999 – 2001 Postdoctoral position (Caltech Moffat Fellowship), Astronomy Dept., FCFM.
Teaching:
As of 2020, SC has imparted 50 full semester courses on undergraduate physics (Statistical Physics, Waves, Modern Physics, Electromagnetism, Electrodynamics), undergraduate astronomy (practicals on CCD astronomy and on Radiative Transfer), and on postgraduate astrophysics (The Interstellar Medium, Planet Formation, and Radiative Processes).
He has led 2 Ph.D. thesis (one is underway), 7 “Magíster” thesis (M.Sc., including one in Computer Science), and 10 B.Sc. dissertations. All thesis and dissertations have led to publications, 9 of which were first-authored by his students.
