Knud Jahnke

Dr. Knud Jahnke is a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany, where he heads the Emmy Noether research group 'Coevolution of Galaxies and Black Holes' and the Euclid Mission Group within the Galaxies and Cosmology department. His research focuses on the coevolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes, with particular interest in quasar host galaxies, AGN activity, and galaxy interactions.

Dr. Jahnke's research interests span galaxy evolution, supermassive black holes and AGN activity, star formation, galaxy interactions, and the stellar content and morphology of QSO host galaxies. His work employs data from major astronomical surveys including COSMOS, GEMS, STAGES, and Pan-STARRS, as well as ground-based adaptive optics observations and integral field spectroscopy with instruments like PMAS, VIMOS, and SINFONI. His research has significantly contributed to understanding whether galaxy mergers trigger AGN activity, with findings suggesting most black hole growth occurs through secular processes rather than mergers.

Dr. Jahnke has published numerous papers in top astronomical journals including Astrophysical Journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics, and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. His research has particularly focused on the relationship between black holes and their host galaxies, the environmental dependence of galaxy properties, and the multiwavelength characteristics of active galactic nuclei across cosmic time.

Dr. Jahnke has taught several university courses including 'Einführung in die Astronomie und Astrophysik II' at Heidelberg University and 'Aktive Galaxien, Quasare, Schwarze Löcher' at Potsdam University. He has been actively involved in multiple international collaborations including the COSMOS and VLA-COSMOS galaxy evolution projects, as well as the GEMS and STAGES galaxy evolution projects.

His professional journey includes postdoctoral fellowships at MPIA (2005-2007) and the Astrophysical Institute Potsdam (2002-2005), followed by his current position leading the Emmy Noether research group since September 2007. His educational background includes diploma and PhD studies at Hamburg University and the University of Uppsala.