Heng Kevin

Prof. Dr. Kevin Heng is a Full Professor (Chair) of Theoretical Astrophysics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, leading the Munich Centre for Geoastronomy. He holds honorary professorships at University College London and University of Warwick. His research focuses on exoplanetary atmospheres, radiative transfer, and geoastronomy, blending astrophysics with geochemistry. He has pioneered studies on ultra-hot Jupiters and developed influential textbooks like Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Theoretical Concepts and Foundations (2017).

Education: Ph.D. (2007) and M.S. (2005) in Astrophysics from University of Colorado Boulder; B.Sc. (2003) from National University of Singapore. Culinary School of the Rockies graduate (2006).

Research Interests: Exoplanet atmospheric dynamics, radiative transfer, machine learning applications, and mission leadership (ARIEL, CHEOPS). He has secured major grants including ERC Synergy (€10M) and Consolidator (€1.98M) grants.

Awards: Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award (2018), Fellow of Royal Astronomical Society (2023), and Member of Academia Europaea (2024). His work on KELT-9b's metallic atmosphere (2018) and Jupiter phase curves (2021) are landmark studies.

Service: Chair of ERC panels, IAU Division F Vice-President, and organizer of Exoplanets by the Lake conferences. Leads international teams for missions like ARIEL and Twinkle.

Labs/Teams: Heads the Exoplanet Theory Group at LMU, collaborating with institutions globally on atmospheric retrieval and climate modeling.