prof. dr. M.A.W. (Marc) Verheijen

Short Biography

Marc Verheijen (1965) is Associate Professor in observational studies of
the Structure, Kinematics and Evolution of Galaxies.  Since his arrival
at the University of Groningen in 2004, he has developed and carried out
a research programme that is unique world-wide.  With optical
integral-field and radio aperture synthesis imaging spectroscopy, he has
collected difficult-to-obtain measurements of the kinematics of stars
and gas in spiral galaxies in order to unravel the internal distribution
of their luminous and dark matter.  Based on the morphology and
kinematics of the responsive cold gas in galaxies he also investigates
the influence of galaxies' cosmic environments on their evolution.

As co-Principle Investigator on two NWO-Groot investment grants he makes
vital contributions to the realisation of Apertif, an innovative,
wide-angle 'camera' for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope.
Verheijen has been awarded the prestigious NWO Vici grant in 2015, aimed
at the commissioning of Apertif as well as the scientific preparation
and exploitation of the Apertif surveys.  He is also involved in the
instrumental and scientific development of the Large Integral Field Unit
for WEAVE, a multiplex spectrograph for the William Herschel Telescope.
He is member of numerous international collaborations, preparing for the
scientific exploitation of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) beyond 2025.

Academic Career

• 2016 - present Adjunct Faculty, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune, India
• 2004 - present Professor of Dynamics, Structure and Evolution of Galaxies, University of Groningen
• 2002 - 2004 Postdoctoral Fellow, Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany
• 2001 - 2002 McKinney Fellow, University of Wisconsin, Madison, U.S.A.
• 1997 - 2000 Jansky Fellow, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro, U.S.A.

Education

Ph.D. in Astronomy (1997) University of Groningen, Dissertation title: The Ursa Major Cluster of Galaxies; Tully-Fisher Relations and Dark Matter; Promoters: Prof. R. Sancisi – University of Groningen, Prof. R.B. Tully – University of Hawaii

Honours

• Adjunct Faculty (honorary appointment at the NCRA, Pune, India) 2016
• VICI research grant (Innovation Scheme, NWO) 2015
• NWO-Groot, Apropos (investment grant, co-PI) 2010
• NWO-Groot, Apertif (investment grant, co-PI) 2006
• McKinney Fellowship Award (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, USA) 2001
• Member, International Astronomical Union
• Jansky Fellowship Award (NRAO, Socorro, USA) 1997

International Academic Activities:

• Co-coordinator, MIAPP 2019 (Galaxy Evolution in a New Era of HI Surveys), 2017 present
• Member, Weave-Apertif Science Team, 2016 - present
• Member, various international HI survey teams (CHILES, LADUMA, Wallaby, Fornax), 2014 - present
• Member, SKA HI Science Working Group, 2011 - present
• Member, Weave LIFU development team, 2010 - present
• Reviewer, WHT service proposals (Isaac Newton Group), Jan 2010 - present
• Member (Chair since 2013), Pathfinder HI Survey Coordination Committee (PHISCC), 2009 - present
• Reviewer, GMRT observing proposal (NCRA, TIFR), 2008 - present
• Reviewer, various peer-reviewed journals, 2004 - present

National Academic activities:

• Member, various NWO grant evaluation committees, 2015 - present
• External examiner for PhD theses, 2008 - present
• Member, NOVA Instrument Steering Committee, 2008 - 2014
• Member, ASTRON Programme Committee, 2008 - 2009
• co-Principle Investigator for Apertif and Apropos (NWO investment grants), 2005 - present

Invited Lectures and Seminars

• May 2018 - Granada, Spain — WEAVE-LIFU follow-up of Apertif HI imaging surveys, WEAVE-Apertif collaborative science meeting
• Aug 2017 - Stanley, United States — APERTIF, International conference on ‘Gas and Galaxy Evolution'
• Oct 2016 - Groningen, The Netherlands — Cosmic Gas and the Evolution of Galaxies, Faculty Spotlight colloquium
• Aug 2016 - Pune, India — Apertif: specs, HI science & surveys, Invited colloquium
• Oct 2015 - Seoul, South Korea — Galaxies & Galaxy Clusters, a concise HI perspective, Yonsei international collaborative workshop
• Mar 2015 - Santa Cruz de La Palma, Spain — Surveys and Science with Weave's IFU, International conference on ‘Multi-Object Spectroscopy in the Next Decade’
• Mar 2014 - Garching, Germany — Weighing late-type galaxy disks, ESO conference ‘3D2014’
• Feb 2014 - Stellenbosch, South Africa — HI Science & Surveys - a concise perspective, International conference on ‘Transformational science with the SKA’
• Jun 2013 - Marseille, France — Improving galaxy distances with resolved HI kinematics, International conference on ‘Cosmic Flows’
• Mar 2013 - Lijiang, China — Galaxy Kinematics and Dark Matter halos, Conference on ‘Dissecting Galaxies with 2D Wide-field Spectroscopy’
• Jan 2012 - Cape Town, South Africa — Westerbork ultra-deep HI observations at z=0.2, 5th PHISCC workshop
• Oct 2012 - Cape Town, South Africa — Galaxy Evolution, mapping environmental  dependencies with wide-field HI imaging surveys, NRF-NWO workshop to foster SA-NL collaboration
• Oct 2011  - Manchester, United Kingdom — HI science - requirements for SKA, PrepSKA work package 2 meeting
• Feb 2011 - Perth, Australia — HI Surveys with Apertif, HI pathfinder workshop
• Jun 2011 - Bologna, Italy — The Distribution of Mass in Spiral Galaxies, Conference on ‘Luminous and Dark Matter in Galaxies’
• Dec 2009 - Stellenbosch, South Africa — Westerbork ulta-deep HI volumes at z=0.2, SKA Bursary Conference
• Nov 2009 - Bunker Bay, Australia — Westerbork ulta-deep HI volumes at z=0.2, ICRAR workshop
• Jun 2009  - Bologna, Italy — The DiskMass Survey, masses of normal disks, International workshop on ‘Dark Matter in galaxies’
• Jun 2009 - Groningen, The Netherlands — Science with APERTIF, International meeting on ‘Panoramic Radio Astronomy’
• Dec 2008 - Socorro, U.S.A. — HI observations of galaxies and galaxy clusters at z=0.2, EVLA workshop on ‘Galaxies through cosmic time’
• Dec 2008 - Pune, India — HI observations of galaxies and clusters, Workshop on ‘The low-frequency radio universe’ to commemorate Homi J. Bhabha
• Sep 2008 - Bangalore, India — HI in galaxy clusters at z=0.2, Colloquium given at the Raman Research Institute
• Jun 2008 - Garching, Germany — Dynamics of galaxy disks from HI and IFU observations, ESO/RadioNet workshop on ‘Gas and stars in galaxies – a multi-wavelength 3D perspective’
• Apr 2008 - Perth, Australia — APERTIF, a Focal Plane Array for the WSRT, International conference on ‘Deep Surveys with SKA pathfinders’
• Mar 2008 - Ensenada, Mexico — Systematics of galaxy rotation curve shapes, Conference on ‘Galactic structure and the structure of galaxies’
• Mar 2008 - Perth, Australia — APERTIF – Status & Science, Meeting on ‘Deep surveys of the radio universe with SKA pathfinders’
• Jun 2007 - Bologna, Italy — HI in galaxy clusters at z=0.2, Meeting in honour of Renzo Sancisi – ‘A man for all galaxies’
• Jun 2007 - Bologna, Italy — The high-mass end of the Tully-Fisher relations, Workshop on ‘Dark matter in galaxies and galaxy clusters’
• Dec 2006 - Bad Honnef, Germany — HI in galaxy clusters at z=0.2, Lecture given at the Bochum-Bonn Extragalactic Astronomy Meeting
• May 2006 - Bertinoro, Italy — Galaxy scaling relations, Three lectures given at the Scuola Nationale di Astrofisica
• Apr 2005 - Heidelberg, Germany — The disk mass project, MPIA Calar Alto Colloquium

Academic Staff Supervised

Former PhD Students:

• Katharina Kovač (2007, co-promotor)
• Thomas P. K. Martinsson (2011)
• Federico Lelli (2013, Cum Laude)
• Anastasia A. Ponomareva (2017)
• Mpati A. Ramatsoku (2017)
• Robin R. Kooistra (2018)

Current PhD Students:

• Avanti R. Gogate (2020)
• Pooja V. Bilimogga (2020)
• Nelvy Choque (2020)
• Julia Healy (2021)
• Tirna Deb (2021)
• Anqi Li started (2022)

Former Postdocs:

• Kyle B. Westfall (2009 - 2014
• Danielle M. Lucero (2016 - 2018)

Current Postdocs:

• Anastasia A. Ponomareva (2016, with K. C. Freeman)
• Kyle A. Oman (2017)