• About the ZAH
• News
• Research
• Teaching
• Projects
• Personnel
• Internal
• MPIA
• MPIK

Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Dr. Veronica Lora at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI/ZAH)

Dr. Veronica Lora was awarded a “Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers" from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Her two-year fellowship began in December 2010. The Mexican astronomer will work at the Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI) in the group of Prof. Dr. Eva Grebel. Dr. Lora obtained her PhD in astronomy at the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM) in February 2010. At ARI, Dr. Lora will explore the dynamics of low-mass dwarf galaxies to find out whether they contain a central black hole. This question is crucial to understand the dynamical evolution of these small galaxies. Dwarf galaxies are the most common galaxies in the Universe and are believed to play an important role in the build-up of more massive galaxies such as our Milky Way. Nonetheless, there are still many open questions regarding their evolution. For instance, the gas deficiency in many dwarf galaxies remains a challenge for understanding galaxy evolution. Hence, Dr. Lora will apply hydrodynamical simulations to study the gas loss from low-mass dwarf galaxies. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes international research cooperations by awarding fellowships to outstandingly qualified young scientists from abroad, thus allows them to carry out a self-selected, long-term research projects in conjunction with an academic host in Germany. The ARI is one of the three institutes comprising the Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg (ZAH) and is internationally renowned for its research on galaxy evolution. “I feel happy and privileged to work in such a friendly and greatly motivated team”, says Dr. Lora.