Laurent Gizon

Laurent Gizon is Director of the Department of Solar and Stellar Interiors at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and Full Professor at the Institute for Astrophysics, University of Göttingen. He has held leadership and research positions at these institutions since 2005 and 2009, respectively, and is a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society.

• PhD in Physics, Stanford University (2003)
• M.Sc. in Astrophysics, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse
• Ingénieur SUPAERO, Ecole nationale supérieure de l'aéronautique et de l'espace, France

Laurent Gizon specializes in helioseismology and asteroseismology, focusing on probing the internal structure, rotation, and dynamics of the Sun and solar-like stars. His research leverages data from space missions like SDO, Kepler, and Solar Orbiter to investigate solar convection, sunspots, supergranulation, and stellar oscillations. He develops advanced inversion techniques and numerical models to interpret seismic travel times and infer subsurface flows and magnetic fields.

His recent publications (2014–2015) reflect a strong focus on asteroseismology, solar rotation, wave propagation in magnetized plasmas, and data analysis techniques. Topics include differential rotation in Kepler stars, seismic sounding of convection, magnetic flux transport, and 3D simulations of wave interactions with stellar spots. His work integrates observational data with theoretical modeling to refine our understanding of stellar interiors.

Notable scientific awards include:

• Karen Harvey Prize (2009)
• ERC Starting Grant (2007)
• ERC Synergy Grant (2018)
• NASA Group Achievement Award (2012)
• JOSO Prize (2005)
• Scientific Member, Max Planck Society (2011)

Gizon has served as coinvestigator on the Solar Orbiter's PHI instrument, board member of the PLATO Mission Consortium, and editorial board member of Solar Physics. He has advised numerous PhD students and postdoctoral researchers and has led major collaborative projects such as HELAS. He has also edited significant scientific volumes on helioseismology and MHD connections. His leadership in international consortia and space missions underscores his role in shaping the future of solar and stellar physics.

He leads research teams at the Max Planck Institute and collaborates with institutions worldwide, including Stanford University, New York University Abu Dhabi, and various European space agencies. His group develops computational tools for helioseismic inversions and contributes to data analysis pipelines for current and upcoming solar and stellar missions.