Anna-Christina Eilers

Anna-Christina Eilers is an Assistant Professor of Physics at MIT, leading the Cosmic Dawn Group at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. Her research focuses on understanding the formation and growth of supermassive black holes during the Cosmic Dawn era, particularly their rapid accretion processes and co-evolution with early galaxies. She employs multi-wavelength observations from facilities like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), cosmological simulations, and machine learning techniques.

• Affiliations: MIT Kavli Institute, Cosmic Dawn Group
• Office: Ronald McNair Building 37-626B

Her work addresses fundamental questions about how billion-solar-mass black holes formed in the early universe, challenging current accretion physics models. Recent projects involve analyzing quasar activity timescales and developing novel observational methods with JWST data.

Education:

• Bachelor's in Physics (University of Göttingen, neuroscience focus)
• Master's in Astrophysics (University of Heidelberg)
• PhD in Astronomy (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg) under Prof. Joe Hennawi and Prof. Hans-Walter Rix

Research Interests: Early universe galaxy/quasar formation, black hole accretion physics, data-driven astrophysical modeling, and public science communication.

Awards:

• 2023 Otto Haxel Prize (Physics)
• 2020 Otto Hahn Medal
• 2019 NASA Hubble Fellowship

Advising/Grants: Advises on Cosmic Dawn Group projects; recipient of major fellowships including Pappalardo and Hubble awards. Active in developing next-gen observational techniques.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Cosmic Dawn Group, collaborating with international telescope networks and computational astrophysics teams.