skip to content

Prof. Dr. Andreas Eckart

I. Physikalisches Institut
Universität zu Köln
Zülpicher Str. 77
50937 Köln

consultation hour upon agreement

  • Telephone: (+49|0)221 / 470 - 3546
  • Fax: (+49|0)221 / 470 - 5162
  • Email: eckart@ph1.uni-koeln.de

Short Curriculum Vitae of Prof. Dr. Andreas Eckart

  • June 5, 1957
    Born in Schwelm/Westfalen Federal Republic of Germany
  • April 1963 - July 1976
    "Volksschule" and "Gymnasium" in Schwelm and Wuppertal, Germany
  • May 31, 1976
    Abitur
  • October 1976
    Student of physics, astronomy and mathematics at the "Westfälische Wilhelms Universität Münster"
  • July 1980 - July 1981
    Work on diploma thesis at the "Max Planck Institut für Radioastonomie" in Bonn, Germany
  • September 27, 1981
    Diploma in physics at the University of Münster
  • August 1981 - December 1983
    Work on Ph.D. Thesis: "Untersuchung der Eigenschaften extragalaktischer Radioquellen" ("Investigation of Properties of Extragalactic Radio Sources")
  • September 1981 - March 1984
    Scholarship holder of the "Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes"
  • April 17, 1984
    "Promotion" at the University of Münster
  • June 7, 1984
    "Otto Hahn Medaille" awarded by the Max Planck society
  • December 1983 - December 1984
    Continuation of scientific research at the "Max Planck Institut für Radioastronomie" in Bonn
  • January 1985 - August 1986
    Scholarship Holder of the "Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung" at Steward Observatory, University of Arizona in Tucson, USA
  • September 1986 - December 1999
    Research staff scientist in the submillimeter-infrared group at the "Max Planck Institut für extraterrestrische Physik" in Garching, Germany
  • June 1999
    "Habilitation" at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, Germany
  • since January 2000
    Professor for Physics at the University of Cologne, Germany
  • June 2001 - Dezember 2019
    Managing director of the "I. Physikalische Institut" at the University of Cologne, Germany
  • February 12, 2004
    "Manne Siegbahn Medaille" awarded by the Manne Siegbahn Laboratory, Stockholm University, Sweden
  • since 2006
    External member of the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy (MPIfR) and scientific member of the Max-Planck-Society (MPG)
  • November 3, 2019 Awarded the '2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics' as a member of The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration
  • 1 June, 2022 Awarded the 'Ernst Mach Medal of Honour' by the Czech Academy of Sciences for lifelong contribution to the physical sciences

Participation & Membership in Committees

  • 1994 - 1995
    Member of the Program Komitee Effelsberg (PKE) at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn
  • April 1997 - March 2003
    Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) in Grenoble
  • since 2000
    Member of the Program Komitee Effelsberg (PKE) in at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie (MPIfR) in Bonn
  • 2000 - 2006:
    Project leader of project A4 "Dynamics and Star-formation in Active Galaxies: mm- Interferometry and Near-Infrared Observations" supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) via grant SFB 494 (Sonderforschungsbereich 494).
  • 2001 - 2003
    Member of the EVN PC (European VLBI Programme Committee)
  • November 2001
    Member of the extragalactic HST Cycle 11 peer review panel
  • Juni 2001
    Member of a DFG panel reviewing the SFB439 "Galaxien im Jungen Universum", located in Heidelberg
  • 2001 - 2004
    Member of the BMBF advisory committee "Erdgebundene Astronomie und Astrophysik"; since November 2001: vice-chairman of that committee
  • April 2002 - April 2003
    Chairman of the physics department (Fachgruppenvorsitzender) at the University of Cologne
  • 2002
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the "Galactic Center workshop 2002", held by Gemini Observatory and U. H. Institute for Astronomy on November 3-8, 2002 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
  • 2002 - 2005
    "expert adviser" in Panel B - "Galaxies and Galactic Nuclei" of the ESO Observing Programmes Committee
  • 2002 - 2005
    Member of the European Southern Observatory's Scientific Technical Committee (STC)
  • April 2006
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the Galactic Center workshop 2006", held by the I. Physikalische Institut, 18-22 April, DPG Physics Center, Bad Honnef, Germany
  • April 2008
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the "The Universe under the Microscope" workshop 2008, held by the I. Physikalische Institut, 21-25 April, DPG Physics Center, Bad Honnef, Germany
  • November 2009
    Member of a DFG panel reviewing the SFB 676 "Particles, Strings and the Early Universe - the Structure of Matter and Space-Time", located in Hamburg
  • October 2009
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the "Galactic Center workshop 2009", held in Shanghai, China, 19-23 Oct. 2009
  • February 2010:
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the "Probing strong gravity near black holes" conference in Prague (Czech Republic), 15-18 February 2010
  • September 2011:
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the "The Central Kiloparsec in Galactic Nuclei - Astronomy at High Angular Resolution 2011" conference, held by the I. Physikalische Institut, 18-22 April, DPG Physics Center, Bad Honnef, Germany
  • November 2012:
    Member of the Program Organizing Committee of the "Workshop on: Nuclei of Seyfert galaxies and QSOs - Central engine & conditions of star formation", held by the I. Physikalische Institut and MPIfR, 6-8 November, Bonn
  • November 2013:
    Member of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the "The Galactic Center Black Hole Laboratory" conference, organized by the COST Action MP0905 "Black Holes in a Violent Universe", 19 - 22 November, Granada, Spain

Selected Scientific Collaborations of Prof. Dr. Andreas Eckart within the last 10 years

  • Member of an international collaboration to built the near-infrared imaging beam combiner LINC-NIRVANA for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT)
    Participating institutes are the I.Physikalisches Institut, University of Cologne, Germany, the MPI for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, the Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcerti, Italy, and the Max-Planck-Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, Germany
  • Member of the Scientific Council and Executive Board of the German Center for Infrared and Optical Interferometry (FRINGE) led by Thomas Henning (AIU, MPIA).
  • Project leader of project A2 "Conditions for Star Formation in Nearby AGN and QSO Hosts" supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) via grant SFB 956 (Sonderforschungsbereich 956)
  • Co-I of the VLTI Beam combiner GRAVITY (MPE Garching, MPIA Heidelberg, MPIfR Bonn, University of Cologne (all in Germany), Paris Observatory, LESIA, ONERA, DOTA, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (in France), Laboratório de Sistemas (Portugal), and ESO)
  • German Co-I of the European camera team for MIRI onboard of JWST
  • Leading member of the international (French, German) NUGA team to study the molecular gas distribution and dynamics in nuclei of nearby active galaxies using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (led by F. Combes, Observatoire de Paris, France, and S. Garcia-Burillo, Observatorio Astronomico Nacional, Madrid, Spain.)
  • Member of the international (German, French) CONICA/NAOS GTO team to study the Galactic center in the near-infrared using adaptive optics at the VLT (led by Reinhard Genzel, MPE, Garching, and Daniel Rouan, Meudon, France)
  • Leading member of the international team (US, European) carrying out multi-wavelength radio to infrared observations of the Galactic Center simultaneous to CHANGRA GTO observations (led by F. Baganoff, MIT, and M. Morris, UCLA)